Topic analysis

Germany news: Far-right AfD makes push in district elections

Sunday's district polls are seen as a barometer for elections in eastern states in September. Meanwhile, Chancellor Merz is headed to London to discuss the Ukraine war as Putin rejects face-to-face talks. DW has more. Read below for a roundup of news from  Germany  for the weekend of June 6 and 7, 2026. Tired of missing our real-time updates?  Click here to add us as a Preferred Source on Google . Then tap the "Star" or "Preferred" to keep DW News at the top of your feed Police in the northern German city of Hamburg are investigating a potential act of sabotage at an Ironman event after small bits of metal were found strewn across the cycling route. Up to 150 participants had to abandon their cycle rides after metal shards measuring about a millimeter damaged their tires, according to the local Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper. Three people were reportedly lightly injured. Police initially dismissed reports of intentional sabotage as "speculation," but the disruption comes after protests against the event by local residents unhappy at temporary restrictions imposed along the Ironman route. Placards on walls and houses carried messages such as "You're robbing us of our freedom," leading the Abendblatt to suggest that the shards had indeed been "seemingly maliciously strewn by residents." The metal shards affected the 3,000-strong amateur field rather than the professional athletes, who nevertheless voiced criticism. "It's a huge shame because people are trying to send a signal against the event but those affected are athletes who have been preparing for this for years," former German Olympic gold medalist and three-time Ironman world champion Jan Frodeno told the local NDR broadcaster. "Taking that away from someone just because you can't go out for a few hours is too much." Ironman is an extreme triathlon event consisting of 3.86 kilometers (2.4 miles) swimming, 180.2 kilometers (112 miles) cycling and a 42.2-kilometer (26.2-mile) marathon run. Meanwhile, a couple of streets away from the Ironman route, emergency services responded to a stabbing which left a man seriously injured. Police told the Bild  tabloid that the incident had nothing to do with the Ironman event and that officers were looking for the attacker, who fled the scene. The precise details of what happened remain unclear. A leading figure of an extreme right party could become the mayor of a small town in eastern Germany  on Sunday evening, the first time a neo-Nazi has been directly elected to the position since 1945. Stefan Hartung, co-founder of the far-right Free Saxons ( Freie Sachsen ) party, won the first round of voting in the town of Aue-Bad Schlema last month with 29% support. But going into Sunday's vote, it was unclear whether his runoff opponent, Marcus Hoffmann of the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU), could drive enough voter opposition to Hartung's appointment to prevent his victory. Aue-Bad Schlema is a town of about 19,000 people in the eastern state of Saxony . Freie Sachsen has been campaigning for greater autonomy for Saxony, opposition to the German government's immigration and trade policies. The party says it also wants to involve the historic Saxon royal family in the state's future. Polls close at 6:00 p.m. local time (1600 UTC/GMT) and the result is due later in the evening. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier believes Germany could now host the 2036 Olympic Games , despite the controversy around the date, public broadcaster ARD reported. 2036 would mark 100 years since the Berlin Games were organized by the Nazis  under  Adolf Hitler's  rule. In February, Steinmeier had let it be known through his spokesman that he considered a German bid in that year to be “historically problematic.” On Sunday, however, ARD cited new comments from Steinmeier's spokesman that while the president's concerns remained, he was now firmly convinced that all those involved would handle the date responsibly — if Germany makes a successful Olympic bid for that year. "We have great sports venues. We have a sports-mad population. I very much wish that after Munich 1972 the Olympic Games finally take place in Germany again," Steinmeier told ARD. After a referendum in Hamburg failed, three German cities are battling to host either the 2036, 2040 or 2044 Olympics. They are Berlin, Cologne (Rhine-Ruhr) and Munich. A decision on who gets to bid and which year to target will be made in September by the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB). DOSB chief executive Otto Fricke said he was pleased that Steinmeier's change of stance "has now been explicitly clarified." India and Qatar are among the favourites to host the Olympics in 2036. Police in Germany's eastern state of Thuringia said Sunday they arrested two men for impersonating police officers while driving a decommissioned patrol car. A police statement cited eyewitnesses, who noticed the police car with the two uniformed men driving through the village of Langenwetzendorf in the Greiz district on Saturday. The patrol car was still in its original condition, including all markings and flashing blue lights, the statement added. The fake officers wore older editions of the police uniform from the neighboring state of Saxony and carried handcuffs and replica pistols. Upon arrest, the men were ordered to immediately remove their uniforms. Criminal proceedings have begun against the pair for impersonating a public official and violating weapons laws. The police statement said the police car, which had broken down in the meantime, was towed away. Germany's northern