Nature and EnvironmentGermany

Germany updates: 1,000 firefighters tackle wildfires in east

Richard Connor | Emmy Sasipornkarn | Alex Berry with dpa, AFP, Reuters, APPublished 07/04/2025Published July 4, 2025last updated 07/05/2025last updated July 5, 2025

Two major wildfires have been burning in the eastern German states of Saxony and Thuringia. Meanwhile, several people were injured when a bus overturned in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Follow DW for more.

https://p.dw.com/p/4wwC4Firefighters have been tackling the blaze since Tuesday, but have been unable to bring it under controlImage: Robert Michael/dpa/picture allianceSkip next section What you need to know

What you need to know

Following a heat wave that brought temperatures up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) across parts of Germany, firefighters have been deployed to tackle raging fires.

A total of 1,000 emergency personnel have been deployed to Gohrischheide in Saxony and the Saalfelder Höhe in Thuringia, both in eastern Germany.

Firefighters on the scene estimated the extent of the affected area to reach 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres).

These live updates have been closed. Thank you for reading.

Below, you can read a roundup of key developments related to Germany from Friday, July 4 and Saturday, July 5.

Skip next section Pride and protest in eastern Germany07/05/2025July 5, 2025

Pride and protest in eastern Germany

Pride marches are increasingly targeted by right-wing extremists in GermanyImage: Christoph Soeder/dpa/picture alliance

Several hundred people on Saturday celebrated the Christopher Street Day (CSD) parade to promote diversity and tolerance for the LGBTQ+ community in Falkensee, a town in the eastern German state of Brandenburg.

A banner reads ‘CSD instead of AFD,’ the far-right party which opposes same-sex marriageImage: Christoph Soeder/dpa/picture alliance

On the same day, several dozen participants protested against Pride events.

A banner read ‘No to CSD’Image: Christoph Soeder/dpa/picture alliance

Police say both the march and the counter demonstration remained peaceful.

https://p.dw.com/p/4x1AoSkip next section PSG edge Bayern in Club World Cup thriller as Musiala suffers horror injury07/05/2025July 5, 2025

PSG edge Bayern in Club World Cup thriller as Musiala suffers horror injury

Paris Saint-Germain have booked a spot in the Club World Cup semifinals after a tense 2-0 win over Bayern Munich — but the match was overshadowed by a gruesome injury to young German star Jamal Musiala.

Desire Doue opened the scoring in the 78th minute after Joao Neves robbed Harry Kane near midfield and sparked a quick counter that ended with Doue’s left-footed shot beating Manuel Neuer at the near post.

PSG finished with nine men after late red cards for Willian Pacho and Lucas Hernandez, but clung on as Bayern threw everything forward. Ousmane Dembele sealed the win deep into stoppage time with a breakaway goal.

Bayern had two goals ruled out for offside, including a Harry Kane header, and saw a late penalty overturned by VAR.

Musiala’s injury stunned both teams. In first-half stoppage time, PSG keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma collided with Musiala’s left ankle while diving for a loose ball, leaving the 22-year-old’s foot hanging at an unnatural angle. Donnarumma was visibly shaken as Musiala was stretchered off.

PSG will face either Real Madrid or Borussia Dortmund in Wednesday’s semifinal at East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Saturday’s quarterfinal drew 66,937 fans to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta — the city’s biggest crowd yet ahead of next year’s World Cup.

The injury to Musiala made a bad day for Bayern even worseImage: Malachi Gabriel/ZUMA/picture alliance https://p.dw.com/p/4x13PSkip next section Father and child missing after boating accident on Bavarian lake07/05/2025July 5, 2025

Father and child missing after boating accident on Bavarian lake

Richard Connor

A father and his child have gone missing after a boating accident on the Eibsee, an Alpine lake in southern Germany, police said on Saturday.

The family of four was out on a pedal boat when the six-year-old fell into the water and the father jumped in to rescue them — but neither resurfaced.

Emergency responders are caring for the mother and the couple’s other child, aged four.

