Germany updates: Weather service issues heat warnings

Germany's heat wave heavily affected the country's southwest on Wednesday.

Temperatures reached 37.0 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in Rheinfelden, located in Baden-Württemberg on the border with Switzerland, according to preliminary measurements by the German Weather Service.

The second hottest location was Bad Kreuznach with up to 36.6 degrees Celsius and the third hottest was Kaiserslautern with up to 36.5 degrees Celsius. Both towns are located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

The only parts of the country that have not been so afflicted by this week's heat wave are Germany's North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts.

Former Bayern Munich player Thomas Müller said goodbye to Germany, as he took off for Canada to join the MLS team Vancouver Whitecaps.

"Today is my flight to Vancouver. Last run in Germany. I'm really excited for the upcoming weeks. Let's go together, let's go
Whitecaps," he said to the camera while jogging.

Müller told European broadcaster Sky that he was "a bit nervous" with the change after having played at Bayern for 25 years.

"It's the first time in a very long time that I've joined a new team. There is excitement but also a certain amount of tension," he said.

Müller announced the transfer to the Whitecaps last week, after the 2014 World Cup winner was not given a contract extension at Bayern this summer.

The German footballer will be officially presented as a Whitecaps player on Thursday and is set to make his debut on Sunday in the home game against Houston Dynamo FC.

Berlin has rejected a report by the US State Department that claims Germany has restricted freedom of expression. 

"There is no censorship in Germany," Deputy Government Spokesman Steffen Meyer said. "We have a very high level of freedom of expression in Germany, and we will continue to defend it in every form," he added.

This year's US Department report released on Tuesday said the human rights situation in Germany deteriorated in 2024. The US claims of Germany's censorship due to internet platforms being required to delete hate messages.

The US State Department said Germany had "significant human rights issues included restrictions on freedom of expression and credible reports of crimes, violence, or threats of violence motivated by anti-Semitism."

Government spokesman Meyer shot back, rejecting the claim, saying "the government fights anti-Semitism in all its forms."

Jens Spahn, head of the conservative parliamentary group, also responded to the report, saying that in Germany "everyone can say what they think in Germany. This is a free country."

Read more about the US State Department report claiming that human rights, including freedom of expression, are under threat in Germany and other European countries.

The transport ministers of Germany and Britain have signed a declaration outlining the first steps toward establishing a direct train service connecting the two countries.

The declaration foresees the creation of a task force to assess the challenges posed by such a project, including infrastructure problems and border and security issues.

"We are committed to having the first trains being able to travel under the Channel directly from Germany to Britain in the coming years," said German Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder.

"A direct connection would greatly simplify travel and make the train journey much more attractive," he said.

His British counterpart, Heidi Alexander, said the declaration had the potential to create comfortable alternative to air travel.

Alexander also emphasized the economic advantages, saying a direct rail connection would help create new jobs and strengthen bilateral trade relations.

Currently, people wanting to travel from Germany to Britain are forced to change trains either in Brussels or Paris.

A ceremony has taken place in Berlin to mark the start of the construction of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, and to commemorate victims of former East Germany's communist dictatorship.

Some 140 people are believed to have been killed in the attempt to get through the well-guarded barrier, which encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989 as a separation from East Berlin and the German Democratic Republic, the official name of East Germany.

"The Berlin Wall [...] reminds us that freedom and democracy should not be taken for granted," said the government's ombudsman for victims of the East German regime, Evelyn Zupke.

"It is a message that has seldom seemed more urgent than it does today," she said.

Wolfram Weimer, the federal government commissioner for culture and the media, also called for continued remembrance of the injustices committed in East Germany, saying that the memorials to the period that have been set up were particularly important.

"They keep the memory of injustice and persecution alive and thus strengthen the immune system of the whole society to totalitarian tendencies," he said at the ceremony. 

Demolition work to completely remove the Wall began in June 1990 and ended in 1994, with the two parts of Germany formally reunited on October 3, 1990.  

From dance and movie bans on religious holidays to prohibitions on sandcastle building on Baltic beaches, Germany has some bizzare regulations.

