Category Archives: Germany

Germany keen to discuss natural gas pact with UK amid supply risk

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Officials interested in deal that would allow two countries to bail each other out in event of shortages

Germany is keen to talk to Britain about a solidarity pact that would allow Europe’s largest consumers of natural gas to bail each other out if an extreme cold snap were to create shortages this winter, German officials have said.

Such an agreement could be mutually beneficial for both London and Berlin, the German civil servant in charge of rationing in the case of a supply crisis told the Guardian in an interview.

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Soaring goose prices threaten German St Martin’s Day celebrations

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Martinsgans – or martin goose – is eaten around 11 November, but restaurants are dropping dish to save cash

Soaring inflation threatens to cast a shadow over one of Germany’s most popular cultural festivities, which culminates in eating roast goose.

A Martinsgans, or martin goose, is eaten on or around 11 November – St Martin’s Day – when the 4th-century Roman soldier-turned-saint who shared his cloak with a poor man is remembered throughout the country in lantern parades, song, bonfires and theatrical reenactments of his life.

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China and Germany condemn Russian threat to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine

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Xi Jinping tells Olaf Scholz of the need for greater cooperation during ‘times of change and turmoil’

Xi Jinping and Olaf Scholz have condemned Russia’s threat to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, with both leaders expressing their desire for the conflict to end.

The Chinese president stressed the need for greater cooperation between China and Germany in what he referred to as “times of change and turmoil”, and said both leaders “jointly oppose the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons,” although he stopped short of criticising Russia or calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops.

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Photos permitted as evidence of parking offences, Bavarian court rules

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Ansbach court rules in favour of two cycling activists who had been fined €100 for breaching data protection regulation

People who notify the police of parked cars blocking pavements and bike paths will in future be able to submit photographs as evidence of offences, a court in Bavaria has ruled.

An administrative court in Ansbach has ruled in favour of two cycling activists who had been fined €100 (£87) each for breaching data protection regulation for photographing apparently illegally parked cars and emailing the images to the police.

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Row over Germany’s public transport ticket jumping from €9 to €49

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Charities warn increase in monthly local travel pass will freeze out millions struggling with living costs

Germany plans to replace its successful €9-a-month local public transport pass with a €49 version, a move that is drawing criticism from charities and social care groups who say the new price tag will freeze out millions of Germans suffering under the cost of living crisis.

The €9 pass (equating to about £7.80) was introduced as an experiment over the summer in an effort to entice people to use public transport and help counter rising inflation.

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Germany’s Scholz heads to China amid questions over strategy

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Scholz’s coalition government seems uncertain about what sort of relationship it wants with Beijing

Russia’s war in Ukraine has woken Germany up to the risk of having an economy that is too reliant on raw materials provided by an autocratic strongman. But as the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, heads to Beijing at the end of this week, there are questions as to whether he would rather leave lessons from the recent past at home in Berlin.

Scholz is the first representative of a liberal democracy to be granted a state visit to China since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan in 2019, and will be the first major political leader to meet Xi Jinping since the Chinese president consolidated his power with a shake-up at the top of the Communist party.

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Germany calls for ‘precautionary pause’ before deep-sea mining industry starts

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Berlin urges International Seabed Authority to prioritise nature as it debates rules and warns seabed mining may ‘destroy ecosystems’

Germany has called for a pause in the controversial deep-sea mining industry, saying not enough is known about the likely impacts of digging up the ocean floor for metals.

While other nations, including Spain and New Zealand, have previously called for a temporary halt to any exploitation of deep-sea metals, Germany, the world’s fourth biggest economy, is the most significant nation to voice its opposition to date. The country holds two of the 22 licences for exploration of the seabed.

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Protesters attacked near Iranian embassy in Berlin

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People at pro-democracy vigil were beaten and threatened at gunpoint by unknown assailants, say police

Protesters holding a pro-democracy vigil outside the Iranian embassy in Berlin were beaten and threatened at gunpoint by unknown assailants over the weekend, German police have said.

An officer guarding the building saw three men with face coverings tear down flags and banners reading “Iranians want democracy” and “Women Life Freedom” from a caravan parked in Dahlem district, in the capital, at just after 1am on Sunday morning.

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Mondrian painting has been hanging upside down for 75 years

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Despite the discovery, the work, titled New York City I, will continue to be displayed the wrong way up to avoid damaging it

A painting by abstract Dutch artist Piet Mondrian has been hanging upside down in various museums since it was first put on display 75 years ago, an art historian has found, but warned it could disintegrate if it was hung the right side up now.

The 1941 picture, a complex interlacing lattice of red, yellow, black and blue adhesive tapes titled New York City I, was first put on display at New York’s MoMA in 1945 but has hung at the art collection of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Düsseldorf since 1980.

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We need to talk about Xi Jinping: G7’s discord over powerful trading partner

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Disagreements have opened up about strategy when China is also seen as an existential threat

Western powers in the G7 group of nations are failing to coordinate their China strategies, senior western officials admit, adding that the need to do so has been given sharp impetus by Xi Jinping’s consolidation of power at this month’s Communist party congress.

The G7’s poor coordination reflects a deep disagreement, also reflected within the EU, about whether dialogue and trade with China have a future if Beijing is seen as an existential threat that requires strict strategic controls on economic ties.

