State of Rhineland-Palatinate holds elections

Voters in Rhineland-Palatinate are set to choose a new state government.

Run-off local elections are to take place in Bavaria, with the mayoral race in Munich in focus.

DW has the latest.

Keep checking back for the latest updates from across Germany on Saturday, March 21, and Sunday, March 22:
Germany and Japan look to boost military cooperation
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is in Japan on the second day of a visit designed to bolster German-Japanese military cooperation in the face of growing geopolitical security challenges.

Pistorius and his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi met on Sunday at the Yokosuka naval base near the capital, Tokyo, where they said the two nation's collaboration should include an expansion of armaments cooperation and consultations on adequate countermeasures in the event of a crisis.

Pistorius said that Germany and Japan must "move even closer together and make it clear what we stand for and how we can guarantee this."
Koizumi said cooperation was becoming ever more necessary in a rapidly changing world.

"In view of this changed security situation, it is hardly possible to react alone as a single country," he said.

"The importance of close cooperation between like-minded countries such as Japan and Germany is greater today than ever before." PIstorius' delegation also includes the heads of major German defense companies.

Germany placed Japan on an equal footing with NATO partners for defense exports in 2010.

This simplified procedures but has so far not led to any great changes.

Since 2021, the two countries have also had a framework in place to exchange classified data on weapons systems.

Pistorius' trip to Asia, whose stated aim is to boost military and defense cooperation with strategic partners, will also take him to Singapore and then on to Australia.

Dobrindt wants 'civil protection' to be taught at schools
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt wants school pupils in Germany to learn about how to cope with various crisis situations, such as blackouts, floods, terror attacks or war.

The conservative politician told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that Germany had to be better prepared for such events and that if pupils were to learn about them, the information would benefit those around them as well.

"Our pupils will thus become clever experts on crisis management and convey their knowledge directly to their families," he said.

Dobrindt, who belongs to the Christian Social Union (CSU) , the Bavaria-only sister party to Chancellor Friedrich Merz 's Christian Democrats (CDU) , said he intended to present the plan at the next conference of interior ministers in June.

Under the plan, pupils would receive a double lesson on the subject twice a year.

Germany's unusable bunkers reveals issues in emergency prep
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Berlin rally to protest at pornographic deepfakes and digital violence
A demonstration has been called at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate on Sunday to protest at sexualized digital violence amid a current celebrity case that has been hitting the headlines in Germany.

The rally has been called by a new group calling itself Feminist Fight Club!, which says the aim is "to draw attention to structural injustices and loopholes in the law in the context of digital and analogue sexualized violence in Germany."
German TV presenter and actor Collien Fernandes — who has made serious allegations of digital sexual abuse against her ex-partner, fellow actor Christian Ulmen — has also promoted the demonstration, for which some 500 participants are registered.

"Sexual violence, physical and psychological violence are more widespread than one might suspect.

They take place right at the heart of our society," Fernandes wrote in an Instagram post.

Ulmen’s lawyer, Christian Schertz, has announced that legal action will be taken against the reporting.

He claimed that "untrue facts were being disseminated due to a one-sided account."
READ: Germany's coalition watching Rhineland-Palatinate election closely
Sunday's election in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate is being seen as a gauge of the national coalition government's popularity and will be carefully monitored from Berlin.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz 's Christian Democrats (CDU) and coalition partner the Social Democrats (SPD) are neck-and-neck in opinion polls, with the million-dollar question being whether the CDU can take over the leadership from the SPD after the latter's 35 years in power in the state.

The performance of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) will also be under scrutiny, with the party expected to make major gains.

For a closer analysis of what is at stake in the elections, please read more here: Germany's governing CDU, SPD watch latest regional election
Physical retail stores on the decline in Germany — association
Brick-and-mortar retail stores in Germany are declining in number, the German Retail Association (HDE) has said.

The HDE estimates that the number of physical retailers is set to fall below 300,000 this year for the first time since German reunification in 1990, dropping by some 4,900 stores to reach around 296,000 in 2026.

The forecast takes into consideration both closures and new openings.

Germany still had some 372,000 shops at the end of 2015, but some 70,000 have closed since then, with the situation worsening significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020-2023, when the number fell by 11,500 in 2021 and by 11,000 in 2022.

