Skip next section What you need to know
What you need to know
Here is a roundup of top stories from and about Germany on Friday, August 14, 2026:
- A wildfire near the Belgian border has forced around 1,800 people to leave their homes
- Flames burned within 400 meters of one village
- Amid high temperatures, farmers say drought could badly damage grain, potato, vegetable and feed crop harvests
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Skip next section IN PICTURES — Emergency services respond to Hürtgenwald wildfirePublished 08/14/2026Published August 14, 2026last updated 08/14/2026last updated August 14, 2026
IN PICTURES — Emergency services respond to Hürtgenwald wildfire
https://p.dw.com/p/5IqFvSkip next section Catamaran passenger ferry crashes into Lake Constance harbor wall 08/14/2026August 14, 2026
Catamaran passenger ferry crashes into Lake Constance harbor wall
A catamaran passenger ferry has crashed on Lake Constance, colliding with the harbor wall.
Police said that 12 people were injured, and it was not immediately clear how seriously. They were receiving treatment on site.
Images showed that the ship had collided head-on with the harbor wall, sustaining quite considerable damage. It was still afloat, however.
Police said there was no fuel leak and no environmental hazard posed by the incident. What caused the early morning carsh was not immediately clear.
The hourly catamaran ferry brings people across Lake Constance, or the Bodensee in German, from Konstanz to Friedrichshafen.
https://p.dw.com/p/5Iq7bSkip next section Fire service: ‘Under no circumstances’ are residents likely to return this evening08/14/2026August 14, 2026
Fire service: ‘Under no circumstances’ are residents likely to return this evening
A firefighters’ spokesman, Peter Berndgen, has told the dpa news agency that he does not expect locals in Gey to be able to return to their homes on Friday. By his estimation, Berndgen said, “under no circumstances” was this likely.
Local politician Ralf Nolten similarly suggested the evacuation could continue, saying “we need to be able to work freely,” with clear roads to allow vehicles easy access to the area.
Berndgen said the efforts to extinguish the blaze could take days.
“We have very unfortunate conditions for fighting a forest fire today,” he said, calling it a “red flag day” — with high temperatures, high humidity and high winds all fanning the flames.
Berndgen said specialist teams were using machine saws, tanks and other equipment to try to rapidly cut trees and form a 15-meter (49-foot) containment line around the fire, seeking to deny it the fuel it needs to spread.
https://p.dw.com/p/5IqXBSkip next section Where is the Hürtgenwald region of Germany?08/14/2026August 14, 2026
Where is the Hürtgenwald region of Germany?
https://p.dw.com/p/5IqDXSkip next section Merz thanks emergency services fighting Eifel wildfires08/14/2026August 14, 2026
Merz thanks emergency services fighting Eifel wildfires
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has voiced thanks to emergency services fighting the wildfires near the Dutch and Belgian borders.
“Wildfires are burning in many parts of the country. I am being continuously updated on developments,” Merz wrote in a post on social media. “Where ever it’s possible, federal police and the military are providing assistance. I thank all the emergency services for their tireless endeavors, often to the point of exhaustion.”
https://p.dw.com/p/5IqBLSkip next section Almost half of Bundestag sign up to new ‘opt-out’ organ donor model08/14/2026August 14, 2026
Almost half of Bundestag sign up to new ‘opt-out’ organ donor model
More than 200 lawmakers in the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, have signed up to a cross-party initiative seeking to change Germany’s organ donor rules.
The proposal seeks to move from an “opt-in” system to an “opt-out” one.
At present, people in Germany have to carry a donor card, register as an organ donor, or otherwise inform healthcare professionals of their willingness to donate in a legally binding manner before death. If they do not, and they are deemed potentially viable donors, sometimes their next of kin are asked to decide on their behalf — a traumatic and difficult decision in the midst of a bereavement.
With donor rates consistently failing to meet demand, some medical professionals have long advocated a system where instead of declaring your willingness to donate, you are assumed to be a potential donor unless you specifically say you are not a willing participant.
A draft law has been put forward in the Bundestag — not as a government initiative but as a cross party conscience vote, typically for causes with only a narrow chance of success but which politicians nevertheless wish to put in the spotlight.