Police said the family is from Bavaria. A major rescue operation is underway with helicopters and divers searching the lake.

https://p.dw.com/p/4x0tuSkip next section Wildfires in eastern Germany continue to rage07/05/2025July 5, 2025

Wildfires in eastern Germany continue to rage

Emmy SasipornkarnHundreds have been deployed to battle the firesImage: Daniel Wagner/dpa/picture alliance

Firefighters and emergency personnel continue to battle the forest fire in the Gohrischheide region on the border between the eastern German states of Saxony and Brandenburg.

The situation on the Saxony side remains more difficult. Around 700 firefighters were deployed on Saturday afternoon, according to a statement from the Meissen district office.

Mario Voigt, the premier of Thuringia, traveled to the fire area on SaturdayImage: Daniel Vogl/dpa/picture alliance

The situation in the Saalfelder Höhe in Thuringia has been stabilized, according to authorities. Emergency services were able to prevent the fire from spreading overnight.

“Our emergency services have the situation under control,” the Thuringian State Chancellery, which called the forest fire “the largest of its kind” in the state in over 30 years, posted on X.

https://p.dw.com/p/4x13eSkip next section AfD leader blasts SPD ban push as ‘reminder of dark times’07/05/2025July 5, 2025

AfD leader blasts SPD ban push as ‘reminder of dark times’

Richard Connor

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party leader Alice Weidel says the cente-left Social Democrats’ (SPD) push to consider banning her party reminds her of “very dark times.”

Speaking in Berlin on Saturday, Weidel compared the idea to Adolf Hitler’s crackdown on other parties and the press.

The SPD’s party conference last weekend called for constitutional bodies to prepare conditions to file an application to have the AfD declared unconstitutional.

Any party ban would have to be decided by Germany’s Constitutional Court and requested by the federal government or parliament.

Calls for a ban have gained momentum after Germany’s domestic intelligence service upgraded its assessment of the AfD, citing “confirmed right-wing extremist tendencies.” The party is challenging this label in court.

Meanwhile, AfD lawmakers passed a new code of conduct on Saturday, with co-leader Tino Chrupalla aiming to polish the party’s image ahead of any future term in office. The code calls for a united and moderate front in parliament, along with rules to prevent corruption and conflicts of interest.

Weidel compared the proposed move by the SPD to the crushing of resistance by the NazisImage: Andreas Gora/IMAGO https://p.dw.com/p/4x0vVSkip next section Germany captain Gwinn out of women’s Euro 202507/05/2025July 5, 2025

Germany captain Gwinn out of women’s Euro 2025

Germany captain Giulia Gwinn will miss the rest of the Women’s Euros in Switzerland due to a left knee injury, the German football federation (DFB) announced on Saturday.

“Our captain sustained a medial ligament injury in her left knee yesterday in the match against Poland. She is expected to be out for several weeks.”, the DFB posted on X.

Gwinn had to be helped off the field in tears in the 40th minute of Germany’s opening 2-0 victory over Poland on Friday in St. Gallen.

She suffered an injury after making a crucial tackle on Poland’s striker, Ewa Pajor.

It was originally feared that she had suffered a third anterior cruciate ligament tear since 2020.

https://p.dw.com/p/4x0vJSkip next section Anti-German graffiti sprayed on property in Spain’s Mallorca07/05/2025July 5, 2025

Anti-German graffiti sprayed on property in Spain’s Mallorca

Anti-German graffiti has appeared on shops and cars on the Spanish island of Mallorca, a popular holiday destination for many Germans, the German-language Mallorca Zeitung newspaper reported on Saturday.

The perpetrators defaced dozens of German-owned shops and cars with foreign licensed plates with slogans such as “Germans out” and “Foreign buyers go to hell” in the small southern village of Santanyi.

Police have confirmed the incidents to German news agency DPA

“It is frightening to feel such a wave of hatred after 34 years on the island, where I pay taxes and currently employ nine people,” one man affected was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

In recent years, there have been rising tensions between tourists, foreign property owners, and locals on the holiday island.

