This week in Germany
Germany's political landscape saw the Left Party outlining conditions for cooperation with the CDU in Saxony-Anhalt, alongside scrutiny of an AfD candidate during a local debate. European migration policy was a key concern, with Giorgia Meloni's approach viewed as a risk to cohesion, while domestic security was reassessed following a drone discovery in Leipzig. Amidst these developments, real wages continued to rise, boosting purchasing power for Germans.
About Germany
Germany, a leading economic and cultural powerhouse in Europe, is renowned for its rich history, innovative industries, and vibrant arts scene. Its highly pluralistic media landscape is safeguarded by strong legal protections and constitutionally independent public broadcasters, ensuring a diverse range of news and perspectives. This robust media environment reflects the nation's commitment to democratic values and open discourse.
Visiting Germany
Media landscape
Germany boasts a highly pluralistic and free media environment, characterized by strong legal protections for journalists and editorial independence for public broadcasters. The market is diverse, with a mix of national, regional, and local outlets across print, television, and digital platforms.
To gain a comprehensive understanding of German news, consult a variety of national and regional outlets, as perspectives can differ significantly.
Sources we track 3
Naomi Osaka Turns Heads With Allen Iverson Tribute and Wins US Open Opener
Naomi Osaka arrived at the US Open in a long, pale dress with a hooded cape and tightly braided hair, turning her first-round match into a tribute to Allen Iverson. She then delivered on court, beatin…
Accident: Second Person Dies After Serious Crash Near Hartenfels
A second person has died after a serious traffic accident near Hartenfels in the Westerwald district of Rhineland-Palatinate, according to police. The 18-year-old passenger died on Aug. 28 from severe…
Jeanette Biedermann Becomes a Mother at 46
Jeanette Biedermann has welcomed her first child at 46, calling her son “our greatest gift” and a “cheerful little miracle.” The actress and singer announced the birth on Instagram with a photograph s…
Shein Shares Fall Sharply at Hong Kong Debut
Shein’s long-awaited stock market debut opened with a sharp decline in Hong Kong. Shares fell as much as 8% in early trading, despite the online fashion platform raising up to 1.5 billion euros throug…
Global AI Demand Drives South Korean Exports to Record Semiconductor Surge
South Korea’s semiconductor exports reached a record $46.7 billion in August as global demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure propelled the country’s overseas sales. Total exports increased…
Weather forecast: Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland to reach 26 degrees under sunny skies
People in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland can initially expect settled late-summer weather. The German Weather Service said Tuesday will bring alternating clouds and sunny spells. Northern Rhineland…
Listening: Do You Hear Me at All? How to Stop Talking Past Each Other
The phrase “Sorry, what did you just say?” can be the start of the next argument. In a bonus episode of the podcast “Ist das normal?”, Melanie Büttner and Sven Stockrahm examine how couples can avoid …
Inside the “Theodor Heuss”: A Rare Look at a German Government Jet’s VIP Cabin
The VIP cabin of Germany’s government aircraft is normally hidden from public view. New photographs from an aircraft dealer now show the interior of the A340-300 “Theodor Heuss,” including the bathroo…
Dana Vowinckel’s ‘Anton and Alma’: Love in the shadow of October 7
Dana Vowinckel’s “Anton and Alma” is framed as an unusually affecting love story that also addresses the consequences of October 7. Der Spiegel calls the novel “the most beautiful love story of the ye…
Trump announces agreements aimed at lowering U.S. drug prices
President Donald Trump has announced new agreements with several pharmaceutical companies that he says will reduce drug costs for the U.S. government health program Medicaid. The companies include Aus…
DWD forecast: Changeable weather in Hesse, with isolated thunderstorms possible
People in Hesse can expect a changeable Tuesday, with periods of sunshine and cloud. Northern areas will remain more heavily overcast, and isolated showers or brief thunderstorms are possible. Tempera…
DFB-Pokal: HEBC faces Dortmund with Thomas Wolter in the stands
Thomas Wolter will return to the stands with his 1983 teammates as HEBC plays Borussia Dortmund in what the Hamburg club calls its “game of the century.” The 62-year-old former Werder Bremen player bo…
Poll Finds Support for Special Economic Zones as FDP Pushes Plan in Saxony-Anhalt