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End of the road for Ford Fiesta: UK’s all-time bestselling car halts production

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Owners mourn ‘modern-day classic’ as last factory in Germany switches to new electric models

“I don’t know what I’d go for if I didn’t have the Fiesta,” said Karen Fox, a civil servant in Edinburgh. She is due to pick up her fourth version of the model on Saturday, but it is likely to be her last: Ford on Wednesday confirmed it will end production of the UK’s all-time bestselling car next June.

The model’s end will become only the latest symbol of the shift from internal combustion engines to batteries: the factory in Cologne, Germany, where the last Fiestas are being made will switch to producing two new electric models.

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French-German friendship ‘still alive’ as Macron meets Scholz amid tensions

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Two leaders under pressure to repair relations after rifts over defence, energy and China

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, hosted the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, for lunch on Wednesday as they sought to iron out significant differences on energy and defence that have weakened their relationship at a time of war in Ukraine.

Both leaders, whose countries are seen as the joint driving force of the European Union, made an effort to smile as Scholz emerged from his black Mercedes at the Élysée Palace to shake hands, but the German chancellor appeared to sidestep Macron’s attempts to put an arm around him.

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Germany announces plan to legalise cannabis for recreational use

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Minister says legalisation could set precedent for rest of Europe, though plan is still subject to EU approval

Germany wants to make it legal for adults to purchase and own up to 30g of cannabis for recreational use and to privately grow up to three plants, the country’s health minister has announced, saying the intended outcome could set a precedent for the rest of the European continent.

“If this law comes to pass, it would be the most liberal project to legalise cannabis in Europe, but also the most regulated market”, the Karl Lauterbach said at a press conference in Berlin on Wednesday. “It could be a model for Europe.”

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Climate activists throw mashed potatoes at Monet work in Germany

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Two protesters pelt painting with potatoes and glue their hands to wall at Museum Barberini in Potsdam

Claude Monet has become the latest artist to be the focus of food-related climate protests, after members of a German environmental group threw mashed potatoes over one of his paintings in a Potsdam museum on Sunday.

Nine days after Just Stop Oil emptied tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers at the National Gallery in London, two activists from Letzte Generation (Last Generation) entered the Museum Barberini and doused Monet’s Les Meules (Haystacks) with potato before glueing their hands to the wall.

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Slimmed down Boris Becker reportedly teaching yoga in prison

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Former Wimbledon champion trains at Huntercombe prison where he is serving time for hiding assets, German tabloid reports

Boris Becker is reported to have lost weight and won friends in the UK prison where he is serving a sentence related to his 2017 bankruptcy, according to a German newspaper.

The former Wimbledon champion was transferred from Wandsworth prison to Huntercombe prison near Nuffield, Oxfordshire, in May. In April he was jailed for two and a half years for concealing £2.5m of assets to avoid paying money he owed after his bankruptcy.

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What are European countries doing to cut power consumption?

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Governments across the continent have announced a range of measures to tackle any energy shortages this winter

Paris is switching off the Eiffel Tower lights an hour early, Milan has turned off public fountains, and Hanover is offering gym users cold rather than hot showers in an effort to combat potential energy shortages this winter.

At the same time, the public are being encouraged to do their bit by avoiding using household appliances between 4pm and 7pm, stock up on blankets and slow down their driving.

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Anger in Spain at vandalism of memorial to German fighter pilot

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Memorial to Nazi airman shot down in Spanish civil war had been looked after by Spanish ace who killed him

A group that celebrates the republican pilots who fought fascism in the skies over Spain has condemned the vandalism of a memorial stone to a German airman that was looked after by an unlikely visitor – the Spanish ace who killed him.

Friedrich Windemuth, a member of the notorious Condor Legion sent by Hitler to aid Franco during the Spanish civil war, died after being shot down over northern Catalonia by the Spanish pilot José Falcó in February 1939.

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Woman, 75, held in Germany accused of leading far-right terror plot

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Retired teacher suspected of being ‘ideological brains’ behind group planning kidnappings and power station attacks

A pensioner believed to be the ringleader of a terrorist group planning to launch attacks on German politicians and power infrastructure has been remanded in custody.

Identified only as Elizabeth R in accordance with German legal norms, the 75-year-old retired teacher from the eastern state of Saxony is suspected of having been what investigators have called the “ideological brains” behind the far-right group, which had planned kidnappings and attacks on power facilities meant to cause blackouts across Germany.

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Germany still a ‘teenager’ on leading foreign security policy, says Scholz’s top aide

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Wolfgang Schmidt asks for patience from allies urging his country to head efforts to support Ukraine

• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates

Germany is still a “teenager” when it comes to foreign security policy, its chancellor Olaf Scholz’s chief of staff has said, asking for patience from western allies urging Europe’s largest economy to take a more proactive leadership in its support of Ukraine.

“We are getting into a situation that Americans have known for decades: people want us to lead,” said Wolfgang Schmidt, a longstanding ally of Scholz who also serves as the political point of contact for the country’s intelligence agencies.

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Ukraine claims gains near Kherson as UK sends anti-aircraft missiles

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UK to send Amraam rockets, capable of shooting down cruise missiles

Ukraine’s army boasted of territorial gains near the strategically vital southern city of Kherson on Wednesday as Nato allies including the UK delivered new air defence systems in the wake of Russia’s recent missile attacks across the country.

After 48 hours of Ukrainian cities coming under heavy fire, the government in Kyiv could celebrate positive news from both the frontlines and its diplomatic efforts to secure ground-to-air systems, including anti-aircraft weapons from the UK.

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