Skip next section What you need to know
What you need to know
- Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said 33 proposed reforms to Germany’s pension system should be rapidly implemented
- Almost a half of teachers are stressed by pupils’ behavior, a survey shows
- Merz is to meet with Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye in Berlin
Here is a roundup of the top stories from and about Germany on Tuesday, June 23, 2026.
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Skip next section Summer holidays unaffordable for one in five — Destatis06/23/2026June 23, 2026
Summer holidays unaffordable for one in five — Destatis
Going on even a one-week holiday in summer is something that 21% of the population in Germany — 17.3 million people — cannot afford, according to figures from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).
That figure rises to 39% among single parents, it said.
The statistic compares to 28% across the entire European Union, according to the European statistics office Eurostat.
The highest percentage of a European country’s population unable to take a one-week holiday is in Romania, at 61%.
The proportion is smallest in Luxembourg (11%), Sweden (12%) and the Netherlands (13%).
https://p.dw.com/p/5FthLSkip next section Almost half of teachers stressed by pupils’ behavior — School Barometer06/23/2026June 23, 2026
Almost half of teachers stressed by pupils’ behavior — School Barometer
Almost every second teacher in Germany (46%) considers that pupils’ behavior is the biggest source of stress in the profession, according to a School Barometer survey issued on Tuesday.
That is an increase of more than 10 percentage points over 2024, when just 35% of teachers said pupils’ conduct was their main challenge.
According to the survey carried out for the Robert Bosch Foundation, it is not just a lack of discipline that causes problems for teachers.
The teachers who responded to the survey said that a quarter of pupils had trouble working in a group, while 13% found it difficult to motivate themselves to learn.
Many teachers said that they were having to teach pupils more than just specialized knowledge, saying that empathy, self-organization and critical thinking also needed cultivating among pupils.
Four out of five teachers (82%) said they would like to receive extra training in these fields.
Almost every second respondent said more had to be done to educate pupils about democracy, with a similar number wanting more training in the use of artificial intelligence.
However, 83% ranked their job satisfaction as high. More than every fourth teacher said, however, that they would give up the job if there was an acceptable alternative.
A School Barometer survey of pupils published last week showed that every fourth pupil in Germany felt they had a poor quality of life, while around the same proportion displayed psychological difficulties.
https://p.dw.com/p/5FspuSkip next section June heat record could be broken Friday — DWD06/23/2026June 23, 2026
June heat record could be broken Friday — DWD
Temperatures in some parts of Germany could reach 40 C (104 F) on Friday, breaking the previous June record, a spokeswoman for the German Weather Service (DWD) has told the German DPA news agency.
This was most likely to happen in the west and southwest of the country, she said.
The previous record for June was set on June 30, 2019, in the town of Bernburg in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, with 39.6 C.
The record for the highest temperature ever recorded in Germany was hit just some four weeks later, with 41.2 C registered in the western cities of Tönisvorst and Duisburg.
Temperatures of just above 30 C are forecast for most of Germany on Tuesday, with extreme heat returning on Wednesday and remaining for the rest of the week.
Fire danger is also increasing across the country, with large parts of the south forecast to be at level 4-5 (high danger) by Thursday, while parts of the state of Brandenburg will be at level 5 (very high danger).
Climate scientists say such heat waves will become more common as the Earth continues to warm, largely as a result of the use of fossil fuels by humans.
https://p.dw.com/p/5Ft2WSkip next section Merz pushes for full implementation of pension reform package06/23/2026June 23, 2026
Merz pushes for full implementation of pension reform package
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said that 33 reform proposals made by a special pensions commission formed a unified whole that must be implemented in its entirety.
“All the elements of this reform package must now be implemented quickly,” he said on Tuesday after the commission handed in its report.
He said it would not suffice to simply adopt certain elements and reject others, as they were interlinked and balanced each other out.
The proposals “form an overall concept that only functions in its entirety,” he said.
“Pensions remain secured, and the burden is fairly spread over all social groups and all generations,” he said.
What are some of the commission’s proposals?
- This would mean employees and employers should pay a shared additional sum of up to 2 percentage points on top of current pension contributions for investment in the capital market
- The retirement age should gradually rise to over 67 in the next decades in keeping with the rise in life expectancy
- The self-employed and politicians should also pay into the system, but not civil servants and public officials (Beamten)
- The earliest retirement age should be raised to 64
- Early retirement on full pension for people who have worked at least 45 years should be abolished
https://p.dw.com/p/5FtE1Skip next section Welcome to our coverage06/23/2026June 23, 2026
Welcome to our coverage
Timothy Jones | Rana Taha Editor
The DW newsroom in Bonn wishes all readers a literally warm guten Tag as a midsummer heat wave continues to grip Germany along with much of Europe.
Some schools have decided to let their pupils go home early as the thermometer rises.
But another measuring device, the School Barometer, is also in focus on Tuesday, with teachers asked about their views on the situation at schools today.
The issue of pensions, which has long plagued the coalition government, is also at the fore, after a commission presented a list of more than 30 proposals to reform the system.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called for their full implementation, saying they distribute the burden fairly across the generations.
We will also be looking at the visit to Berlin by Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, whose country is going through a period of political turbulence.
And the famous Michelin guide is to give its star ratings to what it considers to be the best German restaurants at an event in the evening.
Read on for more headlines from Europe’s biggest economy on Tuesday, June 23.
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