HDE said that physical stores are under increasing pressure from online retail.

The association's president, Alexander von Preen, warned that German city centers are being negatively impacted by the rising vacancies, with small and medium-sized retailers the worst-affected.

"This cannot and must not continue," he said, adding that the state needed to reduce energy and employment costs.

Munich mayoral race in focus as Bavaria holds run-off local elections
Voters in the southern state of Bavaria are to go to the polls in a second round of local elections, with the race for the mayor of the capital, Munich, seen as a highlight.

Elections for mayoral and district administrator roles are set to take place in 29 districts and more than 250 towns and municipalities.

In Munich, Mayor Dieter Reiter from the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) is facing a close contest with the Green Party's Dominik Krause.

Reiter won 35.6% of the vote in the first round two weeks ago, ahead of Krause on 29.5%.

It was Reiter's weakest performance ever and came after he faced criticism related to posts he holds at Bundesliga club Bayern Munich.

The performance of the Christian Social Union (CSU) , the Bavaria-only sister party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU) , will also be watched carefully,
The CSU is traditionally the state's strongest force, but it turned in its worst local election result since 1952 during the first round on March 8, receiving 32.5%, compared with 34.5% at the last vote in 2020.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) , in contrast, made massive gains, receiving 12.2% as compared with 4.7% in 2020.

However, it was unable to advance to run-off elections in the state's major cities.

Voters to go to the polls in Rhineland-Palatinate's state elections
Voters in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate are set to go to the polls in the second of Germany's five state elections this year.

Pre-election surveys show that the vote is likely to be a tight race between the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) , who have governed the state for 35 years, and the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) , making a coalition of the two parties likely in the state for the first time.

The two currently make up Germany's conservative-led government in a so-called grand coalition.

Altogether 2.95 million people are eligible to vote.

Rhineland-Palatinate's premier since 2024 has been the SPD's Alexander Schweitzer, 52, the former state labor minister, who took over from his party colleague Malu Dreyer after she stepped down for health reasons.

He is being challenged by CDU candidate Gordon Schnieder, 50, who, while his party enjoys a slight lead over the SPD in voter polls, trails Schweitzer by a large margin when respondents are asked who they want as leader.

A recent Infratest-Dimap  poll gave the CDU 28% and the SPD 27%, while Schnieder himself received just 25% compared with Schweitzer's 40% in a ZDF-Politbarometer survey.

At the last state elections in 2021, the SPD won 35.7%, the CDU 27.7%, the Greens 9.3%, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) 8.3% and the FDP 5.5%.

Recent polls show that the AfD has more than doubled its voter support, while the FDP has sunk beneath the 5% hurdle needed for parliamentary representation in the surveys.

Two weeks ago, the AfD reached 18.8% in the neighboring state of Baden-Württemberg despite widespread concern that the party constitutes a danger to democracy and the constitution.

Guten Morgen once more from DW's newsroom in Bonn as we restart our coverage of news from and about Germany.

You join us as voters in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate prepare to go to the polls in the second of five state elections slated for this year.

Pre-election surveys show the election is likely to be a close race between Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), with their candidate, Gordon Schnieder, and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), led in the state by the current premier, Alexander Schweitzer.

The two parties make up Germany's ruling coalition at a national level, so the vote will be being watched closely as a barometer of the popularity of the government.

The success or not of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party will also be under scrutiny, particularly from those who consider the party a danger to democracy and the rule of law.

You can follow this and other stories in our Germany news blog on Sunday, March 22.

Thank you for reading.

We will be back on Sunday morning with more news from and about Germany.

Lufthansa to test 'light cleaning' on certain routes
The German airline Lufthansa has been conducting reduced cleaning services on certain routes, according to the Aerotelegraph portal that cited an internal crew memo.

The test began on March 16 and will run until March 29, on around 20 routes within Europe.

It consists of several cost-cutting initiatives, such as only cleaning bathrooms and emptying seat pockets upon request.

Instead of thorough cleaning between flights, crews will carry out spot checks to determine whether cleaning teams need to be called in.

