Germany

Conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz could unseat chancellor Olaf Scholz but threat of gains by far-right AfD looms largeBerlin correspondentIn the run-up to today’s vote, the Guardian’s Kate Connolly travelled more than 850 miles on trains across Germany to hear what its citizens have to say about the state of their nation. Continue reading...

Opinion is divided as Germany faces what some describe as the 'most important election in their lifetime'. After a campaign mainly focused on the economy and migration, the country is expected to shift to the right as Friedrich Merz is in pole position to become Germany's next chancellor, while far-right party AfD could become the second most powerful party […]

This weekend’s vote will show how far xenophobia has been driving even some traditionally progressive partiesWhen I think of German democracy, I think of the Larsen B ice shelf: a vast Antarctic structure that remained stable for 10,000 years until – in just over a month, to the horror of shocked onlookers – it collapsed catastrophically.This weekend, […]

Germans went to the polls on Sunday in a pivotal election, with the conservatives the strong favourites after a campaign rocked by a far-right surge and the dramatic return of US President Donald Trump.

Russian dissident punk band Pussy Riot played at a pro-Ukraine protest in Berlin on Saturday, on the eve of German elections as the war nears three years.

Germany's conservative election frontrunner Friedrich Merz promised Saturday in his last rally before Sunday's elections that if he takes power he will be a "strong voice in the European Union".

German voters head to the polls in a winter election on Sunday but may not have a new government for some time.

Europe holds its breath as world’s third largest economic power and most populous EU country faces crossroadsGerman election live – latest updatesGerman voters go to the polls today but it is a different world from when the campaign began only a few weeks ago.Nearly 60 million ­people are choosing a government that will have to grapple with the […]

The Berlin film festival is set to hand out its awards on Saturday, with a selection of 19 films and documentaries competing for the top Golden Bear prize.

A Syrian man arrested after a stabbing attack at Berlin's Holocaust memorial that wounded a Spanish man had been harbouring a "plan to kill Jews", police and prosecutors said Saturday.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday stressed his support for Ukraine's sovereignty and defended Germany's commitment to free speech in a pushback against recent broadsides from the Trump administration.

This weekend, a symphony of Singers (not that kind) will lead an experimental performance that stitches together feminism and fashion – and offers the audience free repairsStepping into the studio of the Brazilian-born artist and performer Lisa Simpson – no relation to the cartoon character – feels like entering a crossover between the Mad Hatter’s […]

US president’s attempt to control or dismantle cultural institutions plays into a long history of authoritarians using arts to push their agendaIn 1937, leaders of Germany’s Third Reich hosted two simultaneous art exhibitions in Munich. One, titled the Great German Art Exhibition, featured art viewed by the regime as appropriate and aspirational for the […]

Germany's rocky path towards Sunday's early elections began when the outgoing coalition government collapsed on November 6, the very day Donald Trump won re-election to the White House.

From election fever with poll surprises to politicians on TikTok and the push to highlight the positive contributions of immigrants, here's what we're talking about at The Local this week.

Stories of a pre-election state of emergency, police escorts for toddlers and forged ballot papers -- a blizzard of online disinformation has targeted German voters ahead of Sunday's election.

German police said Friday they had arrested a male suspect over a stabbing that badly wounded a 30-year-old Spanish man at Berlin's Holocaust Memorial near the US embassy.

In the run-up to Sunday’s crucial election, the Guardian took a long journey through Europe’s heartland to talk to votersCreaking, overcrowded, neglected, Germany’s railways, once a source of national pride, have taken a battering to their image in recent years. Amid wider concerns about the health of Europe’s stagnating largest economy, the state […]

German police have arrested a suspect after attack on Spanish tourist and say they have not yet found a motiveGerman police have arrested a man suspected in a stabbing attack at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial that left a Spanish tourist seriously injured.There was no immediate indication of a motive for the attack late on Friday, two days before Germans vote […]

Germany is experiencing a political shift that is alarming many citizens. The photographer Fabian Ritter has spent years documenting the rise of the far-right AfD party and more extreme groups. Recent events illustrate the growing tensionIn the run-up to Sunday’s election in Germany the political climate has become more heated. There have been attacks on […]

Sunday’s poll is a turning point for the EU’s most powerful member state, as it comes to terms with Trump 2.0When Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, chose in November to force this weekend’s snap election, it felt like awkward timing. In the United States, Donald Trump had just won a decisive victory and was promising to move fast and break things. […]

Community grapples with fear over ‘proliferation and normalisation of anti-queer and anti-trans sentiment in politics and the media’They poured on to streets across Germany by the thousands, waving rainbow flags and signs that read “Choose Love”. Days before an election in which the far right is expected to catapult into second place in Germany’s […]

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is set to make major gains in Sunday's crucial election, and while it's leader holds typical nationalist and anti-foreigner views, her story is far from that of a quintessential extremist.

Germany's far-left Die Linke party has enjoyed a late poll surge ahead of Sunday's elections, boosted by a spirited anti-fascist speech by its new rising star that quickly went viral.

Germany needs foreigners to survive, but xenophobic politics and long waits for citizenship mean many won’t have a say in its future. With so many disenfranchised, this snap election has been especially galling, writes Imogen Goodman.

Rule dating from 2009 that limits borrowing looks vulnerable as main political parties promise to revive stalled economyGermany is used to running its economy with the brake on. Ever since the 2008 financial crisis Berlin has sought to burnish a reputation as the world capital of fiscal discipline, with a near-pious aversion to debt and pride in strong […]

Partnership comes as London station looks at ways to almost triple passenger numbersSt Pancras railway station in London and the Channel tunnel operator have agreed to work together to open up more trains from Britain to France, and routes to Germany and Switzerland.The agreement is the latest sign of growing momentum for new passenger rail links from […]

JD Vance says Europe should not shun far-right parties. He seems to have forgotten 1933, but hits a key conundrumIn his speech last week at the Munich Security Conference, JD Vance pressed European leaders to stop excluding extremist parties from government. Alluding in particular to Germany’s neo-Nazi Alternative for Germany, or AfD, he accused European […]

After US Vice President JD Vance took aim at Germany’s ‘hate speech police’, we take a look at the law. Here’s the extent to which freedom of speech is protected versus what is strictly not allowed.

What will happen on the day, who can vote and what happens next? We round up all the key points to get you prepared for the snap election in Germany.