Skip next section What you need to know
What you need to know
- Germans grow more conscious about when to eat meat
- Germany’s Olympic committee decides Munich will bid to host the Games in 2036, 2040 or 2044
- Former Chancellor Angela Merkel, a Protestant, wins top Catholic charity’s prize
Follow our blog for the latest news and analysis from across Germany for the weekend of September 26-27, 2026.
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Skip next section How Cold War espionage helped to boost East Germany’s economy09/27/2026September 27, 2026
How Cold War espionage helped to boost East Germany’s economy
Would you think that espionage could significantly boost a country’s economy? In the case of communist East Germany, that seems to have been the case — and to a significant degree.
According to Reuters news agency, a study by the Rockwool Foundation suggests that espionage boosted East Germany’s GDP by a whopping 7.4% in the 1970s and 80s.
How, you ask? Well, the notorious Stasi stole scientific and technical information from companies in the West, handed it to companies in the East and helped them increase productivity and growth.
“Stasi espionage strengthened East Germany’s position within the socialist bloc,” said Albrecht Glitz, co-author of the study. “It did not, however, significantly improve success in Western markets.”
The authors stressed that the East Germany case offers crucial insights for today, as countries again seek to protect strategic technologies, tighten export controls and screen foreign investment in sensitive industries.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NMJpSkip next section Berlin Marathon winner just shy of world record in dramatic finish09/27/2026September 27, 2026
Berlin Marathon winner just shy of world record in dramatic finish
Even as the Berlin Marathon continues for many runners, the winners have already crossed the finish line.
In the Women’s category, Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa looked almost certain to set a new world record only to fall short in the very final stretch. It was only during the last kilometers that she appeared to struggle with a muscle injury or cramp.
She did win, clocking a time of 2:11:04, but did not beat Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56 from 2024.
Among the men racing in Berlin, fellow Ethiopian Guye Adola won the race, crossing the finish line at the Brandenburg Gate with a time of 2:02:51.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NMFLSkip next section Germans grow more conscious about (not) eating meat09/27/2026September 27, 2026
Germans grow more conscious about (not) eating meat
Germany is famous for its variety of sausages and meats. But things seem to be changing somewhat and more people are eating less of some forms of meat — even if they’re far from giving it up entirely.
A study in connection with World Vegetarian Day (on October 1) found 93% of households purchase meat. And the overall amount of meat bought hasn’t actually gone down. That’s only the case for sausages: Fewer people buy them and their overall sales have dropped.
According to the authors of the study, the data suggest that people are not necessarily moving toward vegetarianism or veganism. Instead, many are becoming more conscious about their diet and are trying to reduce their meat consumption without giving it up completely.
Around 43% of meat-eaters do concede that it would be better for them to eat less meat, and 27% say they do hope to buy less in the future. The favorite meat is chicken, followed by pork.
Meat substitutes are also becoming more popular with around 35% of households buying them.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NMDXSkip next section Welcome back09/27/2026September 27, 2026
Welcome back
Andreas Illmer
It’s Sunday morning, and we’re back with our coverage to keep you up to date on what’s going on across Germany.
We’ll see what the day will bring, but so far there’ll be the question of whether Germans are eating less of their beloved (formerly beloved?) meat and sausages, there are new insights into the extent the notorious East German espionage helped to prop up the communist country’s economy. We’ll look at more soul-searching within Chancellor Merz’s Christian Democratic Union over how to react to the battering they received in recent regional elections.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NM67Skip next section We are pausing our coverage09/27/2026September 27, 2026
We are pausing our coverage
We will be back on Sunday morning to bring you more of what’s happening in Germany this weekend.
See you then!
https://p.dw.com/p/5NLaGSkip next section Germany Olympic bid: Munich named candidate city09/26/2026September 26, 2026
Germany Olympic bid: Munich named candidate city
The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) announced on Saturday that Munich has been chosen as Germany’s candidate city to host the Summer Olympics and Paralympics in either 2036, 2040 or 2044.
The Bavarian capital beat a rival Cologne-led bid from the western Rhine-Ruhr region.