Thousands have protested at regular rallies against mass tourism and a housing shortage.

Toxic tourism — Mallorca’s housing crisis

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

https://p.dw.com/p/4x0twSkip next section Welcome back to our coverage07/05/2025July 5, 2025

Welcome back to our coverage

Emmy Sasipornkarn | Saim Dušan Inayatullah Editor

Guten Abend from Bonn!

We are continuing our coverage of news from Germany over the weekend.

Anti-tourist graffiti was sited on the Spanish Mediterranean island of Mallorca, a beloved holidaying spot for Germans.

Wildfires continued to rage in eastern Germany.

Stick around for the latest on these stories and much more from DW.

https://p.dw.com/p/4x0tbSkip next section German education minister floats limiting foreign students in classrooms07/04/2025July 4, 2025

German education minister floats limiting foreign students in classrooms

Jon Shelton

German Education Minister Karin Prien recently suggested she could be open to introducing limits to the number of foreign-born students allowed into German classrooms.

The minister is a member of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Prien, speaking on a recent broadcast of the show Welt TV, said a Danish model limiting the number of foreign students in a given classroom could be one that might work in Germany.

Without advocating one model or another, Prien — who can only make suggestions as education is a state, not a federal responsibility in Germany — said that the most important factor defining a child’s chances of success was whether he or she could speak German.

The education minister said she strongly believes in language proficiency tests for pre-schoolers, “because every child in this country deserves to have the same chances.”

Education Minister Karin Prien’s comments on potentially limiting the number of foreign-born students in schools was met with backlash [FILE: July 2, 2025]Image: dts-Agentur/picture alliance

What was the response to Prien’s comments?

Prien’s oppenness to the idea of limiting foreign-born students in schools was not warmly greeted by everyone. Federal Government Commissioner for Migration, Refugees, and Integration Natalie Pawlik, for instance, said, “Germany doesn’t need classroom quotas,” adding that they won’t solve the problems the country’s education system faces.

Pawlik did, however, agree with Prien that every child in Germany should be able to speak the language, whether they are foreign-born or not. She, too, advocated for intensifying language lessons at the pre-school level.

Vezi toate știrile de pe actualizări germania pompieri

Pawlik belongs to the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), which is the CDU’s junior coalition partner.

Gerhard Brand, federal chairman of the German Education Association (VBE), summed up his view of the matter by assessing, “Confronting a real situation with unrealistic suggestions will not help anyone.”

https://p.dw.com/p/4wyTcSkip next section Dobrindt to host migration policy summit on Germany’s top peak07/04/2025July 4, 2025

Dobrindt to host migration policy summit on Germany’s top peak

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt is set to host his counterparts from neighboring countries for talks on tightening European migration rules at a meeting on Germany’s highest mountain on July 18.

The summit on the Zugspitze — a 2,962-metre (9,718-foot) peak on the German-Austrian border — aims to give fresh momentum to a tougher European migration policy, according to the Interior Ministry.

Interior ministers from France, Poland, Austria, Denmark and the Czech Republic, along with EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner, have been invited.

They plan to discuss ways to combat people smuggling and improve deportations during the gathering some 100 kilometers (just over 60 miles) south-west of Munich.

EU member states have long debated tightening the bloc’s common asylum system, known as GEAS, due to be fully in place by 2026. Under the latest reform, countries cannot deport asylum seekers outside the EU if there is no connection to that country — a rule some states want removed.

The Zugspitze is the highest point in Germany. It sits on the border between Germany and Austria, in the Bavarian Alps, and is a well-known destination for skiing, hiking and mountaineering.

https://p.dw.com/p/4wy2JSkip next section Merz held call with Trump over Ukraine — report07/04/2025July 4, 2025

Merz held call with Trump over Ukraine — report

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz reportedly held a phone call with US President Donald Trump on Thursday, German magazine Spiegel reported on Friday, citing government sources.

There was little information released about the content of the conversation, but the magazine said the two leaders discussed Ukraine, including strengthening its air defenses, and trade issues.

