Germany news: Friedrich Merz visits area struck by fires

Skip next section Magdeburg marks Pride parade ahead of crucial election

August 22, 2026

Magdeburg marks Pride parade ahead of crucial election

Under the slogan "Vote for Love," around 3,000 people took part in a pride parade in the eastern German city of Magdeburg. The city is the capital of Saxony-Anhalt, which will hold state elections on September 6 that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is expected to win.

The AfD promotes a traditional heterosexual family model and is at times critical of the LGBTQ+ community.

The parade's organizers said Saturday’s event was a show of support for democracy, diversity and an open society.

While it was Magdeburg’s 30th Pride parade, this year was the first time it was held on a central square in front of the state parliament, in part to increase political visibility ahead of the election but also to help with security measures.

Last month, a deadly attack on the Berlin Pride Parade left one person dead and injured many others.

Several other cities in Germany also held their pride parade on Saturday. In Bremen, around 33,000 people marched under the slogan "Generations Full of Pride — Happy, Visible, Strong."

https://p.dw.com/p/5JFrU

Skip next section Conservative local candidate sparks controversy with 'MILF' necklace

August 22, 2026

Conservative local candidate sparks controversy with 'MILF' necklace

Corinna Jodeit, a candidate from Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in local elections outside Bremen, has caused a stir with her official campaign portrait.

Jodeit is running for a seat on the Wildeshausen city council and can be seen wearing a gold necklace prominently featuring the English-language acronym MILF on posters for the September 13 vote.

The term is an abbreviation for the phrase "Mother I'd like to f--k."

The candidate herself said that although the term is "naturally provocative," the necklace is "just a piece of jewelry" that emphasizes her independence.

"I'm happy to be a mum, but there's more to me than that," she told the Wildeshausener Zeitung newspaper, admitting that she had considered removing the necklace for the photo but added that she felt it would have been inauthentic.

Comments below an Instagram post by the paper garnered strong opinions, offering both support and critique, with some readers calling the situation "embarrassing" and "inappropriate" and others saying they found it "hot" and "funny." 

https://p.dw.com/p/5JFaz

Skip next section German finance minister calls for windfall tax on oil profits

August 22, 2026

German finance minister calls for windfall tax on oil profits

German Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil on Saturday called for a tax on windfall profits currently being racked up by large multinational oil companies.  

"We must address the problem of high energy prices by discussing an EU-wide framework for taxing windfall profits," Klingbeil wrote in an open letter also signed by several European counterparts.

Klingbeil said he has often raised the issue of energy company rip-offs at the Finance Ministry in Berlin and has now joined his colleagues to call on Ireland's Finance Minister Simon Harris to put the topic on the EU agenda "as soon as possible."  

Ireland currently holds the EU's rotating presidency. 

The next meeting of European finance ministers is scheduled to take place in Dublin on September 18 and 19.

Although finance ministers acknowledge that the main price driver at the moment is the US-Israeli war on Iran, they point out that "oil companies are reporting strong overall profitability and margins on refined products, which — albeit possibly influenced by product-specific bottlenecks — exceed the rise in crude oil prices."

"Dissatisfaction with the rising cost of living is growing not only in Germany and Europe, but worldwide," as government interventions fail to ease the burden of higher fuel prices on taxpayers, the ministers wrote.

The ministers are now calling on those who profit from the current crisis in the Middle East to "pay their share to ease the burden on the public at large."

Klingbeil and his colleagues say the EU should make available its findings from 2022 research on "targeting the foreign profits of multi-national oil companies" and how they can be taxed.

According to aid organization Oxfam, the world's six largest fossil fuel companies — BP, Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies — registered €40 billion in profits in the second quarter of 2026. Total profit is forecast to hit €147 billion for the year.

Germany's federal government, like those of Klingbeil's partners, has so far refused to level windfall oil profit taxes.

The European Commission has also poured cold water on the concept, saying it has no plans to introduce any scheme on excessive profits.

Shock over gas prices

https://p.dw.com/p/5JFSI

Skip next section Massive pay gap between German, foreign workers in Germany

August 22, 2026

Massive pay gap between German, foreign workers in Germany

Germany's Labor Ministry released data on Saturday showing a 23.6% pay gap between German and foreign full-time workers in 2025.

The data was released in response to a parliamentary inquiry posed by far-right opposition Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Accordingly, although wage growth grew across the board, median full-time monthly pay for Germans was €4,396 ($5,138), whereas foreign full-time employees pulled in €3,358.