Nearly half of respondents in a poll commissioned by Germany’s Free Democratic Party support creating special economic zones, a proposal the party says could revive weaker regions. The Civey survey fo…
Bundesliga Deadline Day: The key questions before the transfer window closes
Germany’s Bundesliga clubs have until 8 p.m. on Deadline Day to complete summer signings, adding pressure to teams still looking for reinforcements. Clubs in France and Italy face the same deadline, w…
Storms, hail and floods: German insurers expect relatively low natural disaster losses
German insurers expect natural disaster losses to remain below average this year, largely because the country avoided severe winter storms. Storms, hail, heavy rain and flooding caused about 950 milli…
Elbphilharmonie Opens Anniversary Season With Beethoven
The Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg begins its 10th season with an ambitious Beethoven project, alongside works by Piotr Tchaikovsky and Fazıl Say. The anniversary-season opening concert starts at 8 p.m. a…
Friedrich Merz Campaigns in Saxony-Anhalt, but the CDU Prefers to Keep It Quiet
Friedrich Merz went to Quedlinburg to support the CDU in Saxony-Anhalt, but his campaign appearance kept its distance from ordinary voters. The chancellor spent time talking with candidates for the st…
Tenants terminated without notice as dispute over alcohol sales remains unresolved
A Gießen tennis club and the operators of its restaurant remain at odds over a basic menu question: whether the venue must serve alcohol. The tenants, who run a family restaurant called Gözleme-Haus, …
Bystander Cyclist Seriously Injured in Police Chase in Hamburg-Bahrenfeld
A 42-year-old cyclist was critically injured after a driver fleeing a police check struck him in Hamburg’s Bahrenfeld district. Police later said the cyclist was no longer in life-threatening danger. …
TV Review: A Kaleidoscope of Disaster and Lost Trust
The idea sounded promising: travel through Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin, and speak with people about the problems shaping their daily lives. The ARD documentary sometimes fe…
Cultural highlight: Bad Hersfeld Festival unveils new program
The Bad Hersfeld Festival is preparing to reveal the productions it hopes will draw audiences next year. Festival director Elke Hesse is scheduled to present the new program on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. T…
Divers plan search of ferry wreck off Cyprus for missing people and data recorder
A Turkish specialist vessel is expected in Northern Cyprus for a dive to the wreck of the Filo Jet, which lies about 500 meters below the surface. The search will focus on people still missing after t…
Thousands face evacuation as US wartime bomb is defused in Wilhelmshaven
About 13,600 people in Wilhelmshaven face evacuation on Tuesday after workers found a 500-pound American bomb from World War Two at the naval arsenal. Residents of Südstadt, the city center and Heppen…
Anti-war protest camp opens in Cologne amid heavy police presence
An anti-war coalition is opening a protest camp in Cologne’s Grüngürtel, with police preparing a major security operation. The Rheinmetall Disarm group expects 500 registered participants at the camp,…
Hesse Education Minister Schwarz to Deliver Policy Statement to State Parliament
Hesse’s first state parliament debate after the summer break will focus on Education Minister Armin Schwarz and the government’s new education package. Schwarz, a member of the Christian Democratic Un…
New York: Woman attacks passersby with knives in Times Square, killing one
A knife attack at New York’s Times Square left one woman dead and a man injured after a 49-year-old woman reportedly moved among the crowds carrying two knives. The 32-year-old female victim later die…
Former Gang Leader Convicted of Murdering Rapper Tupac Shakur
The killing of Tupac Shakur, one of the most famous unsolved crimes in the United States, ended in a conviction when a Las Vegas jury found Duane Davis guilty. Jurors deliberated for only a few hours …
Outlook Suffers Worldwide Disruption Affecting Email Accounts
Millions of Outlook users worldwide faced problems logging in, sending and receiving emails during a Microsoft disruption affecting both private accounts and Microsoft 365 customers. Users also report…
Former Gang Leader Found Guilty in Tupac Shakur Murder
Nearly three decades after Tupac Shakur was shot in Las Vegas, a jury convicted Duane Davis of orchestrating the killing of one of rap’s defining figures. The 63-year-old former leader of the South Si…
White House says Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump ballroom construction to continue