port city of Kiel is welcoming thousands of youngsters to the country's first Children's Rights Summit on Sunday. Hosted by the Christian-Albrechts University, the summit is billed as designed by children for children, with youngsters actively involved from the early stages. The main feature is a children’s rights rally, with interactive stations where children playfully learn about their rights based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. "We are experiencing genuine participation here," Sophia Schiebe, State Chairwoman of the Child Protection Association for the state of Schleswig-Holstein, told public broadcaster NDR. "Always with the goal of making children's rights visible and self-evident to children. Because a right that children don't know about is a right they can't demand. This is precisely where our Children's Rights Summit comes in," Schiebe said. The Kiel summit follows last year's first International Children's Rights Summit, hosted at the Vatican by the late Pope Francis. The German capital's newest Hindu  temple is being consecrated on Sunday, local media reported. The Sri Ganesha Hindu Temple, in Berlin's  Neukölln district, has taken more than two decades of planning and construction. Public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk (DLF) reported that water from India's Ganges River and Berlin's Spree River was due to be poured over the top of the building using a crane. DLF said several religious rituals have already been performed since Thursday to mark the opening.  The colorful and intricately decorated temple cost around €1.1 million ($1.27 million) to build. Germany has dozens of Hindu temples and worship sites, with Sri Ganesha set to be the country's largest. Police in Germany's  western city of Cologne said multiple shots were fired at a snack bar in the early hours of Sunday morning. The violent incident happened in Köln-Höhenberg, a residential district in the eastern part of the city. A police spokesperson said a major operation was launched at around 1:30 a.m. local time (2330 UTC/GMT on Saturday), including the use of a police helicopter. Public broadcaster WDR cited photos taken by a reporter that showed several bullet holes in a window and spent cartridges lying in the middle of the street. No one was injured in the shooting, police said. WDR reported that the perpetrator jumped into a vehicle, which was later pursued by police. Three men were later arrested, with images showing several men being led away in handcuffs. The police spokesperson declined to comment on whether several arrests made overnight were directly linked to the shooting. Events to mark Tag der Bundeswehr (Armed Forces Day) on Saturday drew a new high of about 340,000 visitors, according to  Germany's military, up roughly 20% from last year. The Bundeswehr opened the gates to 10 of its facilities nationwide for public viewing, including the Eckernförde Naval Base on the Baltic Sea and the Laage Air Base in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. During the open day, soldiers showed off military equipment and technology, while answering questions and offering career advice. There were also parachute jumps, operational simulations and drone flights. Chancellor Friedrich Merz  flew into Laage, where his government plane was escorted by two Eurofighter jets, while Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil took part in an event in the garrison town of Munster in Saxony. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who visited the Bundeswehr University in Neubiberg, near Munich, said the turnout proved that public "interest is enormous." Referring to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine  and conflicts in the Middle East, Pistorius said it was vital for Germany to "maintain a stable presence at a time when uncertainty is growing all around us." He also praised the renewed interest among young people in the Bundeswehr, noting how the military had recruited around 25,000 new soldiers last year, which was "more than we have seen in many years." Germany's chancellor,  Friedrich Merz , will attend a meeting in London later on Sunday to discuss European governments' ongoing support for Ukraine . The talks, hosted by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer , will be attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron . The four leaders are expected to coordinate efforts on sustaining aid to Kyiv, while ramping up pressure on Moscow to end the four-year war . On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected a proposal to meet Zelenskyy for face-to-face talks, saying he saw "no point" in a meeting until a peace deal had been agreed. Zelenskyy hit back at Putin's reticence, saying the Russian leader was "weak" and "choosing war again." Four typically low-turnout elections in eastern Germany are drawing unusually close attention this year. In three districts, Saalekreis in Saxony-Anhalt, Saalfeld-Rudolstadt in Thuringia and Ostprignitz-Ruppin in Brandenburg, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is fielding strong candidates for the powerful position of district administrator (Landrat). In the Saxony town of Aue-Bad Schlema, a candidate from the even more radical Freie Sachsen (Free Saxons) party is in a runoff for mayor after leading the first round. The AfD already holds one Landrat position — in Sonneberg, Thuringia. Winning a second would be another symbolic breakthrough for the party currently polling at 29%, versus Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative alliance at 21%, according to INSA. The AfD's candidate in Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, state MP Thomas Benninghaus, belongs to the party's most hardline, far-right faction, led by Björn Höcke . Meanwhile, the party’s branches in Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg are all under surveillance from German intelligence agencies, labeled as right-wing extremist factions. These four races are seen as an important test ahead of key eastern state elections in Saxony-Anhalt on September 6 and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on September 20. Hallo, guten Morgen! DW's newsroom in Bonn, in western Germany , continues our coverage of the top stories from across the country. District elections in four eastern German states that would normally pass without fanfare are being closely watched this time. