Two apparently uninjured people safe after incident in which shots were reportedly fired
German police said on Saturday that a man suspected of killing his mother and later taking two people hostage in the eastern city of Dresden has died.
Authorities had urged people to avoid an area in the city centre and ordered Dresden’s Christmas market to remain closed while the police operation to free the hostages was under way.
Continue reading...Ex-police officer once tasked with protecting Jewish communities also linked to foiled Reichsbürger plan
A celebrity gourmet chef whose daughter is the girlfriend of the Real Madrid footballer David Alaba and an ex-police officer once tasked with protecting Jewish communities from terror attacks are among the latest figures to have been linked to the foiled Reichsbürger coup plan in Germany, with further arrests expected as investigations continue.
Details emerging after the biggest ever national police operation against rightwing extremism indicate that suspects may have been informed in advance of the raids, in which 3,000 police officers targeted more than 150 addresses across Germany, and in Austria and Italy, making 25 arrests.
Continue reading...Number of suspects revised upwards to 52, 23 of whom are currently in custody, and more police raids are planned
Germany is trying to get the measure of how imminent a threat to the state was posed by the rightwing terror ring exposed on Wednesday, as police made further arrests in connection with the coup plot.
In their biggest ever raid targeting rightwing extremists, German authorities arrested 25 people suspected of plotting to overthrow the government, install a shadow regime led by a 71-year-old aristocrat, and seek talks with Russia to renegotiate its post-second world war settlement.
Continue reading...Despite description of alleged plotters by prosecutors as a ‘motley crew’, the threat was considered very real
At 6am on Wednesday, German special forces stormed a house in the Berlin lakeside villa quarter of Wannsee and arrested a former MP of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), Birgit Malsack-Winkemann. Three minutes later, they entered the Waidmannsheil hunting lodge in Bad Lobenstein in Thuringia. Simultaneous raids took place in 30 other locations, including a car repair shop and a carpenters’ studio, as well as in the Austrian ski resort of Kitzbühel and the Italian city of Perugia.
Twenty-five people were arrested, and by lunchtime eight of them were in police custody, among them a serving soldier of the elite KSK unit, a lawyer, a pilot, a gourmet chef and a prince, the alleged ringleader who had led the plans to overthrow the German state and replace it with a “monarchistic order”.
Continue reading...Thousands of officers search 130 sites across country in operation against Reich Citizens plotters
Twenty-five people including a 71-year-old German aristocrat, a retired military commander and former MP for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) have been detained in Germany on suspicion of a terrorist plan to overthrow the state and renegotiate the country’s post-second world war settlement.
Thousands of police carried out a series of raids across Germany on Wednesday morning in connection with the far-right ring.
Continue reading...Deutsche Bahn passengers will be able to opt for reusable cups, plates and bowls for their food and drink from next year
Deutsche Bahn passengers will be able to get their coffee in a porcelain cup from next year, the German rail operator has announced, as it seeks to cut waste.
Travellers would be able to choose a “high-quality porcelain or glass” option when ordering food and drink on its intercity and high-speed services, the company said in a statement.
Continue reading...Street and square in north-east of city renamed in tribute to figureheads who resisted forced rule in Africa
Campaigners who have fought for decades for Germany to confront its colonial past celebrated the renaming of a square and a street in the north-east of Berlin on Friday in tribute to figureheads who resisted forced rule in Africa.
Manga Bell Platz in the so-called African Quarter of Berlin’s Wedding district was renamed in memory of Rudolf and Emily Duala Manga Bell, a king and queen of Duala in Cameroon who fought against German colonialism. Rudolf Duala Manga Bell, who had been educated in Germany, was executed along with about 100 other people by German authorities in August 1914 after a sham trial.
Continue reading...Rising cases of respiratory syncytial virus after pandemic leading to critical hospital pressures
Intensive care doctors in Germany have warned that hospital paediatric units in the country are stretched to breaking point in part due to rising cases of respiratory infections among infants.
The intensive care association DIVI said the seasonal rise in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases and a shortage of nurses was causing a “catastrophic situation” in hospitals.
Continue reading...Beckmann painted work in Amsterdam after fleeing Nazi Germany and shows him as younger man with enigmatic smile
A rare and remarkable self-portrait by the 20th-century German expressionist Max Beckmann has sold in Berlin for €20m (£17m), breaking the record for a work of art sold at auction in Germany.
The striking Selbstbildnis gelb-rosa (Self-portrait Yellow-Pink) was painted by Beckmann during his wartime exile in Amsterdam after he fled Nazi Germany. The identity of its new owner was not immediately available. With fees and other charges, the cost to the buyer was €23.2m.
Continue reading...Racing to wean itself off Russian gas supplies, Germany is set to buy 2m tonnes of liquid gas from Gulf state
German firms have signed a 15-year deal to buy 2m tonnes of liquid gas from Qatar, sending out mixed signals over the priority Germany places on human rights in the Gulf and its commitment to a carbon neutral energy supply.