Berlin had withdrawn its bid earlier in the week, while the residents of Hamburg voted against a bid in a referendum earlier this year.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NLYfSkip next section Mass protests against cuts to social services 09/26/2026September 26, 2026
Mass protests against cuts to social services
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of cities across Germany on Saturday to voice their opposition to planned government spending cuts and call for a stronger welfare state.
Trade unions said a total of 175,000 took part in the protests, including in Nuremberg (over 20,000), Stuttgart (16,000), Frankfurt (15,000), Hanover (13,000), Essen (12,000), Berlin (5,500) and elsewhere under the slogan: “Hard-earned! Your work. Your health. Your pension.”
Speaking in the western city of Essen, German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) leader Yasmin Fahimi criticized plans by Chancellor Friedrich Merz‘s coalition government to reform working hours and pensions, and warned against cuts to social security benefits.
“We will not simply allow what we have built up over many years in terms of social standards to be taken away from us,” she said.
Pension reform has been the focus of attention for months in Germany, while automobile giant Volkswagen has also announced sweeping job cuts.
The issues played a central role in the recent state elections in Berlin and the eastern states of Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, which resulted in disastrous defeats for Merz’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Nevertheless, the chancellor insisted earlier this month: “The reforms must go ahead.”
Christiane Benner, leader of the trade union IG Metall, warned in Nuremberg against scaling back social security in times of restructuring and job cuts, for example in the automotive sector.
“Economic change can only succeed with confidence in the future and with solidarity,” she said.
German employers, however, accused the trade unions of a “ritual refusal to reform.”
Steffen Kampeter, chief executive of the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations (BDA), told the DPA news agency that “the trade unions say ‘no’ to almost every change” and accused them of “dreaming of the world of yesterday.”
https://p.dw.com/p/5NLPkSkip next section Migration: Dobrindt calls for expanded Frontex role09/26/2026September 26, 2026
Migration: Dobrindt calls for expanded Frontex role
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has called for an “expanded mandate” for the European Union‘s border protection agency Frontex when it comes to the deportation of illegal migrants.
“We are of the belief that we can strengthen the use of Frontex in deportation cases,” he said ahead of a meeting of EU interior ministers in Munich on Saturday, calling for Frontex’s area of operation to be expanded to “transit countries” outside the bloc.
“Of course, only with the agreement of these countries,” he added.
Dobrindt said he also wanted to expand Frontex’s responsibilities to “Dublin Regulations” – referring to the rules which determine which EU member state is responsible for the processing of an asylum application.
“A new European migration mechanism is needed,” he said.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NLOWSkip next section Police close 2 autobahns to free giant wind-turbine09/26/2026September 26, 2026
Police close 2 autobahns to free giant wind-turbine
A wide-load truck carrying a nearly 100-meter-long (328-feet-long) wind turbine blade forced the closure of two motorways in western Germany after it got stuck along a narrow section of the carriageway.
The daily Bild newspaper reported that the truck was traveling along the A43 autobahn near the Recklinghausen interchange in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia when the dramatic incident unfolded on Wednesday evening.
Police said the driver ignored warning signs that the highway was unsuitable for heavy-load vehicles.
“The highway is not permitted for heavy transport vehicles in that area. They have to exit because the route crosses the Rhine-Herne Canal a little further on,” a spokesperson for Münster Police’s highway patrol told Bild.
An automatic barrier and weighing system is meant to prevent loads over 3.5 tons from crossing an old bridge over the canal.
After initially blocking traffic on A43, the truck was ordered onto the hard shoulder to allow traffic to restart along one remaining open lane.
The police spokesperson said “several attempts” were made to free the truck with its ultra-wide cargo over the next two days.
On Friday night, the driver agreed to reverse his truck onto the nearby A2, which forced the temporary closure of a second autobahn, before being allowed to continue his journey just after midnight on Saturday.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NKicSkip next section Rail services canceled, delayed after suspected cable theft09/26/2026September 26, 2026
Rail services canceled, delayed after suspected cable theft
Police blamed disruption to high-speed rail services in western Germany on deliberate damage to signal cabling overnight.
National rail operator Deutsche Bahn said trains running between Dortmund and Munich, Hamburg and Basel, and northern Germany and Cologne faced cancellations, delays and diversions.
According to the Zuginfo.nrw website, the entire Gelsenkirchen metropolitan area is currently impassable.
