Germany updates: AfD tops poll with highest support ever

Germany has cut its budget for international development by 8% and emergency aid has been halved. Aid agencies warn of drastic consequences.

Read more here on Germany's cuts to its aid and development budget.

The race for mayor in Frankfurt on the Oder, in the eastern state of Brandenburg, is headed for a runoff between independent candidate Axel Strasser and Wilko Möller of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Official figures say Strasser, 48, took 32.4% of the vote in Sunday's first round.

Möller, 58, who is a member of the state parliament, won 30.2%.

The second round between Strasser and Möller is set for October 12.

A win for Möller would make him the right-wing extremists' first ever city mayor.

Desiree Schrade, of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the senior coalition partner in the federal government, followed in third place with 28.8% of the vote.

The center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the CDU's junior coalition partner, trailed in fourth with 8.6%.

Germany's air force on Sunday sent two Eurofighters to follow a Russian IL-20m military aircraft that had entered neutral airspace over the Baltic Sea, before handing the escort over to NATO partners in Sweden.

"Once again, our quick reaction alert force, consisting of two Eurofighters, was tasked by NATO with investigating an unidentified aircraft without a flight plan or radio contact in international airspace," Germany's air force said in a statement.

"It was a Russian IL-20M reconnaissance aircraft. After visual identification, we handed over escort duties for the aircraft to our Swedish NATO partners and returned to Rostock-Laage."

NATO's North Atlantic Council will meet on Tuesday to talk over Russia's violation of Estonian airspace, two officials familiar with the matter told the news agency Reuters on Sunday.

Russian drones or aircraft have allegedly violated the airspace of at least three NATO members recently, further raising tensions in Europe which have been heightened over Moscow's war in Ukraine. 

British pop star Harry Styles ran the Berlin marathon on Sunday.

Competing under the false name of Sted Sarandos, the 31-year-old completed the 42.195 kilometers (26.2 miles) through the German capital in 2:59:13.

Styles, who rose to fame as a member of former boyband One Direction, wasn't the only global star to be seen pounding the streets of Berlin on Sunday.

German World Cup winner Andre Schürrle also finished the 51st iteration of the event, crossing the finish line near the Brandenburg Gate in a time of 3:21:25.

The men's race was won by 29-year-old Sabastian Sawe with a time of 2:02:15 — five months after his victory in the London marathon — while the women's race was won by Rosemary Wanjiru with a time of 2:21:05.

A 41-year-old man drove a car into a group of people at a fair in the village of Niederdorla, in the central state of Thuringia, injuring five people, a police spokesman said.

The incident occurred on Saturday night, with the man, a German national, arrested.

The exact circumstances, such as the man's motive, are not yet known, although police said they were no indications that the act had any political background.

Police said the man had been observed behaving suspiciously before the incident, and had been reported to police for reckless driving.

An investigation into attempted murder is currently underway.

Germany has seen multiple car rammings since the summer of 2024.

Around 400 football hooligans appear to have been involved in what local police suspect may have been a pre-arranged fight near Dortmund on Saturday evening.

At about 10 p.m., a train carrying supporters of second-division side Schalke 04 back from their team's 2-0 win away at Magdeburg was twice brought to a halt just east of Dortmund after an emergency break was pulled.

The second time, a large group of Schalke "risk fans" reportedly exited the train and headed into a wooded area where police believe they encountered a group of "violently inclined" rival fans of Borussia Dortmund and FC Cologne.

Police later stopped around 300 Schalke fans, 90 Dortmund fans and five Cologne fans, many of whom had red marks on their hands and faces, according to a police spokesman.

Officers also reportedly found mixed martial arts (MMA) gloves, boxing handwraps, gum-guards and balaclavas in the area, and have charged some of those allegedly involved with breach of the peace, grievous bodily harm and interference with rail traffic.

The rivalry between neighbors Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 is one of the most intense in Germany but, with the latter currently in Bundesliga 2, the two haven't met for a men's first-team "Revierderby" since a 2-2 draw in March 2023.

Despite the rivalry, derby matches generally pass off peacefully, but small elements of both clubs' fanbases are inclined towards more violent confrontations.

It's not uncommon for hooligans to pre-arrange fights with similarly-minded rivals in secluded areas such as woodlands, a practice which is nevertheless illegal.

After drawing 4-4 away at Juventus in the Champions League in midweek, Borussia Dortmund host VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga on Sunday evening.

The first athletes have crossed the finish line in the Berlin Marathon, with both the men's and women's races being won by athletes from Kenya.

The men's race was won by 29-year-old Sabastian Sawe with a time of 2:02:15 — five months after his victory in the London marathon — while first place in the women's race went to compatriot Rosemary Wanjiru with a time of 2:21:05.

Despite Berlin's reputation as the fastest marathon route on the world circuit, both times were significantly off world-record time (Sawe 1:40 slower, Wanjiru 11:49 slower).

This can likely be attributed to the unusually humid late-summer conditions in the German capital.

One of Germany's most easterly towns is electing a new mayor on Sunday — with a far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) candidate among the favorites.