The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed construction of Donald Trump’s planned White House ballroom to continue, even as lower courts consider whether the project required congressional approval. Five cons…
US Army secretary Daniel Driscoll resigns after dispute with Pete Hegseth
Daniel Driscoll has left his post as US Army secretary after a reported dispute with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Driscoll, regarded as a close ally of Vice President JD Vance, had held the positio…
US Army secretary Dan Driscoll resigns after 18 months in office
Dan Driscoll is leaving as US Army secretary after 18 months, adding another senior military departure to the changes underway in President Donald Trump’s administration. The White House announced his…
Forsa survey: More parents in Germany face financial worries
More parents in Germany fear they may soon struggle to pay for heating, clothing and food, according to a Forsa survey commissioned by Save the Children. The share expressing concern rose to 27%, from…
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump’s White House ballroom project to continue
Donald Trump’s disputed plan to build a ballroom at the White House can move forward for now after the Supreme Court narrowly intervened in the case. Five conservative justices ruled that the Trump ad…
Amazon sued in US over allegations of unfair advertising prices
Amazon faces a broad US lawsuit over claims that it quietly made online advertising more expensive, with the Federal Trade Commission alleging the practice generated potentially tens of billions of do…
Dispute Leaves One Dead and Another Seriously Injured in Mönchengladbach
A confrontation in a residential area of Mönchengladbach-Waldhausen left one person dead and another seriously injured, according to police. Officers later arrested a person they urgently suspected of…
Closing arguments begin in trial over Tupac Shakur’s murder
Thirty years after Tupac Shakur was shot, the trial of the man accused of orchestrating the killing has entered its final phase in Las Vegas. Prosecutors and defense lawyers delivered closing argument…
IW study finds untapped labor capacity in Germany’s public sector
Germany’s public sector could theoretically gain work equivalent to 634,000 full-time employees if every part-time worker at the federal, state and municipal levels moved to full-time hours, according…
Free trade: EU suspends Brazilian meat imports over antibiotic compliance
The European Union is stopping imports of Brazilian meat and other animal products after Brazil failed to provide enough evidence that it follows the bloc’s rules on antibiotic use in livestock farmin…
Child poverty: Survey finds growing financial worries among parents
Financial anxiety is spreading among parents in Germany, with more families worried that basic needs such as heating, clothing and food could become unaffordable within the next year. A Forsa survey c…
Calendar: What Happened on September 1?
The September 1 calendar includes political milestones, cultural anniversaries and notable birthdays. On this date in 1939, German troops attacked Poland, beginning World War II. In 1961, 25 heads of …
Restaurant kitchen fire injures worker in Wiesbaden
A fire in a restaurant kitchen in Wiesbaden injured one employee, who firefighters took to hospital. An automatic fire alarm alerted emergency services late Monday afternoon. Crews quickly extinguishe…
Former French Prime Minister Édouard Balladur dies at 97
Édouard Balladur, the conservative former French prime minister whose 1995 presidential campaign ended in a bitter contest with Jacques Chirac, has died in Paris at the age of 97, according to his fam…
Microsoft 365 outage disrupts Outlook email worldwide
A worldwide Microsoft 365 outage disrupted email for millions of users on Monday evening, affecting both business customers and private Outlook users. Microsoft confirmed major problems with logins an…
Olaf Lies seeks to secure VW’s Emden plant with more electric-car production
Lower Saxony Premier Olaf Lies says Volkswagen’s Emden plant should build more electric cars rather than face the prospect of losing vehicle production altogether. “For me as minister-president, it is…
VfL Wolfsburg loan Mohamed Amoura to OGC Nice
Mohamed Amoura is leaving VfL Wolfsburg temporarily for France, with OGC Nice taking the Algeria international on loan. The 26-year-old center-forward joined Wolfsburg in summer 2024 from Belgian club…
Tamara Korpatsch exits US Open in first round
Tamara Korpatsch’s US Open campaign ended in the first round, but not before Germany’s top-ranked women’s player mounted a dramatic second-set recovery against Austria’s Lilli Tagger. Tagger won the o…
