Germany news: WWII bomb forces major evacuation in Dresden

Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is helping some German tourists travel home while on his visit to the Middle East.

Around a dozen German nationals were set to join the minister on his flight from Doha to Riyadh on Wednesday, according to the German Foreign Office. They are among the many people stranded in the region since the US-Israel war with Iran began in late February.

Alongside Wadephul's delegation, the group aboard the German A400M military aircraft included three families with children and a member of the German armed forces.

From the Saudi capital, the passengers are set to travel home on a special flight arranged by the German government.

Alternatively, Germans can take the overland route to Saudi Arabia, with a bus journey from Doha taking around 14 hours.

DPA news agency reports that hundreds of German nationals have been able to leave Qatar so far. However, there is no exact figure on how many Germans remain trapped in the Middle East.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is in favor of a proposal to build new nuclear power plants in the EU.

But German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says it's impossible.

Read DW's full report on why Germany looks unlikely to welcome back nuclear power.

 

Voters in Germany's south-eastern state of Bavaria took to the polls on Sunday to decide the make-up of their local parliaments.

Bavaria's conservative CSU party came in first place with 32.5%, according to official results on Wednesday. Down from 34.5% in the last vote in 2020, it appears to be the party's worst local election result since 1952.

CSU is the sister-party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's CDU, which is facing major tests at the ballot box this year.

Meanwhile, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won 12.2% of the vote — a huge increase from the 4.7% it achieved in the state's last local election.

Slightly surpassing the AfD, the Greens came in second place at 13.6%. However, they also faced significant losses compared to their result in 2020.

The Social Democratic Party (SPD), which generally performs well in large cities such as Munich, placed third at 12.3%. The result marks another historic low for the federal coalition partner.

An unexploded bomb from World War II was successfully defused in the eastern German city of Dresden on Wednesday, according to police.

Earlier in the day, 18,000 people were evacuated from the city center — the largest such operation that has taken place in the city, according to emergency services.

DPA news agency reports that the evacuation zone has now been opened and people are allowed to return to their homes, citing police.

The 250-kilogram (550-pound) British-made bomb was discovered on Tuesday during efforts to rebuild a bridge over the river Elbe, which collapsed over a year ago.

More than 400 police were deployed to the scene, supported by a helicopter and a drone.

In a statement, authorities said that experts "removed the detonator of the bomb at 3:10 p.m. before exploding it." They added that the bomb had also been cleared from the site.

Germany hosts one of the largest Iranian diaspora communities.

Uncertainty dominates everyday life: What does the future hold for Iran? Will the country slide into civil war, or is there a chance for democratic change? 

The German government is commemorating the National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorist Violence.

Victims of terrorist attacks in Germany and their families were invited to a memorial service in Berlin on Wednesday, alongside the country's Federal Minister of Justice Stefanie Hubig.

"Terrorism is directed against all of us," Hubig said.

"Terrorist violence kills, injures, traumatizes, robs mothers and fathers, children, siblings, grandparents, friends," the minister added.

According to Hubig, the day "calls on us to listen, to be there and to support… As a nation, we stand permanently by those affected."

Flags across the country were lowered to half-mast, as Germany has experienced a difficult recent history of terrorist violence. In December 2024, an attack on the Magdeburg Christmas market killed six people and injured more than 300.

On this day in 2004, four commuter trains in Madrid were bombed by Islamist terrorists, killing more than 190 people and injuring around 1,800 others. Since 2005, the anniversary has been marked as a European day of remembrance for victims of terrorist violence, which was added three years ago as a national observance in Germany.

German airline Lufthansa has said that it aims to operate at least half of its scheduled flights, despite a two-day pilots' union strike planned for Thursday and Friday.

On long-haul routes, Lufthansa estimates that approximately 60% of flights could depart. Its subsidiary Lufthansa ⁠Cargo ​will ​need to ​cancel 20% ‌of its ​flights ⁠on those days, according to Reuters.

"For Lufthansa, it is ​a top priority to get as many passengers as possible to their destinations despite the strike call," Francesco Sciortino, ⁠the ​airline's Frankfurt hub manager, said in a statement.

Earlier, DPA news agency reported that the German "Vereinigung Cockpit" pilots' union expects around 300 Lufthansa ‌flights ⁠to ⁠be canceled on each day of the strike, citing the union's president ‌Andreas ​Pinheiro.

The union refrained from striking last week due to the escalating conflict in the Middle East and has said it will exempt flights to several destinations in the region from the strike.

“No passenger will be stranded in the crisis area because of us," the union's vice president Katharina Diesseldorff said.

The upcoming industrial action follows a one-day Lufthansa strike in mid-February, when 800 flights were cancelled and 100,000 travellers were affected.

Nazi memorabilia and propaganda material were among items seized in raids investigating right-wing extremist publisher, "Der Schelm."

Searches took place in several federal states and premises in European countries as part of the probe.

