Germany’s environmentally friendly Green Party is calling for a real-time supermarket price comparison app that would require major retailers to report food prices immediately.
Green parliamentary group leader Katharina Dröge told the dpa news agency that supermarket chains would be obliged to take part, while smaller shops could join voluntarily.
Dröge said mandatory reporting would give shoppers more power "to counter the dominance of large chains."
She also wants tools to cap supermarket profit margins during crises, arguing retailers often add extra mark‑ups when prices rise.
German food producers were accused of profiteering during the post-COVID inflation surge, which saw large price hikes.
The Greens are additionally pushing for clear labels when package sizes shrink, stating when and by how much a product has been reduced.
"Retailers do this repeatedly: They reduce the package size, keep the price the same, and consumers don't notice immediately," Dröge said.
She added that consumers shouldn't need expert knowledge to avoid unfair pricing — calling the proposed app a "low‑threshold solution."
Despite only being able to buy fireworks for two days of the year, demand for New Year’s Eve pyrotechnics in Germany is rising.
WECO, the country’s largest manufacturer, says supply is 10% higher than last year, with similar increases reported across the sector.
Fireworks can be sold only from December 29 to 31, and WECO says returns last year were lower than expected.
Criticism is growing, however, from environmental and animal welfare groups, who warn of noise, debris and harm to wildlife. In cities such as Berlin, New Year’s Eve is often compared to a "war zone."
The GdP police union supports a ban, warning that officers are increasingly attacked with fireworks.
State interior ministers remain split, while a recent local ban on private fireworks on the North Sea island of Föhr was overturned.
The industry argues that fireworks remain a core New Year's Eve tradition and that rising demand shows most Germans still want them.
Germany's capital Berlin has been ranked number one when it comes to trains and railway facilities smeared with graffiti, according to police figures.
The dpa news agency cited data from the Bundespolizei (Federal Police) showing that from January until October, 1,983 graffiti offences were reported in the German capital, up around 5% from last year.
Munich took second place with 872, followed by Hamburg with 515, Nuremberg with 244, Dresden with 241, Leipzig with 200 and Cologne with 194.
Frankfurt recorded a significant decline, with just 162 offenses recorded.
Nationwide, incidences of railway graffiti increased by more than 7% compared to last year, reaching 17,829 cases.
The police figures showed that railway stations were the worst affected.
Only 5% of the more than 18,000 suspects hunted in connection with these incidents have been identified, police said.
State-run rail company Deutsche Bahn (DB) estimated the damage to trains and other rail equipment at around €12 million ($14 million) annually.
Germany could face a decade of loneliness unless the government boosts investment in social infrastructure, the country’s Association of Towns and Municipalities has warned.
André Berghegger, the association’s chief executive, told the Funke media group that "the fight against loneliness must not fail because of a lack of funding," urging federal and state authorities to act quickly.
He called for the creation of a €500 million ($589 million) "Loneliness Fund" alongside broader improvements to municipal financing.
"Municipalities are where loneliness first becomes visible — and also where it can be most effectively countered," Berghegger said. Public meeting places must be reliably open rather than subject to long closures, holiday breaks, staff shortages or early closing times, he added.
Berghegger highlighted libraries and adult education centres as crucial hubs for social contact and lifelong learning, noting that they need stable staffing to remain open consistently.
He stressed that loneliness is no longer confined to older generations but has become a widespread, cross‑generational issue.
A 2024 German government study found that under 30s are now among the groups most at risk of loneliness, having risen steadily from 2005 to 2022.
The head of Germany's Catholic bishops warned against rising nationalism in his Christmas sermon on Thursday.
Bishop Georg Bätzing pointed to what he described as a growing "us first" mentality in parts of German society.
In Germany, this trend has been amplified by the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has become the second-largest party in parliament, partly due to rhetoric emphasizing cultural purity, strict border policies and a rejection of mainstream democratic institutions.
"Where does this new selfish nationalism, with its slogan of 'us first,' ultimately lead?" Bätzing asked in the Limburg Cathedral, where he serves as bishop.
Bätzing described the Christmas message of God as a defenseless child as a "real alternative to the power games of the mighty."
"I admit, this idea has always personally fascinated me and convinced me to believe," the 64-year-old said. "The God to whom Christians profess their faith is so free that he relinquishes all divine power."
Frohe Weihnachten or Merry Christmas from DW in Bonn, on the banks of the Rhine River.
We're continuing our coverage of the top stories from Germany over the festive period, including the growing demand for fireworks as New Year's Eve approaches.
Another topic that often arises over the holiday season is loneliness. The German towns and municipalities association has called for half a billion euros in funding to tackle the epidemic over the next decade.
The debate over growing nationalism in Germany has been taken up by the country's most senior Catholic bishop, who used his Christmas sermon to call it "selfish."
Meanwhile, Germany's environmentally friendly Green Party is demanding the launch of a mandatory app that shows realtime prices in all supermarkets.
The call comes after accusations of profiteering during the recent inflation crisis and the move toward dual pricing, where supermarket app users are offered lower prices than non-app users.
Follow us here for these and the latest headlines throughout the day.
We're pausing our coverage here since it's the evening of 23rd December. We'll be back with the latest news from the country tomorrow morning. See you then!