In this case, however, 245 lawmakers have already signed the motion, in a chamber with 630 politicians. If the bill could gather some more support during the parliamentary process, it might have a chance of progressing.
Parliamentary debate on the bill is scheduled after lawmakers return from the summer break.
Around 8,000 people are currently on donor waiting lists in Germany.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5Iq3QSkip next section WWII munitions complicate Eifel firefighting08/14/2026August 14, 2026
WWII munitions complicate Eifel firefighting
Bundeswehr forces joined in the fight against a forest fire raging in the Eifel on Friday, adding two water transport helicopter to the operation aimed at extinguishing the Hürtgenwald blaze.
Complicating matters are the numerous munitions scattered across the area since the end of the second world war.
In an effort to safely expedite access to the area, the Bundeswehr also deployed two rescue tanks to clear munitions and cut fire roads.
“The terrain is very difficult, and because of the high concentration of ammunition,” as local councilman Ralf Nolten (CDU) told Germany’s dpa news agency, “we can’t send individual firefighters in with firefighting backpacks,” said Nolten adding, “We also heard the explosions” that went off overnight.
In the fall and winter of 1944 and 1945, the Hürtgenwald was the scene of heavy fighting between US and Nazi-German troops as US tanks sought to finish their push east into Germany to end the war.
The ferocity and scale of the fighting led US soldiers stuck there waiting for reinforcements and facing entrenched German defenses to dub it “the death factory.”
https://p.dw.com/p/5IpdCSkip next section Car industry hemorrhaging jobs08/14/2026August 14, 2026
Car industry hemorrhaging jobs
Germany’s automotive branch is losing jobs faster than any industrial sector in the economy according to the Federal Statistical Office Destatis.
The automotive industry is second only to mechanical engineering when it comes to size, yet its employment numbers are now at their lowest since 2005.
At the end of the first half of 2026, 691,500 people were employed in Germany’s leading industry, a drop of 42,300 workers, or 5.8%, within a single year.
Destatis said manufacturing employment fell by 2.7% overall but had fallen by 7.6% in the automobile sector. Smaller segments within the car sector fell by 10%, whereas manufacturers themselves registered a 6.1% drop in employment.
In May, Germany’s Association of the Automobile Industry (VDA) warned that the sector stands to lose as many as 225,000 jobs by 2035.
Numerous German manufacturers, such as VW, Audi and Porsche, have all cut jobs in an effort to remain lean in the face of rising Chinese competition and punitive US tariffs.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5IpYYSkip next section German hiker injured in Alps fall08/14/2026August 14, 2026
German hiker injured in Alps fall
A 66-year old German hiker was seriously injured in a fall in the Austrian Alps on Friday according to authorities in Nesselwängle, Tyrol.
Emergency services say the man slipped and fell a few meters, losing consciousness before falling over a second, 40-meter-high (132-foot) cliff.
The man’s daughter and others administered first-aid and contacted mountain rescue. He was airlifted to an Innsbruck hospital.
On Thursday, a 36-year-old German died in a fall in Zillertal, Tyrol. A few days earlier, a 74-year-old German similarly died from a fall in East Tyrol.
https://p.dw.com/p/5IocCSkip next section Dramatic rescue in Berlin high-rise fire08/14/2026August 14, 2026
Dramatic rescue in Berlin high-rise fire
Several people were injured Friday morning when fire broke out in a 21-story apartment complex in Berlin’s Friedrichshain neighborhood, near the Ostbahnhof train station.
The blaze started on the 11th floor, say firefighters, and quickly spread to floors above.
A fire department spokesperson described the situation as “dramatic.”
Witnesses say numerous residents stood at windows and balconies prepared to jump rather than be consumed by smoke and flames.
Although jump cushions were installed as a precaution below, these were not used and authorities say residents were retrieved from a stairwell with a rescue ladder.
Some 130 fire, police and emergency services personnel were in action before residents could be saved and the fire extinguished.
Smoke damage is said to have been extensive, causing at least five injuries, and leaving roughly 70 people to be cared for on site.
The cause of the fire is unclear, though police are treating it as a possible balcony fire.
https://p.dw.com/p/5InwcSkip next section German military joins battle against Eifel wildfire08/14/2026August 14, 2026
German military joins battle against Eifel wildfire
The German military has deployed firefighting helicopters to help tackle a major forest fire in the northern Eifel region of western Germany.