The deal was announced by state-owned Qatar Energy and deliveries will start from 2026. The gas will be sold by Qatar to the US company ConocoPhillips, which will then deliver it to the LNG terminal in Brunsbüttel, Qatar’s energy minister said in the capital, Doha.
Continue reading...Calls for construction on Museum of the 20th Century to be halted until energy efficiency issues addressed
A vast modern art museum under construction in Berlin has been castigated by conservation experts and architecture critics for its poor environmental credentials, as the energy crisis intensifies scrutiny of the efficiency of new buildings.
The Museum of the 20th Century, designed by the Swiss star architects Herzog and de Meuron, is intended to propel the German capital into the top tier of world cities for modern art, competing with New York’s Moma and London’s Tate Modern.
Continue reading...The country has been told the chances of power cuts are low, but demand for old-school wax lighting is hot
Germans are seeking comfort in the warm yellow glow of open flames this Christmas, as a revival of festive traditions coupled with blackout fears make candles the target of the latest stockpiling frenzy.
On Sunday, many German households will follow tradition to light the first of four candles on their Adventskranz wreath, which is typically laid on or hung above the dining-room table.
Continue reading...Fans believe the Samurai Blue are part of wave of teams changing the face of football after defeat of Germany
After Japan’s stunning victory over Germany in their opening match of the Qatar World Cup, fans of the Samurai Blue are daring to dream their team could reach the quarter-finals for the first time.
Their remarkable comeback last week has electrified Japan, where hardcore and casual fans alike stayed up until midnight to watch their victory over the four-time world champions.
Continue reading...Germany’s former chancellor defends her actions amid barrage of accusations since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Angela Merkel has insisted that her position as a lame duck in the last months of her time in office made it more or less impossible for her to influence the behaviour of Vladimir Putin.
The former German chancellor appeared both defensive and quietly defiant about her inability to change the course of the Russian president’s decision-making in the run-up to the invasion of Ukraine in February.
Continue reading...Bundestag hopes move will serve as ‘warning’ to Moscow as Ukraine faces potential hunger crisis
Germany’s Bundestag is planning to pass a resolution declaring the starvation of millions of Ukrainians under Joseph Stalin a genocide, a move that parliamentarians hope will serve as a “warning” to Moscow as Ukraine faces a potential hunger crisis this winter.
The resolution, which will be jointly brought to the vote next week by the three governing parties and conservative opposition leaders, will describe the 1932-33 Holodomor as part of “a list of inhuman crimes by totalitarian systems that extinguished millions of human lives in Europe in the first half of the 20th century”.
Continue reading...Rarely seen work painted during artist’s Dutch exile from Nazi Germany has an estimate of €20m-€30m
A moody self-portrait of the 20th-century expressionist Max Beckmann painted during his Dutch exile from the Nazis is predicted to break the record for a price secured at auction in Germany when it goes under the hammer in Berlin next week.
Art lovers have been flocking first to New York and then to Berlin to see the painting in preview showings, which have offered a rare opportunity to view a masterpiece that has always been in private hands.
Continue reading...Victory in World Cup opener sparks street celebrations and banishes painful memories in Doha of failure to qualify for USA 1994
Japan’s shock victory over Germany in Qatar on Wednesday sparked late-night celebrations and calls to mark the Samurai Blue’s momentous feat in their 2022 World Cup opener with a public holiday.
The clock was nearing midnight when Takuma Asano rifled Japan’s winner into the roof of the net at Khalifa International Stadium in Doha – a result that had seemed impossible after a poor first half from Japan, playing in their seventh straight World Cup.
Continue reading...Third-century coins taken in heist involving ‘cut off’ phone and internet connections in Manching, Bavaria
Thieves have stolen a hoard of Celtic coins worth several million euros from a German museum after apparently disrupting local telephone and internet connections.
Employees at the museum in Manching discovered on Tuesday that a “showcase was broken” and the collection of 450 coins had been stolen, local police told AFP.
Continue reading...Cities are trying hard to keep the festive spirit amid the cost of living crisis and war in Ukraine
European Christmas markets and illuminations are scaling back due to the energy crisis and climate breakdown – ditching seasonal ice rinks for rollerskating and switching on lights for less time.
When the traditional end-of-year markets and Christmas lights launch in France and Germany this week, in many cities such as Paris they will go dark hours earlier than usual.
Continue reading...Swedish prosecutor says ‘complex’ investigation and analysis continue to see if suspects can be identified
Traces of explosives have been found at the sites of September’s multiple leaks from the Nord Stream gas pipelines, confirming that the breaches were the result of sabotage, Sweden’s prosecution authority has said.
“Analysis that has now been carried out shows traces of explosives on several of the objects that were recovered” from the scene in the Baltic Sea, Mats Ljungqvist, the prosecutor leading the investigation, said on Friday.
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