Germany has deported a convicted criminal to Syria for the first time since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011, the Interior Ministry has said.
The man was handed over to Syrian authorities in Damascus on Tuesday morning, after Berlin reached an agreement with the Syrian government allowing deportations of convicted criminals and security threats to take place on a regular basis.
The deported man had served a prison sentence in North Rhine-Westphalia for particularly serious robbery, assault, and extortion, the ministry said.
Earlier on Tuesday, another convicted offender was deported to Afghanistan, following a similar removal last week.
The Afghan national had been imprisoned in Bavaria, including for intentional bodily harm. The ministry said this marked the second deportation of an Afghan criminal within a week.
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Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the government was acting in the public interest.
"Our society has a legitimate interest in criminals leaving our country," he said, adding that the government stood for control, consistency, and clear consequences.
Human rights groups have been critical of Berlin's efforts to send back immigrants to Syria and Afghanistan, as both countries still suffer instability and consistent reports of rights abuses.
But the conservative-led government has prioritized resuming deportations to Syria since its former President Bashar Assad was overthrown in December last year.
Nearly one in three people relying on food banks in Germany is a child, highlighting growing social pressure despite stable overall demand.
Food bank volunteering organization Tafel Deutschland said some 1.5 million people are currently using the services of more than 970 food distribution points nationwide.
About 30% of users are children, while roughly 20% are older than 63.
"Above all, the number of children has risen slightly compared with last year, and that worries us," said Andreas Steppuhn, chair of Tafel Deutschland.
Rising rents and food prices are leaving many households with less money each month, Steppuhn said, adding that around one-third of food banks are still operating waiting lists or have stopped taking on new users.
In 2025, the food banks rescued about 265,000 metric tons of food that would otherwise have been thrown away.
That amounts to around 500 kilograms (about 1,100 pounds) per minute, equivalent to about 500 cartons of milk every minute, according to the organization.
Investigators in the German city of Giessen have continued working overnight after a car crash in the city center left several people injured.
The incident happened on Monday afternoon when a 32-year-old driver veered into oncoming traffic on a main road and collided with another vehicle near a bus stop.
A woman standing nearby was seriously injured, according to a police spokesperson. Three other people suffered minor injuries, including the driver, who was also hurt. How exactly the injuries occurred — and whether the crash was accidental or deliberate — remains under investigation.
The driver, a 32-year-old man from Azerbaijan who lives in Giessen, was provisionally detained. Police said they were investigating "in all directions."
The state of Hesse's Interior Minister Roman Poseck, said late Monday that a political or terrorist motive currently appeared unlikely. He added it was possible that an illness may have played a role, and that the serious injury was likely caused by the collision with another vehicle rather than an intentional act.
Germans have been popping fewer corks, with sales of sparkling wine falling sharply over the past decade.
The country's statistics agency said on Tuesday that 255.3 million liters of sparkling wine were sold last year, down 19.5% compared with 10 years earlier. Alcohol-free sparkling wine was not included.
On average, people aged 16 and over drank about 4.8 bottles of sparkling wine, or 36 glasses, over the year. That marks a clear drop from 2014, when per-capita consumption stood at 6.1 bottles, or 46 glasses.
The figures are based on tax data, as sparkling wine with more than 1.2% alcohol is subject to a special excise tax. In 2024, the federal government collected about €352 million ($415 million) from the sparkling wine tax, accounting for just 0.04% of total public tax revenue.
By comparison, beer tax revenue — collected by individual states — was higher, bringing in about 558 million euros, the statistics office said.
The tax on sparkling wine was introduced in 1902 to help fund the German navy, making it one of the oldest still-existing consumer excise taxes in the country.
House and apartment prices in Germany continued climbing into autumn, showing a fourth consecutive quarterly increase.
Germany's Federal Statistical Office said prices between July and September were up 3.3% from a year earlier, extending a rebound after steady declines since late 2022.
According to the statistics office, residential property prices increased in all regions.
Single- and two-family homes rose most in urban districts at 3.6% and in large independent cities at 3.5%, while gains in sparsely populated rural areas averaged 3.2%.
Apartment prices climbed even faster in cities. Buyers paid 4.7% more in urban districts and 5.0% more in large cities, while prices rose 2.6% in sparsely populated rural areas and 5.5% in densely populated rural districts.
In Germany's seven largest cities — Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and Duesseldorf — prices for single- and two-family homes increased 2.7%. Apartment prices in those cities rose slightly more, up 2.8% year on year.
Seven people have been injured in Hamburg after a driver fleeing police caused a crash on Monday evening.
Police said the 37-year-old had been due to face questions after unsuccessfully trying to break into cars, but instead fled the scene in another vehicle.
During the escape, his car became trapped between a city bus and another vehicle.
Three people on the bus and three occupants of the car suffered minor injuries or shock, police said.
The driver was pinned inside his vehicle and had to be freed by emergency crews. He was then taken to hospital and received treatment for minor injuries.
Guten Morgen from DW's newsroom in Bonn, where the Christmas market season is slowly drawing to a close and the holiday season proper is about to start.
Not everything is cheerful as Christmas draws near, however. Today, figures released by a food bank charity show that one in every three people relying on food banks is a child.
Tafel Deutschland says rising rents and food prices are leaving many households with less money each month.
Follow us here for this and the latest headlines throughout the day.