A total of ten apartments and businesses in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Brandenburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony, as well as four other premises in Spain and Poland, were searched, according to the Karlsruhe public prosecutor's office and the Baden-Württemberg State Criminal Police Office (LKA).

The right-wing extremist publishing house "Der Schelm" has been the subject of investigation for several years — that name has many potential translations in English, including the rogue, the knave, or the imp. 

The publishing house is understood to distribute publications with anti-Semitic and seditious content, as well as writings denying the Holocaust.

The public prosecutor's office is probing eight suspects, primarily on suspicion of sedition in at least 488 cases, according to the statement.

The 61-year-old prime suspect is currently believed to be in Russia.

Germany's Foreign Office has withdrawn diplomatic staff at the consulate in Erbil due to the security situation resulting from the Iran war.

Erbil is the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq and has been repeatedly targeted since February 28, when the conflict began.

The move comes after Germany pulled out embassy staff from Iraq's capital Baghdad on Monday as US-Israeli strikes on Iran and retaliatory strikes continued.

Germany is preparing to release part of its national oil reserves as energy prices soar amid the war in Iran, German Economy and Energy Minister Katherina Reiche said in Berlin on Wednesday.

Germany is joining other G7 countries in releasing reserves as part of an internationally coordinated effort to stabilize energy prices.

The move comes after the International Energy Association (IEA) held a special meeting on Tuesday about the possibility of member states releasing national reserves.

"The International Energy Agency therefore asked its member states yesterday evening to release oil reserves amounting to 400 million barrels," Reiche said, adding: "We will comply with this request and make our contribution."

This would correspond to over 19 million barrels from Germany, or 20% of reserves, the DPA news agency reported.

Reiche said that gas stations in Germany would only be allowed to raise prices once per day in a bid to stem out of control price hikes. As of Wednesday afternoon, the price of Brent crude, seen as a global benchmark, was hovering around $90 per barrel.

Germany's inflation rate eased in February, confirming estimates, according to data from the German federal statistics office Destatis.

The consumer price index for February sat at 1.9%, weakening from the 2.1% seen in January.

"The increase in consumer prices slowed slightly in February," Destatis President Ruth Brand said.

"In particular, the rise in food prices eased significantly and had a downward effect on the development of prices, while services continued to drive up inflation," Brand said.

The price of food moved up at a slower rate of 1.1% after climbing 2.1% in January, while energy prices dropped by 1.9% after a 1.7% decrease seen in January.

The president of Germany's lower house of parliament, Julia Klöckner, is on a visit to Kyiv, her first since taking office.

Klöckner is expected to express Germany's solidarity with Ukraine amid Russia's ongoing invasion and to discuss issues related to energy and air defenses.

Ruslan Stefanchuk, chairman of Ukraine's parliament, was there to welcome Klöckner at the railway platform in the Ukrainian capital.

German luxury carmaker Porsche has reported a marked drop in net profit during 2025.

Operating profit, including financial services, plummeted by almost 93 percent to €410 million ($476 million), the company said on Wednesday.

In comparison, operating profit in the 2024 financial year had been €5.64 billion.

The company faced a number of challenges with slow sales in China, the US tariff regime adding significant costs and then Porsche's electric car demand coming in well below expectations.

Former chief executive Oliver Blume had also revised the company's strategy before stepping down, by expanding the range of combustion-engine vehicles in a bid to support sales.

"We are using the current challenges as an opportunity to act even more decisively," said current CEO Michael Leiters.

"We will comprehensively reposition Porsche, make the company leaner, faster and the products even more desirable," Leiters said.

German defense company Rheinmetall has reported a record core profit in 2025 as European countries push to re-arm against the backdrop of a hostile Russia and with transatlantic ties in the balance.

The group saw operating profit hit a new record of €1.8 billion ($2.1 billion) last year, while sales shot up nearly 30% to €9.9 billion.

Sales were forecast to grow up to 45% in 2026, to a maximum of €14.5 billion. 

"The world is changing rapidly, and Rheinmetall is well prepared," CEO Armin Papperger said.

"We are needed when it comes to increasing the defense capabilities of Germany and Europe and creating an effective deterrence."
 

Around 18,000 people in Dresden will have to leave their homes and workplaces by 9 a.m. this morning, after a Second World War bomb was discovered near the Carola Bridge.

Authorities say two suspicious objects were found on the banks of the Elbe River, and experts confirmed that one is a 250‑kilogram (roughly 550-pound) British explosive.

It’s set to be defused in a major operation in the largest evacuation in Dresden since the war.

The 1,000‑meter (about 1,100-yard) evacuation zone includes key landmarks such as the Frauenkirche and the Semperoper, as well as the police headquarters, the Saxon state parliament, and several care facilities.

An emergency shelter will open at the Dresden Exhibition Centre from 7 a.m.

Four bombs were found last year during demolition work on the Carola Bridge which led to the evacuation of 17,000 people in August.

Dresden was carpet bombed during large-scale allied raids in February, 1945, during which up to 25,000 people were killed and around 90% of the city center was destroyed.