Mayoral elections are taking place in Frankfurt on the Oder on the Polish border after the previous incumbent René Wilke (independent since leaving the Left Party in June 2024) became interior minister for the state of Brandenburg.

Among the candidates to succeed Wilke in Germany's "other" Frankfurt (not to be confused with the more well-known banking metropolis Frankfurt on the Main) is Wilko Möller of the AfD, who could become the right-wing extremists' first ever city mayor.

According to a recent online survey by a local radio station Oderwelle last week, Möller came out on top with 1,396 votes, followed by a candidate from the center-left SPD (989), an independent (937) and a conservative (670). Around 450 respondents said they still hadn't made up their minds.

The survey was very much unofficial and unrepresentative but former policeman Möller, who grew up far away from Frankfurt in Hannover and North Rhine-Westphalia, is confident, telling tabloid Bild: "I'll get over 50% in the first round."

The biggest concerns in the town of 57,000 are a struggling economy, empty public coffers, a population drain, increasing crime and border checks resulting in long traffic jams.

"On your marks! Get set! Go!" Or, as we say in German: "Auf die Plätze! Fertig! Los!"

The 51st Berlin marathon got underway on Sunday morning, with over 55,000 runners making their way through the streets of the capital.

Starting near the famous Brandenburg Gate, the runners will initially head west through the Tiergarten before embarking on a clockwise loop around the city center, passing through the districts of Moabit, Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg, Neukölln, Schöneberg, Steglitz, Charlottenburg and Mitte, finishing on the Unter den Linden boulevard.

Last year's Berlin marathon saw a double-triumph for Ethiopia, with Milkesa Mengesha winning the men's race (2:03:17) and Tigist Ketema winning on the women's side (2:16:42).

But the vast majority of participants will be aiming for significantly slower times — or indeed just to finish at all.

They'll be cheered on along the route by hundreds of thousands of spectators, while helpers will be distributing 120,000 bananas, 80,000 apples and 1.25 million cups of water to keep the runners energized and hydrated.

According to the German weather service (DWD), this year's race is set to be one of the warmest ever, with Berlin enjoying late-summer temperatures of between 23-29°C (73-84°F).

Among the famous faces taking part are former footballers André Schürrle (a German World Cup winner in 2014) and Felix Kroos (bother of former Real Madrid star Toni).

If federal elections were held in Germany today, the far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) would emerge as the largest party, according to an opinion poll released on Sunday.

The poll, conducted by the Insa institute on behalf of tabloid newspaper Bild, put the anti-immigration party up one percentage point at 26%, overtaking the ruling conservative CDU/CSU bloc which remained unchanged at 25%.

The center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the junior partner in the current coalition government, would increase their share of the vote by one percentage point to 15%, according to the poll, while the Green Party and far-left Left Party would both be on 11%.

The left-wing populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) and the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) would both fall short of the minimum 5% threshold required to enter parliament at 4% and 3% respectively.

The AfD, which has been officially classified as a "confirmed right-wing extremist endeavor" by Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz or BfV), won 20.8% of the vote in February's federal elections.

Despite being the second-largest party in parliament, the other parties refused to enter into a coalition with the AfD.

Guten Morgen! Welcome back to DW's coverage of what's making the news in Germany this weekend.

According to a new opinion poll, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has overtaken Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservatives as the most popular party in Germany at the moment.

In one of Germany's most easterly cities, Frankfurt on the Oder on the Polish border, an AfD candidate is among the frontrunners to become city mayor, which would be a first for the party.

And in sport, the 51st Berlin marathon is taking place today, with 55,000 competitors running through the capital.

We'll continue with the news from Germany on September 21 here too. Stay tuned.

The head of DB Regio, Germany's regional rail division, is set to take over as the head ofthe ailing Deutsche Bahn national railway, German news agency DPA reported, citing information obtained from government sources.

German Transportation Minister Patrick Schnieder has allegedly proposed DB regional chief Evelyn Palla for the job. Her appointment would need to be approved by the supervisory board, which is scheduled to meet on Tuesday.

If confirmed, Palla will be the first woman to head Deutsche Bahn. She will succeed Richard Lutz, who has led the state-owned company since early 2017. 

In August, Transportation Minister Schnieder announced the plan to appoint a new chief executive to carry out a fresh strategy to lead Deutsche Bahn out of the crisis. That strategy is expected to be revealed on Monday.

Germany's national railway is notoriously unreliable. In August, only about 60% of its long-distance trains ran on time. 

On September 22, a moment of decision will take place on New York's East River at the United Nations General Assembly.

France, Canada, and Belgium intend to recognize Palestine as a state, and the United Kingdom is also likely to take the step.

The goal is to exert pressure on Israel to end the Gaza war and initiate a new peace process. 

Germany, however, is not among them. 

 "We won't be joining this initiative," said Chancellor Friedrich Merz in August when Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited.

Read more to find out how pressure is mounting for the German government to take a stronger stance.

 

Coffin or urn?

If you die in Germany, you will probably end up in a box in a public cemetery. 

The country has some of the strictest funeral laws in Western Europe. Now, the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt have overhauled their burial legislation.

Read more to find out what kind of burials are now possible in those two states.