The test will also include looking into the option of employing only two rather than four cleaning staff at external cleaning stations, but giving them 10 minutes instead of five to clean each plane.

The company said it was testing out "numerous process optimizations for increased efficiency and for even better use of resources," a spokesperson told Aerotelegraph.

F1 champ Verstappen disqualified in Nürburgring endurance race after win
Max Verstappen, the Dutch four-time Formula 1 world champion, tried his hand at the Nürburgring four-hour race in Germany's Rhineland-Palatinate state on Saturday.

He managed to drive his Mercedes, along with co-drivers Frenchman Jules Gounon and Spaniard Daniel, to victory by almost exactly a minute.

However, after the race, officials intervened because his team had used seven sets of tires instead of the six allowed.

Nevertheless, it gave Verstappen some practice on the circuit ahead of his planned participation in the 24-hour race in May.

"It is the craziest race track in the world — in a positive sense," Verstappen said post-race, before he had been stripped of his win.

"It was a great experience to drive here.

It was really fun and I really good."
Verstappen's appearance at the endurance race comes after a difficult start to the F1 season for him and his Red Bull team.

The Dutch driver has not made the podium after two Grand Prixs this season, and failed to finish the race last time out in China.

He is set to drive in the Japanese Grand Prix next Sunday.

Diesel price in Germany nears all-time high
The Iran war has pushed up diesel prices in Germany by a further 12 cents over the previous two days.

On Friday, the nationwide daily average price for a liter (roughly 02.5 gallons) of diesel stood at €2.291 ($2.655), the motoring association ADAC announced, marking a 5% rise since Wednesday.

The figure is just 3 cents less than the all-time high recorded four years ago, when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.

E10 premium gasoline (petrol) also continued to rise, with a litre costing €2.086 on Friday, up 4.2 cents compared to Wednesday.

Diesel prices in Germany have risen 31% since the day before the US and Israel began the war with Iran , while petrol prices are up 17%.

The rise has been driven by higher crude oil prices linked to the war.

Oil companies, however, have been criticized for raising fuel prices disproportionately relative to the price of crude.

Berlin group stages human chain to demand end to racism
Germany's capital is playing host to a 1,100-person human chain against racism and right-wing-extremist violence to mark the International Day Against Racism .

The mass linkup and accompanying rally are organized by the Rudow Outraged initiative, a local anti-fascist and community-based activist group in the Rudow neighborhood of southern Berlin.

Organizers said they would also protest against fascism, social cuts and migrant deportations.

The chain comes as Germany's public institutions face increasing scrutiny over racial discrimination.

Last month, researchers at Leipzig's Research Institute for Social Cohesion found evidence of racist discrimination across all government bodies when it comes to discretion in decision-making and organizational culture.

Studies published to mark International Day Against Racism found that racism and discrimination remain pervasive in Germany.

Strike leaves Hamburg public transport users stranded
Hamburg's subway services have been brought to a halt by a 24-hour strike by the Verdi trade union .

No U-bahn trains have been running across the northern German city since early morning, operator Hamburg Hochbahn said.

Bus services have been severely disrupted.

The walkout by Verdi members is due to end on Sunday morning.

Suburban rail trains and harbour ferries are not affected.

The strike is the latest in a series of actions taken by the union in Hamburg, a city-state, as part of ongoing wage negotiations.

Talks are due to resume on Monday.

Wage and contract negotiations are underway across much of Germany’s public transport sector, with deals already reached in several states.

End of EU chat-scan waiver puts kids at risk, police union says
Germany's GdP police union has called for an extension of a European Union rule waiver that allows messaging services in EU member states to voluntarily scan for child sexual abuse images.

The exemption from EU privacy rules was introduced in 2021.

It allows messaging services like WhatsApp, Signal and others to scan chats to help root out criminal content — primarily images and videos — and hunt down perpetrators.

However, the EU exemption runs out on April 3 and despite talks this week, negotiators failed to agree on a compromise after the European Parliament pushed for scanning limits.

GdP said the impending end of voluntary chat monitoring would significantly hamper police efforts to effectively combat serious forms of crime against children and young people.

The union called for the exemption to be continued until a long-term solution is found.

Criminals must not be given "unnecessary access to commit their vile acts," it warned.