Bundesliga’s Köln Loan Tottenham Attacking Prospect Mikey Moore
FC Köln have brought in Tottenham Hotspur attacking prospect Mikey Moore on loan through the end of June 2027. The 19-year-old forward will move to Germany to gain regular playing time and continue de…
Hertha sign new center-forward after long search
Hertha BSC have found the experienced striker they had been seeking, bringing Gustaf Nilsson to Berlin on loan from Club Brugge shortly before the transfer deadline. The second-tier club also negotiat…
State election on September 6: Merz warns against ‘angry voters’ in Saxony-Anhalt
Friedrich Merz used his first campaign appearance in Saxony-Anhalt to issue a direct warning about the economic consequences of an AfD victory. Speaking in Quedlinburg alongside CDU lead candidate Sve…
61-Year-Old in Life-Threatening Condition After Hattingen Attack as Special Forces Deploy
A major police operation continued in Hattingen on Monday evening after a 61-year-old man was found seriously injured in the street and briefly faced a threat to his life. Special forces arrived after…
Taxi Crash in Vorpommern Kills 75-Year-Old Passenger
A 75-year-old woman died when a taxi left the road in Groß Ernsthof in Vorpommern and crashed into a tree stump. A second passenger, a 71-year-old man, suffered serious injuries but was not in life-th…
Kretschmer Says Minority Government Likely in Saxony-Anhalt After State Election
A minority government may be the most likely outcome of Saxony-Anhalt’s state election, according to Saxony Premier Michael Kretschmer. “By all reasonable expectations, it will be a minority governmen…
Palliative care: “Our childhood catches up with us when we face death”
For many families, the question of death becomes real only when a relative is already dying, according to retired palliative-care physician Yvonne Petersen. Petersen, who spent decades accompanying te…
Collective Agreement Brings Higher Pay for Wholesale and Foreign Trade Workers
About 70,000 wholesale and foreign trade workers in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia will receive higher pay under a new collective agreement. According to the Verdi trade union, wages will rise in…
Hoeneß calls Klopp Germany’s “best solution” as Musiala works toward comeback
Uli Hoeneß has given Jürgen Klopp an early vote of confidence, calling the new Germany coach “the best solution” the country could have. The honorary president of Bayern Munich said he and Klopp had a…
AfD state leader Holm backs targeted immigration for workers
Leif-Erik Holm, the AfD’s leader in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and its candidate for state premier, said the party would admit selected foreign workers who speak German. “We can of course let them …
Closing arguments begin in trial over rapper Tupac Shakur’s murder
The trial over the murder of US rapper Tupac Shakur has entered its final phase, 30 years after the killing. Prosecutors and defense lawyers presented their closing arguments in a Las Vegas court, aft…
Everyday recovery: How to make time for yourself and use it well
“Soon I’ll be on holiday, and then I can finally recover.” The ZEIT optimization podcast argues that saying this may point to a lack of regular recovery time in everyday life. The episode focuses on “…
André Henning: “I was told it couldn’t work with them”
Germany’s hockey players kept celebrating until dawn after defending their World Cup title, while coach André Henning went to bed around 3 a.m. “I can only report on parts of it, because I wasn’t ther…
VW’s Emden plant faces uncertainty as Lower Saxony premier pushes for more electric cars
Lower Saxony Premier Olaf Lies said he could not imagine Volkswagen stopping car production at its Emden plant, even as the automaker considers deeper savings and further job cuts. After visiting the …
Berlin Green Candidate Says He Was Targeted in Antisemitic Attack
Daniel Eliasson, a Green Party candidate for the Berlin House of Representatives, said an encounter at his campaign stand in Steglitz became an antisemitic attack. According to Eliasson, a man first h…
Truck-sized rocks fall onto road at Germany’s Loreley landmark
Several rocks roughly the size of shoeboxes or beer crates fell from the Loreley cliff onto Federal Road 42 in western Germany. The rocks landed at about 8 a.m. on the road between St. Goarshausen and…
Friedrich Merz Insulted at First Campaign Appearance in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Friedrich Merz faced insults and calls for his resignation during his first campaign appearance in eastern Germany, where opponents confronted the German chancellor on the Baltic resort’s seafront pro…
Man Hit by Tram in Stuttgart