Two NH90 transport helicopters took off from Fassberg in Lower Saxony on Friday morning, according to the Defense Ministry.
The helicopters are equipped with so-called Bambi Buckets, collapsible containers carried beneath the aircraft to drop water over burning areas.
Each helicopter can release around 2,000 liters (about 530 gallons) of water during a single run.
Several hundred hectares of forest are burning close to the municipality of Hürtgenwald in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The village of Gey has been evacuated after flames moved dangerously close to homes.
Germany’s military has also recently used CH-53 helicopters to help fight forest fires in France.
https://p.dw.com/p/5IoUkSkip next section Farmers fear drought will wipe out this year’s harvestPublished 08/14/2026Published August 14, 2026last updated 08/14/2026last updated August 14, 2026
Farmers fear drought will wipe out this year’s harvest
Farmers fear they could see harvests wiped out entirely by ongoing drought and unseasonably high temperatures, says German Farmers’ Association (DBV) President Joachim Ruckwied.
“We expect below-average grain harvests, especially when it comes to wheat and rapeseed,” he said during an interview with Germany’s Redaktionsnetzwerk media group.
“As far as fall crops are concerned, the trend suggests we must expect significant yield losses here as well.”
Potatoes, vegetables and sugar beets, as well as grain maize and soy could be affected.
Ruckwied warned that although farmers in the north could hope for “acceptable” if “below-average” harvests thanks to occasional rains, farmers in drier southern Germany could be facing “total harvest loss.”
“What’s becoming a problem, especially in southern Germany, is that feed crops aren’t coming in,” he added, noting that this would force farmers to slaughter animals earlier than usual.
The threat adds to the financial pressure farmers already face when it comes to buying seed, fertilizer and pesticides, says Ruckwied.
“The economic situation is brutal… on the one hand high investment costs, and on the other, lower market prices for agricultural products.”
https://p.dw.com/p/5Inl1Skip next section Wildfire forces evacuation in western GermanyPublished 08/14/2026Published August 14, 2026last updated 08/14/2026last updated August 14, 2026
Wildfire forces evacuation in western Germany
Fire forced the evacuation of some 1,800 residents in the Hürtgenwald area of western Germany’s Eifel region Friday morning as flames, fueled by shifting winds crept within 400 meters (a quarter mile) of the village of Gey.
The village is about 45 kilometers (28 miles) southwest of Cologne and close to the Belgian border.
Officials declared a “mass damage situation” Thursday evening before evacuations were ordered around 4 a.m. local time (0200 GMT) Friday morning.
Residents were told to gather only their most important possessions — above all documents and medicine — when leaving. They were also instructed to wear masks if possible due to poor air quality and those needing assistance were told to call emergency services.
An emergency shelter was set up at a nearby schoolhouse.
Hürtgenwald, located in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia near the Belgian border, has an overall population of about 9,000.
Authorities say roughly 25 hectares (62 acres) of forest is currently burning there — an area equivalent to 35 soccer pitches.
https://p.dw.com/p/5IniUSkip next section Germany sees rise in new business registrationsPublished 08/14/2026Published August 14, 2026last updated 08/14/2026last updated August 14, 2026
Germany sees rise in new business registrations
Germany saw a noticeable rise in new business registrations in the first half of this year. Around 352,400 new businesses were registered, up 8.3% compared with the same period last year, according to the Federal Statistical Office.
Of these, around 69,600 were considered businesses of greater economic significance — for example because of their legal form or because they planned to employ staff. That was 3.0% more than a year earlier.
At the same time, the number of complete business closures in this category fell by 3.8% to around 49,800.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5Inh0Skip next section Welcome to our coverage08/14/2026August 14, 2026
Welcome to our coverage
Guten Tag from the DW newsroom in Bonn.
A wildfire has forced the evacuation of around 1,800 people in western Germany’s Eifel region.
The fire spread close to the village of Gey in the Hürtgenwald area, southwest of Cologne.
Officials ordered residents to leave early on Friday morning.
Meanwhile, German farmers have warned that drought and unusually high temperatures could cause major crop losses this year.
Stay with us here for these stories and more of the things that Germany is talking about today.
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