The numbers track with trends seen since 2020.

Overall, Labor Ministry stats show that 30.6% of foreign workers earned low wages as compared to 12.3% of Germans.

The AfD launched its query to poke holes in Berlin's immigration policies, which it claims are smothering wage growth, though that is not made clear by the data. 

A separate study by the Institute for Employment Research said the gap could be because "immigrants are less likely to be employed in high-paying sectors or positions." 

The Federal Employment Agency said earnings depend heavily on a person's education, qualifications and professional job experience.

In 2025, workers without vocational qualifications earned a median wage of €3,133, while full-time employees with recognized vocational qualifications earned €4,069 and college graduates earned €6,146.

Are Germany's 'mini-jobs' being scrapped?

https://p.dw.com/p/5JFOV

Skip next section Germany's FAZ newspaper slams Russian arrest warrant for correspondent

August 22, 2026

Germany's FAZ newspaper slams Russian arrest warrant for correspondent

Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) on Saturday slammed a Russian Interior Ministry arrest warrant for the paper's Balkans correspondent Michael Martens, as "an attempt to intimidate a German journalist and the free press."

The paper accused Moscow of seeking to curtail free speech through threat of criminal punishment. 

"Freedom of the press is non-negotiable," said the FAZ, "It applies even when questions or reports provoke criticism." 

The paper said it flatly rejects any attempt to obstruct independent journalism.

Russia issued the warrant over Martens' phrasing in posing a question to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during an August 8, 2026, press conference in the Serbian capital, Belgrade.

Mertens asked Zelenskyy what Europeans could do "to help you kill more Russians," which FAZ management says could have been formulated differently, acknowledging that the phrasing left the issue open to "misinterpretation." 

The paper said, "We have clarified this and expressed our regret at the wording."

Last week, Russia issued its warrant for Martens' arrest for "public incitement to hatred and hostility." If found guilty, he would face six years in prison. 

The Russian Embassy in Berlin has asked public prosecutors in the German capital to look into the situation, saying Martens' remarks "regarding the possibility of 'aiding and abetting the murder of Russians' as well as the lack of a public apology," suggest the wording "was chosen deliberately and intentionally."

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described Martens' words as "unacceptable" and "criminal."

https://p.dw.com/p/5JFGb

Skip next section Germany mulls constitutional protections for LGBTQ+ people after Berlin Pride attack

August 22, 2026

Germany mulls constitutional protections for LGBTQ+ people after Berlin Pride attack

Germany's Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig is calling for an amendment to the country's constitution, known as the German Basic Law, to specifically protect LGBTQ+ people.

 "I am in favour of amending Article 3(3) of the Basic Law to include a ban on discrimination on the grounds of sexual identity," Hubig told the Rheinische Post newspaper in an interview published on Saturday.

Hubig, a member of the center-left Social Democratic Party, said there were reservations within Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservatives, but there were also encouraging signs.

German Basic Law prohibits the disadvantage or preferential treatment of people on grounds such as their ancestry, language, homeland or origin, their faith, religion or political views. "It is only logical to also prohibit unequal treatment on the grounds of sexual identity," said Hubig.

Hubig's comments come after a man drove his car into a crowd on the sidelines of Pride festivities in Berlin, one of the largest LGBTQ events in Europe.

The suspected attacker, Abdul Ballout, a German citizen of Lebanese background, was shot dead by police the day after the attack following a major manhunt. 

Was the Berlin Pride attack inevitable?

https://p.dw.com/p/5JF3M

Skip next section Germany's antisemitism commissioner calls for tougher laws for Hamas supporters

August 22, 2026

Germany's antisemitism commissioner calls for tougher laws for Hamas supporters

Germany's Federal Antisemitism Commissioner Felix Klein on Saturday called for harsher laws and punishment for those supporting militant Palestinian groups such as Hamas.

In an interview published in the Saturday edition of the daily Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper, Klein said he hopes Chancellor Merz and Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig will strengthen existing laws and called for anyone demonstrating in support of the Palestinian militant group Hamas — considered a terrorist group by Israel, the US, Germany and many other nations — to face at least six months in jail.

"If the person is a foreign national without secure residence status," added Klein, "they should be deported after being convicted and serving their sentence." 

He also demanded customs authorities be given expanded powers to disrupt the financing of terrorist organizations.

While praising the work done combating antisemitism through education, Klein also called for rigorous, mandatory teacher training. "Anyone susceptible to antisemitism has no place in the teaching profession," he said, calling for disciplinary consequences for teachers expressing antisemitic sentiments.

