Apache 2.2.22 on Debian 7.8 wheezy ignores any .htaccess file.
Part of apache2.conf:
AccessFileName .htaccess
<Files ~ "^\.ht">
Order allow,deny
Deny from all
Satisfy all
</Files>
<Directory /var/www/>
AllowOverride All
</Directory>
In the Apache logs, there's nothing about this problem.
Edit: Working now, I had to change AllowOverride None in <VirtualHost> to AllowOverride All in an included config file