Sounds likely. If it is in the West and is a lot brighter than any of the stars in the Plough, it is almost certainly Venus. You will only see it in the early evening - up to about ten - or in the East soon after dawn. This is because it is closer to the sun than the Earth is. Venus can reach a magnitude of ca. -4.2. I do not think any of the stars in the Plough, which are brighter than most, are even stronger or as strong as the first magnitude (+1). So when Venus is up (I saw it next to the moon a couple of hours ago, but I am in Cologne, to the East of you), it really is pretty unmistakeable. The brightest star, Sirius, only reaches a magnitude of about +0.6 even on the clearest winter night.