Klein said Jewish life in Germany must be presented in a positive light and that Judaism is about more than antisemitism, the Holocaust and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Felix Klein is leaving his current post, which he has held since 2018, to serve as Germany's ambassador to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris.

Auschwitz survivor goes viral on TikTok

https://p.dw.com/p/5JF2g

Skip next section Over 100 injured in mass soccer brawl at German Cup match

August 22, 2026

Over 100 injured in mass soccer brawl at German Cup match

Some 35 police officers and 85 fans were injured in a massive brawl during a soccer match on Friday evening in the southwestern city of Mannheim say local officials, with several people hospitalized. 

More than 1,400 police and security officers were on hand for the German Cup game between local rivals Waldhof Mannheim and 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Officials say 23,500 fans were at the sold-out game, 3,500 of them supporters of visiting Kaiserslautern.

Those fans began shooting fireworks at Mannheim players at the end of normal time with the match goalless. Mannheim fans rushed onto the pitch in response, which in turn brought out mounted police and security officers. 

"The intense preparations by all participating institutions and the close cooperation among all those involved paid off. Our tactical plan worked perfectly," said Mannheim Police Chief Michael Reichert after the melee.

Manuel Hagel, Baden-Württemberg's interior minister, said, "Anyone who abuses soccer as a stage for violent outbursts, deliberately puts other fans in danger, and — above all — injures security personnel is not a fan, but a criminal. That is exactly how we will treat these individuals in order to enforce law and order in our stadiums."

Police say they have launched investigations into "insults, various assault charges, property damage, breach of the peace, physical assault on police officers, and violations of the Explosives Act."

Several football fans were detained, German news agency DPA reported.

The German Football Association (DFB) has promised a full report into the incident.

Ibrahim Kanate scored in the last minute of extra time to give Kaiserslautern a 1-0 win. The second-division side advances to the second round of the Cup.

https://p.dw.com/p/5JF25

Skip next section Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul visits Kyiv as Russia steps up attacks

August 22, 2026

Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul visits Kyiv as Russia steps up attacks

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul arrived in Kyiv by a special train on Saturday morning, ahead of Ukraine's 35th independence day.

His visit comes as two Ukrainians were killed overnight in Russian attacks, and a day after at least 15 were killed and more than 100 injured in an attack on a shopping center in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's home town.

For more on Wadephul's visit to Kyiv, read our full report.

https://p.dw.com/p/5JF27

Skip next section Merz to thank firefighters for 'tireless' effort

August 22, 2026

Merz to thank firefighters for 'tireless' effort

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is set to interrupt his summer vacation to travel to the state of North Rhine-Westphalia on Saturday, where he will thank rescue workers and firefighters for their efforts battling last week's devastating forest fire in the western Eifel region's Hürtgenwald — the largest fire in the state's history.

The Hürtgenwald fire raged for a week, forcing the evacuation of entire villages before it could be extinguished two days ago. 

Merz will speak with volunteers at the scene to get a picture of the firefighting and reconstruction efforts on the ground. 

The appearance is Merz's first in public since July 29, when he left for his summer vacation. He previously thanked workers for their "tireless effort" on X. 

His lack of visibility as Germany struggled with historic fires and an ongoing heatwave earned him criticism from the opposition, who accused him of not taking climate change seriously.

Wildfire forces evacuations as Germany's heat wave persists

https://p.dw.com/p/5JF0N

Skip next section Welcome to our coverage

August 22, 2026

Welcome to our coverage

Guten Morgen from the DW newsroom in Bonn! 

Today we will cover Chancellor Friedrich Merz's visit to North Rhine-Westphalia, where he is expected to thank firefighters and rescue workers who "worked tirelessly" combating recent wildfires in the Hürtgenwald region of the Eifel. 

We will also be following Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul's trip to Ukraine, where Kyiv is set to celebrate its independence from the Soviet Union as its successor state, Russia, prosecutes its over four-year invasion with devastating nightly missile and drone attacks.

Germany's antisemitism commissioner has called for the compulsory training of teachers and the inclusion of the history of Jewish life in school curricula while at the same time demanding jail for those who espouse antisemitic ideas or openly support Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas.

And a German Cup match between rivals Mannheim and Kaiserslautern was briefly suspended as fans stormed the pitch in a mass brawl that ended with injuries and arrests.

Follow DW here for these stories and the rest of the news in Germany on Saturday.