A police spokesman said officers were investigating suspected cable theft on a railway line in Gelsenkirchen-Ückendorf, where signals and control systems had failed.
The suspects are believed to have crudely cut and ripped out cables beside the tracks at several points.
It is unclear how long the repair work will take.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NKZPSkip next section Caritas honors Merkel with prize for social cohesion09/26/2026September 26, 2026
Caritas honors Merkel with prize for social cohesion
Former Chancellor Angela Merkel, a Protestant, received one of the highest honors of the Catholic Church’s social welfare charity in Germany.
The 72-year-old was awarded the Elisabeth Prize by the Catholic Caritas Association at an event in the southern city of Augsburg on Friday evening.
The prize is named after Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia, who lived from 1207 to 1231 and who helped people in need. She is the patron saint of Caritas.
The honor recognized Merkel’s commitment to social cohesion, with Caritas President Eva Welskop-Deffaa paying tribute to the “inner compass with which she [Merkel] successfully steered the country’s fortunes.”
The former chancellor told the roughly 400 guests that “there will always be a need for people to be there for one another.”
Once seen by some as Mutti — Germany’s reassuring mother figure — Merkel has become an increasingly divisive figure because of her 2015 decision to open the borders to more than a million refugees.
Critics say Merkel’s decision fueled years of backlash that helped turn the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) from a fringe protest party into a force that now leads most national polls.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NKVzSkip next section Dobrindt seeks ‘hardening’ of EU borders at Munich talks09/26/2026September 26, 2026
Dobrindt seeks ‘hardening’ of EU borders at Munich talks
Several European Union interior ministers are meeting in Munich this afternoon to discuss tightening the bloc’s migration policy.
A spokesperson for German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told the Münchner Merkur newspaper that the talks will focus on the “implementation of a shift in migration policy.”
The 17 ministers will discuss “further refining the European Migration Pact, consistently hardening the European Union’s external borders, and accelerating returns from Europe,” the spokesperson added.
Germany and Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands, and Greece are due to hold separate talks about the creation of deportation centers or return hubs in third countries.
Germany hopes to secure a deal with a country in Africa or possibly Asia by the end of the year.
Dobrindt’s spokesperson said the EU’s border agency, Frontex, could be turned into a “border protection and genuine return agency.”
Currently, EU member states are responsible for returning asylum seekers whose applications have failed.
EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner will also attend the Munich talks.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NKPRSkip next section Munich or Cologne: Germany set to pick Olympic bid city 09/26/2026September 26, 2026
Munich or Cologne: Germany set to pick Olympic bid city
Germany’s Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) will reveal at lunchtime which city will bid to host a future Olympic Games.
After the capital, Berlin, withdrew earlier this week, the vote will be a two-horse race between Munich and Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr to be the candidate city for either the 2036, 2040 or 2044 Games.
Germany is keeping its options open regarding which Games to bid for, as the 2036 Olympics is widely expected to go to an Asian country.
The year 2036 is also politically sensitive as it would mark 100 years since Berlin hosted the 1936 Olympics during the Nazi era.
Some policymakers want Germany to bid for 2040, as it will mark 50 years since German reunification.
If it wins, Munich plans to host most Olympic events within city limits and already has stadia and other sports infrastructure in place, including the Olympic Park, which was built for the 1972 Games.
Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr plans to spread the Games across several cities, including Schalke for swimming events, Düsseldorf for basketball and football at Borussia Dortmund’s 81,000-seat stadium.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NKLqSkip next section Welcome to our coverage09/26/2026September 26, 2026
Welcome to our coverage
Good morning from DW. In Munich, you’ll often hear Grüss Gott (greet God), while in Cologne and Germany’s Rhine-Ruhr region, people often say Tachchen (Hey there).
It’s decision day for both cities as Germany’s Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) picks which one will bid to host the Olympic Games in 2036, 2040, or 2044.
Munich will also be hosting European interior ministers for talks on implementing a tougher EU migration policy.
Fifteen other cities, including Berlin, Hamburg and Nuremberg, will stage protests against the government’s planned cuts to the social welfare bill.
We’ll bring you updates on these and other top news stories from across Germany throughout the day.
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