Skip next section What you need to know
What you need to know
- Deutsche Bank has confirmed its headquarters in Frankfurt was searched Wednesday
- Economy and Energy Minister Reiche said there are no further state measures planned to lower gas prices
- New DNA results could offer more information on the death of Timmy the Whale
- German FM Wadephul is off to the Abuja, Nigeria on the next leg of his Africa trip
Here is a round-up of the top headlines from and about Germany on Wednesday, July 22, 2026:
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Skip next section Conservative parliamentary leader replaced after surrogacy scandal07/22/2026July 22, 2026
Conservative parliamentary leader replaced after surrogacy scandal
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has nominated his chief of staff, Thorsten Frei, to succeed Jens Spahn as head of his Christian conservatives (CDU/CSU) bloc in parliament.
Spahn resigned last week following the announcement that he and his husband had become fathers via a surrogate mother in the United States. As former health minister, Spahn consistently voted along party lines to keep surrogacy illegal in Germany and once made comments about his moral qualms about people using a “rented womb.”
His perceived flouting of German laws drew swift condemnation from across the country’s political spectrum, including his own party.
Frei will have to be officially elected by members of the CDU in the Bundestag, alongside those of its Bavarian sister party, the CSU. That is expected to take place next week. Frei has already received the approval of CSU leader Markus Söder.
https://p.dw.com/p/5HZbISkip next section READ: Hitler’s birth house opens as police station 07/22/2026July 22, 2026
READ: Hitler’s birth house opens as police station
The quaint house where Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau, Austria opened as a police station today.
This comes after an Austrian government commission offered suggestions on how to appropriately use the house, and the state poured millions of euros into rennovations. But in Braunau, reactions to the house’s new function as mixed, and some see a missed opportunity.
DW has the full story on how Austria turned Hitler’s birth house into a police station here.
https://p.dw.com/p/5HYehSkip next section DNA results linked to Timmy the Whale expected 07/22/2026July 22, 2026
DNA results linked to Timmy the Whale expected
The dramatic tale surrounding the humpback whale known as “Timmy” is set to continue today.
Experts are expected to provide DNA results on whether a dead humpback whale found floating off Denmark’s coast on May 14 match samples taken from Timmy. The findings will be presented at a press conference in Hamburg this afternoon.
Danish authorities previously identified the dead whale as Timmy based on a tracking device attached to its fin.
The story of Timmy captivated Germany for months earlier this year.
After repeatedly stranding along Germany’s Baltic Sea coast, the whale spent weeks trapped on a sandbank in Wismar Bay in April, before being rescued by a private rescue initiative which guided the marine mammal out to sea in a specially converted freight barge.
The rescue effort was accompanied by heated debate among scientists, government officials, the public and the private initiative behind the rescue operation over whether the weakened and ailing whale should be left to die in peace or whether rescuers should continue their efforts to save it.
https://p.dw.com/p/5HXuySkip next section Deutsche Bank headquarters searched by prosecutors07/22/2026July 22, 2026
Deutsche Bank headquarters searched by prosecutors
Finance giant Deutsche Bank has confirmed that prosecutors searched its main offices in Frankfurt on Wednesday.
Officials are reportedly investigating fraudulent tax claims made by the bank’s subsidiary Postbank between 2008 and 2010.
“Deutsche Bank is being searched as a third party in this matter and we are cooperating fully,” the group said without elaborating.
The investigation relates to the practice of making significant stock trades around dividend payout days, a scheme that flourished during the financial crisis that began in 2007. Authorities say the practice amounted to tax fraud.
Deutsche Bank is no stranger to controversy. A recent release of Epstein files show the late financier and convicted sex offender had up to 40 accounts with Deutsche Bank. The bank was also raided earlier this year over a money laundering probe.
https://p.dw.com/p/5HZ3gSkip next section German Foreign Minister Wadephul travels to Abuja, Nigeria continuing Africa tour07/22/2026July 22, 2026
German Foreign Minister Wadephul travels to Abuja, Nigeria continuing Africa tour
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is traveling Abuja, Nigeria on Wednesday, as part of his third tour of African countries this year, which has already included Mauritania.
His visit to Nigeria’s capital comes after he arrived in Lagos yesterday, the country’s largest city and economic hub.
In his tour of Africa’s most populous country, Wadephul is being accompanied by a number of German business representatives. Economic cooperation is a key issue in talks with Nigeria, which is Germany’s second largest trading partner in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Anyone who isn’t present in Africa today risks missing out on crucial opportunities,” said Wadephul on German businesses and investments in the region.
Cooperation in the field of critical minerals and energy also been a priority during the visit as Wadephul stressed the need for Germany to diversify its supply chains. Nigeria is Africa’s largest exporter of oil.
In Abuja, Wadephul is expected to speak with his Nigerian counterpart Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu and visit the secretariat of and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Talks there are expected to focus on multilateral engagement as well as security issues, in a country that has long battled militancy and violence in the northeastern region.
https://p.dw.com/p/5HXufSkip next section No new measures against high gas prices — Energy Minister Reiche07/22/2026July 22, 2026
No new measures against high gas prices — Energy Minister Reiche
Economy and Energy Minister Katherina Reiche said that no additional state measures were planned to combat high gas prices.
In May, the federal government had reduced tax on gasoline and diesel by 17 cents in order to combat the rise in the price of fuel at the pump due to the Iran war. But the tax reduction expired at the end of June.
Since then, prices have risen quickly, fueled also by the resumption of hostilities in the Middle East, and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Currently, the average price of one liter of gasoline stands at roughly €2,20 ($2,50), up from €1,83 ($2,10), from when before the war began, according to public broadcaster NDR.
“With the fuel price cap, we implemented a very, very expensive measure. It cost us many billions of euros,” Reiche told the German media network RTL. “Those funds are not currently available in the federal budget.”
Reiche, of the center-right Christian Democratic Union’s (CDU), also rejected the idea of a price cap for gas, proposed by some members of the center-leftSocial Democrats, the junior members of the governing coalition.
“No further measures are currently planned, nor are any actually in the works,” said Reiche.
https://p.dw.com/p/5HYZcSkip next section Welcome to our coverage07/22/2026July 22, 2026
Welcome to our coverage
Isaac Holmberg | Rana Taha Editor
Guten Morgen from DW’s newsroom!
Bonn has been fortuitously blessed with mild summer temperatures, which makes bringing you the news of the day all the more delightful.
German Economy and Energy Minister Katherina Reiche Reiche has announced that there were no additional measures planned to combat high gas prices in the wake of the Iran War, after a tax relief expired at the end of June.
The results of a DNA examination linked to the humpback whale “Timmy” are expected this afternoon. Timmy was freed after multiple strandings off the German Baltic Sea coast this spring, only to be found dead off Denmark in May.
The results could offer more information if the whale carcass found in Denmark is indeed Timmy’s.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Wadephul is traveling to the Nigerian capital Abuja today, as talks in Africa’s most populous country center on business, resource and security cooperation.
https://p.dw.com/p/5HXpXShow more posts
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