Read the full story to discover some more of Germany's unusual laws.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier sailed aboard the training ship Gorch Fock in the northern port of Bremerhaven on Wednesday morning as he prepared to open the city's Sail Bremerhaven 2025 festival in the afternoon.

The five-day international festival is expected to draw some 1.2 million visitors.

Around 250 ships from 16 nations are expected in Bremerhaven by Sunday at what is considered one of the world's largest tall ship gatherings.

They will include historic expedition ships, naval vessels and cruise ships.

The festival was founded in 1986 and has been held every five years since then.

Up to the end of July, 1,337 Syrians returned to their home country voluntarily after an Islamist government deposed the president in early December last year, the German Interior Ministry has said.

The number referred to those who had gone through an official program, with German public broadcaster ARD estimating that the total number of Syrians from Germany returning home was closer to 4,000.

The German government has been encouraging Syrians to leave of their own free will since the change of government.

Asylum applications by Syrians have been approved only in certain individual cases since December 9. 

Read the full story about Syrians living in Germany returning to their home country.

It's 100 days since Friedrich Merz became Germany's 10th postwar chancellor.

How do people think Merz and his coalition government are performing so far?

The first half of 2025 has seen fewer crimes targeting asylum-seekers and refugees outside places where they are being housed in comparison with the same period last year, according to a preliminary report by German police seen by the DPA news agency.

The report said that 648 offenses of this nature were registered up to June this year, a steep drop from the 1,236 reported in the first half of 2024.

The figures could, however, rise, as there is often a delay in reporting and motives for a crime sometimes only become clear after a full investigation.

In addition, some crimes go unreported.

Most of the offenses involved property damage, insults or incitement to hatred. Some of the cases also saw the use of forbidden symbols that are considered representative of unconstitutional organizations or of violence. 

Human rights, such as freedom of expression, are under threat in Germany and other European countries, according to the 2024 Human Rights Report by the US State Department.

"The human rights situation in Germany worsened during the year," an executive summary of the report's Germany entry said.

"Significant human rights issues included restrictions on freedom of expression and credible reports of crimes, violence, or threats of violence motivated by antisemitism," the report said.

The report stated, however, that the German government "took some credible steps to investigate, prosecute, and punish officials who committed human rights abuses."

The report, which in former years has been seen as a reliable point of reference for global human rights advocacy, has been criticized by human rights groups as containing numerous omissions and mischaracterizations to fit the current US administration's political aims.

You can read DW's full report here: Human rights worsening in Germany — US report

It's been a difficult first 100 days in office for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who had hoped the first results of his chancellorship would be visible by late summer.

So far, polls show a majority of Germans are unconvinced. DW looks at some of the challenges he's faced.

Germany is in the grip of a summer heatwave, with temperatures well above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) across much of the country. 

The German Weather Service (DWD) expects highs of up to 37 degrees today, with only the northern coast seeing slightly cooler conditions. Thursday could be even hotter, with temperatures possibly reaching 38 degrees.

On Tuesday, the southwest state of Baden-Württemberg recorded one of the highest temperatures so far, 35.4 degrees near the French border. 

The DWD has issued warnings about "intense heat" moving into northern Germany today and spreading eastward tomorrow. 

Germany still has it better than other parts of Europe, where temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius were expected.

On Tuesday, temperatures in Spain reached 44 degrees in some regions.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has begun curbing irregular immigration and shaping foreign policy, but cracks are also appearing in his coalition government. 

August 13 marks the 100th day of his chancellorship, which began chaotically when he needed a second Bundestag vote to secure his position.

Lately, he has been facing criticism over his decision to suspend arms deliveries to Israel that could be used in Gaza.

DW's Jens Thurau takes a look at the German chancellor’s bumpy honeymoon period.

Inflation in Germany stayed at 2.0% in July, compared to the same month last year.

Data from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) shows prices rose by 0.3% from July. 

"The rate of inflation has stabilised since the start of the year and remained unchanged again for two consecutive months," Destatis President Ruth Brand said. 

She said falling energy prices helped to keep inflation in check. 

However, prices for services, like rent, travel, and personal care,are still rising faster than average, which is pushing inflation up.