The call came after the US announced a pause in certain arms deliveries to Ukraine.

For more on the latest from Ukraine, follow our live blog.

https://p.dw.com/p/4wy2aSkip next section Left populist BSW open to talks with far-right AfD07/04/2025July 4, 2025

Left populist BSW open to talks with far-right AfD

The BSW suffered a defeat at a federal level, but is involved in state governments in Thuringia and BrandenburgImage: Kay Nietfeld/dpa/picture alliance

One of the leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Tino Chrupalla, said on Thursday that his party was in talks with the left-wing, anti-immigrant populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) on a federal level.

Wagenknecht on Friday denied that there were any ongoing talks with the AfD, however, she said that her party was also open to possible talks.

The two parties already held talks in the state of Thuringia following last year’s election that saw the AfD come out as the largest party. However, due to other parties refusing to work with the far-right, the state government was eventually formed from the center-right CDU, center-left SPD and the BSW.

“Exclusion and speaking bans are undemocratic and a slap in the face of these voters who will only feel more connected to the AfD,” Wagenknecht said of the other parties.

“The firewall politics has made the AfD even stronger and should not be continued,” she added.

Wagenknecht formed her eponymous party after splitting from the Left Party after years of discord between her and other parts of the party for her populist and anti-immigrant rhetoric.

But the BSW failed to make it across the 5% threshold to get into the Bundestag in February’s federal election by a razor-thin margin. The AfD secured the second-highest vote share with 20% of the votes.

The comments from the AfD and the BSW come after Wagenknecht said her party will vote with far-right parties in the European Parliament in a no-confidence vote against European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen.

Other German parties have criticized Wagenknecht for cozying up to the far-right, with Janis Ehling from her former Left Party saying: “Whoever snuggles up with fascists betrays everything it means to be a left-winger.”

https://p.dw.com/p/4wxjhSkip next section Police seize drugs worth €1.3 million in raids07/04/2025July 4, 2025

Police seize drugs worth €1.3 million in raids

Police have searched 21 properties in Burgenlandkreis in the south ofSaxony-Anhalt and five more in Saxony as part of an investigation led by the Halle public prosecutor’s office.

Six men aged 25 to 36 have been taken into custody in the two eastern states.

Officers seized about 70 kilograms (about 155 pounds) of marijuana, six kilograms of crystal meth, 3.5 kilograms of cocaine and one kilogram of ecstasy — with a street value estimated at €1.3 million ( height: 0; max-height: 0;”>Shoplifting is on the rise, say retailersImage: Carsten Milbret/imageBROKER/picture alliance

A new survey of major German retailers has found a rise in theft, committed by organized gangs or by individuals who find it ever more difficult to make ends meet.

But some criminologists doubt the figures.

Read the full story on the reports of increasing shoplifting cases in Germany here.

https://p.dw.com/p/4wxGdSkip next section UN criticizes Germany over plans to deport people to Afghanistan07/04/2025July 4, 2025

UN criticizes Germany over plans to deport people to Afghanistan

Following reports that Germany is planning to open a direct line with the Taliban to enable the deportation of Afghans living in Germany, the UN said such a move was “not appropriate.”

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Thursday he was open to “making agreements directly with Afghanistan to enable deportations.”

In response, Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said it was “not appropriate to return people to Afghanistan,” while speaking to reporters in Geneva.

“We have been documenting continuing human rights violations in Afghanistan,” she said.

Arafat Jamal, who works for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in Kabul, said a “non-return advisory” was still in place for Afghanistan.

“In other words… the conditions on the ground are not yet ready for returns,” he said.

“We urge countries not to forcibly return to Afghanistan.”

Germany stopped deportations to Afghanistan in 2021 when the Taliban retook control of the country. However, amid a rise of the far-right and anti-immigrant rhetoric, the government led by the conservative bloc of Chancellor Friedrich Merz has put deportations high on the agenda.

Afghan refugee family faces migration reality in Germany