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is fielding candidates in three of the votes and is polling close to 30% nationally. In the fourth — a mayoral runoff — the candidate from another small far-right party, Freie Sachsen (Free Saxons), topped the first round of voting last month. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will join his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in London for talks with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The meeting comes after Russia ruled out face-to-face talks to try to end the Ukraine war . Germany made it nine wins out of nine with a 2-1 victory over the United States in their last match before the World Cup. The win, secured by goals from Kai Havertz and Leroy Sane, means that Germany have won four successive friendlies, as well as their last six World Cup qualifiers. But Julian Nagelsmann knows tougher tests than this are not far away. Read more about Saturday's game and Germany's bigger concerns ahead of the World Cup here. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has increased its lead over Chancellor Friedrich Merz's ruling Christian Democrats (CDU), according to a new poll released by the INSA institute on Saturday. According to the survey, the AfD had 29% support, a substantial lead ahead of the CDU and its Bavarian CSU sister party, with the conservative alliance netting only 21%. The survey suggests the CDU/CSU's junior coalition partners, the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) , could drop a rank to become Germany's fourth-largest party with 12% support, behind the environmentalist Greens at 14% but ahead of the socialist Left Party at 11%. According to the INSA survey, some 77% of respondents were dissatisfied with Chancellor Friedrich Merz's performance in government , 6 points more than in April. Also on Saturday, Merz warned against what he described as a potential "big bang" breakthrough by the AfD in regional polls. "There is more at stake than just the future of a government," Merz said at a party conference in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the northeast of the country. "If we are not good enough, then just such a big bang will happen," Merz said. "In a different way from what some may have imagined." Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and eastern Saxony-Anhalt are to hold elections in September, with polls suggesting the AfD could become the largest party in the two states for the first time in its history. The state government in Saxony-Anhalt is currently held by the CDU, while Mecklenburg-West Pomerania's premiership is held by the SPD. The AFD shows a massive lead ahead of the CDU in most recent polls in Saxony-Anhalt as well as a substantial one ahead of the SPD in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Lennart Karl's club,  Bayern Munich , said it was shocked to hear that the 18-year-old has been ruled out of the World Cup   for Germany due to an injury. In a statement, Bayern board member for sport Max Eberl said: "Missing out on a World Cup at such short notice naturally hurts a lot, and the news was a shock" for the entire club. "But it changes nothing about how much talent, passion and future success Lenny has in him," Eberl said. "He more than deserved this World Cup with his outstanding first professional season." Eberl said Karl knew "he still has many big tournaments ahead of him" and would receive "all the support" he needs from the Bundesliga champions. Karl picked up a calf injury in training for a friendly in Chicago against the United States on Friday. In his own statement on Instagram, Karl said it "hurts so incredibly much to miss the biggest tournament. I did everything I could to be fit for the World Cup. Unfortunately, injuries often happen at the worst possible time." The attacking midfielder promised to "come back stronger." On Saturday lunchtime, Karl was photographed returning to Munich airport. He will be replaced in the 26-man squad by RB Leipzig's Assan Ouedraogo. A US doctor being treated for Ebola in a German hospital has been discharged, the hospital said. The US national was admitted to Berlin's Charite clinic on May 20 after contracting the virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The man had been working in the DRC when he contracted the highly contagious and life-threatening disease.  A PCR test revealed he had a strain of Ebola that has been identified in the current outbreak. In a statement, the doctor praised the hospital for its "world-class care, including experimental therapeutics that are being evaluated for the treatment of this species of virus." "Words do not adequately describe the gratitude that I have. (...) Our hearts remain with those in Congo who do not have the opportunity to receive the incredible care that we were given." The hospital said the doctor had tested negative for the virus since May 30 and is in good health, so an isolation order was lifted at midday on Saturday.