Germany updates: Döner price fears skewered after wage deal
Published August 8, 2025last updated August 8, 2025
What you need to know
A major German döner skewer producer has ended a wage dispute that had many fearing kebab prices could soar.
Strikes at Birtat — where meat skewers are produced — had raised concerns among restaurant owners and customers that the key components of Germany's most popular snack, the döner kebab, may be increasingly hard to source.
With the settlement reached, those fears have eased — at least for now.
Meanwhile, a court has ruled that the deportation of a Yazidi family to Iraq was legal, after an earlier ruling saying it should be stopped came too late.
These live updates have been closed. Thank you for reading.
Below you can read a roundup of news and analysis on all things Germany from Friday, August 8:
German minister welcomes Merz's decision on Israel arms supply
German Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan said she "strongly supports" Chancellor Friedrich Merz's decision to stop sending arms to Israel which could be used in the war in Gaza, saying it is the "necessary consequence" after the Israeli government's decision to take over Gaza City as part of the ongoing war in the enclave.
"The German government positioned itself clearly," Alabali Radovan said in a statement, adding that the annexation of Gaza or the expulsion of people from Gaza is "unacceptable."
The Social Democrat (SPD) lawmaker also called for Palestinian militant group Hamas to free all the Israeli hostages unconditionally and "end all terrorism" against Israel.
Hamas is considered a terrorist group in Germany, the US and several other countries.
Bayern Munich Emirates deal follows Rwanda controversy
Bayern Munich have become the latest top-level football club to sign a deal with UAE-owned airline Emirates.
The German champions are talking up the financial benefits but some think there is more to consider.
Read the full story on Bayern Munich's controversial new deal with the UAE.
WATCH: Creating homes from wooden building blocks
A German company is building sturdy, low-carbon homes from substandard wood.
Construction with the wooden bricks is fast and simple. Recycling is easy, too.
Germany's oldest pterosaur teeth found by citizen scientists
Visitors to a dinosaur park in western Germany have uncovered three teeth from a fish-eating flying reptile, marking the first evidence of a pterosaur species in the region.
The teeth, identified as belonging to the Eudimorphodon, date back about 210 million years, making them the oldest pterosaur remains found in Germany, said palaeontologist Lea Numberger-Thuy. Previously, the species had only been known from Italy.
The pterosaur, roughly the size of a seagull with a one-meter wingspan, was identified by its distinctive sharp, multipointed teeth. The fossils were found in washed-out sediment at the Ernzen dinosaur park, near the Luxembourg border, where visitors and amateur researchers have been invited to search for fossils since October 2024.
More than 1,300 microfossils have been recovered so far. The teeth are now on display at the park. Director Bruno Zwank said the find shows "that citizen science projects can indeed yield spectacular finds.
Court upholds abortion ban at German clinic amid protests
A labor court has rejected a gynecologist's challenge to a Catholic-run hospital's ban on abortions in most cases.
The Hamm Labour Court dismissed a lawsuit by gynecologist Joachim Volz against a directive from the Christian-run Lippstadt Clinic prohibiting abortions except where the mother's life or health is at risk.
The ruling also upholds the hospital's ban on Volz performing the procedure in his private practice in Bielefeld.
Presiding Judge Klaus Griese said the clinic was entitled to impose both measures, without giving detailed reasons at the hearing.
Volz, head of gynecology at the clinic, announced he would appeal. He argued the ban is incompatible with his medical duty of care and restricts legal medical services.
The directive followed the merger of the Evangelical Hospital in Lippstadt with the Catholic Dreifaltigkeits-Hospital, after which Catholic management insisted on restrictions in line with church doctrine.
Volz's online petition titled "I am a doctor — my help is not a sin!" has drawn about 230,000 signatures.
About 2,000 people demonstrated under the slogan "Stop the Catholic ban on abortion" before the verdict, police said.
Germany suspends arms exports to Israel for use in Gaza
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday that Berlin would not approve German weapons exports to Israel for use in the Gaza Strip "until further notice."
The announcement marks a major change of course for Germany, which has been one of Israel's staunchest international allies.
Read the full story on Germany's partial arms export embargo to Israel.
Court rejects deported Yazidi family's return
The Potsdam Administrative Court has rejected an emergency application by a Yazidi family seeking reentry to Germany after their deportation to Iraq.
The decision comes amid political pressure and public debate over whether the removal violated legal protections for survivors of a genocide perpetrated by the "Islamic State" (IS) militant group.
The court found no grounds to reverse the deportation, ruling that the family's removal was lawful under a March 2023 decision by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). That decision rejected their protection claim as "manifestly unfounded" and found no obstacle to deportation.
Döner dispute settled amid kebab cost fears
A major German döner skewer producer has settled a wage dispute that sparked fears of pricier kebabs nationwide.
Workers at Birtat Meat World SE in Murr, Baden-Württemberg, reached a wage agreement with management after weeks of intermittent strikes.
The deal follows concerns from restaurant owners and consumers that prolonged stoppages at the plant could raise prices for one of Germany’s most popular fast foods.
The Food, Beverages and Catering Union (NGG) on Friday confirmed that starting wages would be set at €2,600 (just over $3,000) gross per month.
For years, Birtat’s workforce — largely immigrants from Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria — had been pushing for higher, more transparent pay. Before this deal, wages varied widely for similar roles, according to the union.
Staff assemble raw meat on long skewers before freezing and shipping them nationwide. Operating for over 30 years, the factory supplies thousands of outlets across Germany and says it reaches 13 million consumers each month.
Union negotiator Magdalena Krüger called the settlement “a historic result,” being a first for the döner meat sector.
Germany consumes millions of döner sandwiches monthly, with prices already up from about €2.50 two decades ago to €7 or more today. Many customers see it as one of the few filling meals still within a tight budget.
Welcome to our coverage
Guten Tag from the DW newsroom in Bonn.
You join us during the "Sommerloch" ("summer hole") as it is known in German — often known as the "silly season" in English. It's regarded as a time when newsworthy stories are traditionally scarce as the northern hemisphere's parliaments and politicians take a summer break.
But fear not. DW still has a comprehensive range of the top stories that Germany is talking about.
For instance, there's good news for lovers of the döner kebab, Germany's favorite street food, after a pay dispute was settled at the country's biggest skewered kebab meat producer.
The news follows concerns that prolonged stoppages at the plant in southwestern Germany could raise prices.
Stay tuned for more throughout the day!