A man was hit by a Stuttgart light-rail vehicle at the level crossing near the Borsigstraße stop, police said. The man was conscious and receiving medical treatment. Authorities had not yet determined…
Saxony-Anhalt election: Strobl warns CDU over AfD ties, saying it would no longer be his party
Thomas Strobl has issued one of the CDU’s sharpest warnings against working with the AfD before Saxony-Anhalt’s state election: if such cooperation happens, he said, the CDU would no longer be his par…
Lionel Messi retires from Argentina’s national team
Lionel Messi has ended his career with Argentina’s national team, announcing the decision 43 days after the team’s 1-0 extra-time defeat by Spain in the World Cup final. The 39-year-old made the annou…
Trump attacks data center opponents: They want to be “backward and poor”
Donald Trump has turned the fight over giant data centers into a political argument about whether US communities want economic growth or stagnation. “Backward and poor,” he wrote on Truth Social, desc…
Volkswagen faces tougher savings drive after tense workplace meetings
Volkswagen’s leaders have gone directly before employees as the carmaker prepares a new savings plan that could put tens of thousands of additional jobs and several German plants at risk. The company …
Car Crashes Through Leipzig School Gate, Injuring Seven-Year-Old Girl
A car broke through the gate of a primary school in Leipzig and entered the schoolyard, lightly injuring a seven-year-old girl. Police said the reason the 65-year-old driver left the road remained unc…
Argentina Football Hero Lionel Messi Retires from International Soccer
Lionel Messi has ended his Argentina career at 39, announcing his retirement from the national team on social media. The decision came six weeks after Argentina lost the World Cup final to Spain 1-0 a…
G20 meeting: Russian finance minister attends in person
Russia’s finance minister has returned to the G20 finance ministers’ table in person for the first time since the start of the war in Ukraine. Anton Siluanov is attending the meeting in Asheville, Nor…
Friedrich Merz: How Much Merz Can the CDU Take in Saxony-Anhalt?
Friedrich Merz is entering the final week of Saxony-Anhalt’s election campaign, but his presence will be carefully limited. The German chancellor is expected to meet mainly entrepreneurs and CDU candi…
Emergency Response at AfD Office After Letter Containing Suspicious Substance
A letter containing a suspicious substance triggered an emergency response at an Alternative for Germany office in Magdeburg. Police said the letter also contained a threat. Firefighters arrived with …
Volkswagen sees no viable economic future for Hanover plant after early 2030s
Volkswagen does not currently see a viable economic future for its Hanover plant once its existing products run out in the early 2030s. The warning also extends to three other German sites, whose name…
Wreckage of plane recovered from Austria’s Lake Attersee five days after crash
A training aircraft that crashed into Austria’s Lake Attersee has been brought to the surface after five days underwater. The wreck lay about 160 metres deep, making the recovery difficult. An Upper A…
Ministry reveals new details of Hollywood-style prison escape in Duisburg
Prisoners alerted staff to the escape from Duisburg-Hamborn by shouting from the building. The commotion initially sounded like a fight, but officers soon discovered that a 35-year-old remand prisoner…
Suspected Stade Attacker Wanted to Hire Private Detectives
The suspected attacker from Stade reportedly tried to hire a private detective before the shooting. In early May, he contacted a detective agency in Hanover about finding his daughter’s pediatrician. …
Germany’s Economy Ministry considers greater use of coal plants amid high electricity prices
Germany is considering bringing old coal-fired power plants into greater use, even as the country seeks to end coal-fired power generation by 2038. The Economy Ministry said it would examine the optio…
China’s Gen Z turns to stocks for wealth, then sees the dream collapse
For many members of China’s Gen Z, stocks have become a way to pursue financial security as the economy stagnates. A brief rally linked to the artificial intelligence industry appeared to offer that p…
Oldenburg: The Dam Breaks for the Nazis
Thousands gathered at Oldenburg’s horse market on May 10, 1931, to see Adolf Hitler. SA men shouted and raised their arms, Gauleiter Carl Röver clenched his fist, and Rudolf Hess nearly lost his voice…
Defense boom drives Renk to sharply increase tank gearbox production
Renk plans to more than triple its annual production of tank gearboxes by 2030, reflecting a sharp increase in defense demand following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “We were below 600 tank gearboxes …
IG Metall prepares for confrontation over Volkswagen’s Hanover plant
The dispute over Volkswagen’s Hanover plant has moved closer to open confrontation, with IG Metall warning that workers will resist possible cuts. About 5,500 employees attended a non-public meeting a…
Sweden’s Queen Silvia to visit Lake Constance island in October
Queen Silvia of Sweden is due back on Mainau island in October, where she will attend a ceremony marking 10 years of the Mentor Foundation. The queen is expected at the main event on October 8. A day …
Passers-by find body of cyclist who died in crash near Heilbronn
Passers-by found the body of a 58-year-old man after he fell from his mountain bike near Heilbronn, police said. The cyclist had been riding on Saturday along a field road parallel to Federal Highway …
World War II bomb defused in Fürthen, allowing residents to return
About 300 residents in Fürthen were allowed to return home after specialists defused a 500-kilogram World War II incendiary bomb. Authorities had evacuated people living within a 300-meter radius and …
War Legacy: 500-Kilogram Bomb Found in Augsburg, No Danger
A 500-kilogram bomb from World War II was found near Augsburg’s main railway station, but the discovery did not lead to another large-scale evacuation. Specialists quickly determined that the device n…
Berlin election sees rise in postal voting applications
Berlin has recorded a modest rise in demand for postal voting ahead of the September 20 election to the House of Representatives. The state election authority had issued 556,631 voting certificates by…
AfD appears to be winning support across all social groups in Saxony-Anhalt
The AfD’s traditional voter profile no longer tells the whole story in Saxony-Anhalt. Polling researchers say the party now draws support from every major social group ahead of the state election. Ste…
TRIPP project: What is Trump pursuing in the Caucasus?
The Arax River roars between Armenia and Iran, cutting through the mountains in bends and rapids beside barbed wire and watchtowers. In this stark border landscape, Donald Trump wants a railway and pi…
Ceuta migration crisis: Spain accuses Israel and Russia of fueling unrest
Spain is still examining how roughly 72,000 migrants reached Ceuta over two days in July, and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has pointed to possible foreign disinformation as one factor. Sánchez said th…
Schools in Saxony-Anhalt can borrow robots and 3D printers for free
Schools in Saxony-Anhalt will be able to borrow robots, 3D printers and other digital equipment free of charge, with the technology delivered directly to classrooms. The equipment will be ordered thro…
German Inflation Rises Again in August
Life became more expensive in Germany again in August, with consumer prices rising 2.9% from a year earlier, according to a preliminary estimate from the Federal Statistical Office. Inflation stood at…
Lower Saxony records its fourth-warmest June since 1881
Heat, drought and abundant sunshine defined summer 2026 in Lower Saxony, according to the German Weather Service. The state recorded 14 hot days across its territory. Away from the North Sea coast, so…
Inquiry examines how Thuringia intelligence agency classified AfD
A former department head told Thuringia’s parliamentary inquiry that an internal directive guided the state intelligence agency’s initial classification of the AfD, but offered little practical instru…
Lach- und Schießgesellschaft returns to Schwabing stage
Munich’s Lach- und Schießgesellschaft is moving again, this time back to Schwabing after less than a year at the Gasteig cultural center. The legendary cabaret venue said it will begin performing at t…
Rising energy prices push Germany’s inflation rate to 2.9%
Germany’s inflation rate climbed back to 2.9% in August, bringing price growth close to the 3% mark as higher energy costs hit motorists and households. The preliminary figure from the Federal Statist…
Long-term care insurance faces a deepening financial crisis
Germany’s long-term care insurance system is warning of a widening financial hole, even as it tells people receiving care that their benefits remain secure. Oliver Blatt, head of the relevant GKV umbr…
Hamburg Records an Unusually Warm and Sunny Summer
Hamburg experienced an unusually warm and sunny summer, including a record number of very hot days for the city. The German Weather Service said the average temperature across June, July and August re…
Nepal faces a long rescue effort after Himalayan flash flood
Nepal’s flash-flood response has moved far beyond the initial rescue effort. The national disaster authority in Kathmandu reported 903 deaths after the Aug. 26 disaster, while nearly 4,250 people rema…
