https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Germany in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed The sad saga of a humpback whale stranded a month ago on the German coast has sparked a flood of compassion but also a media frenzy, angry spats, conspiracy theories and death threats. https://www.thelocal.de/20260424/free-timmy-how-a-beached-whale-has-gripped-and-divided-germany Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:22:26 +0200 free-timmy-how-a-beached-whale-has-gripped-and-divided-germany A man from the German state of Hesse has won €15.3 million in the lottery after discovering a forgotten ticket in his coat pocket six months after he bought it. https://www.thelocal.de/20250929/german-man-finds-e15-million-winning-lotto-ticket-in-his-coat-pocket Mon, 29 Sep 2025 19:06:41 +0200 german-man-finds-e15-million-winning-lotto-ticket-in-his-coat-pocket A Bavarian ski resort's advertising slogan that could be offensive to English speakers - but is based on the name of a German mountain - has been banned at the upcoming skiing World Cup. https://www.thelocal.de/20250117/i-love-wank-german-ski-resorts-ad-campaign-banned-at-world-cup Fri, 17 Jan 2025 10:35:16 +0100 i-love-wank-german-ski-resorts-ad-campaign-banned-at-world-cup After spending more than a decade in a German prison on false murder charges, the recently released prisoner has been asked to pay a six-figure sum for "bed and board" during his time in custody. https://www.thelocal.de/20241213/german-man-falsely-imprisoned-for-13-years-faces-e100000-bill-for-jail-time Fri, 13 Dec 2024 18:07:06 +0100 german-man-falsely-imprisoned-for-13-years-faces-e100000-bill-for-jail-time For the last 17 years a worldwide army of online sleuths obsessively tried to figure out the title of what has been dubbed "the most mysterious song on the internet". https://www.thelocal.de/20241107/german-band-in-global-mystery-song-hunt-stunned-by-late-success Thu, 07 Nov 2024 09:54:55 +0100 german-band-in-global-mystery-song-hunt-stunned-by-late-success A small rodent caused a power outage at Frankfurt airport on Monday night, leading to various problems. https://www.thelocal.de/20240806/dormouse-causes-hours-long-power-outage-at-frankfurt-airport Tue, 06 Aug 2024 15:19:38 +0200 dormouse-causes-hours-long-power-outage-at-frankfurt-airport Lasse Stolley was looking for a change in scenery after a planned apprenticeship fell through. So nearly two years ago the teenager began living on German trains. https://www.thelocal.de/20240611/room-with-a-view-the-german-teen-living-on-trains Tue, 11 Jun 2024 11:18:10 +0200 room-with-a-view-the-german-teen-living-on-trains Germany's Scheffelbrücke might not seem like much to look at, but by some accounts it is the most expensive bridge in the world. Here’s what you need to know. https://www.thelocal.de/20210903/germanys-scheffelbrucke-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-worlds-most-expensive-bridge Fri, 03 Sep 2021 16:08:25 +0200 germanys-scheffelbrucke-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-worlds-most-expensive-bridge The Federal High Court (BGH) is used to dealing with some of the most high-profile crimes in the country. But on Friday it announced its ruling on a rather different deliberation - whether it is permissible to trim branches hanging over into one's garden. https://www.thelocal.de/20210612/its-legal-to-trim-your-neighbours-tree-even-if-he-doesnt-want-you-to-germanys-highest-court-rules Sat, 12 Jun 2021 11:48:26 +0200 its-legal-to-trim-your-neighbours-tree-even-if-he-doesnt-want-you-to-germanys-highest-court-rules In the Harz mountains a historic church was threatened with vandalism and decay. The a group of villagers came to the rescue. https://www.thelocal.de/20201220/why-atheists-want-to-save-a-historic-wooden-german-church-plank-by-plank Sun, 20 Dec 2020 12:33:00 +0100 why-atheists-want-to-save-a-historic-wooden-german-church-plank-by-plank Doctors at a hospital in Munich had to perform emergency surgery on a young woman at the weekend after she was hit by a cannon ball during rehearsals for the anniversary of the death of a medieval king. https://www.thelocal.de/20190429/woman-struck-by-cannon-ball-at-celebration-of-german-emperors-death Mon, 29 Apr 2019 13:07:23 +0200 woman-struck-by-cannon-ball-at-celebration-of-german-emperors-death An online dispute between teenage nerds spilled out into the real world on Monday night when over 150 youths threatened to storm the house of a Youtuber known as Dragon Lord. Police eventually had to kettle the unruly crowd. https://www.thelocal.de/20180821/riot-police-called-in-after-angry-nerds-storm-tiny-bavarian-village Tue, 21 Aug 2018 13:07:40 +0200 riot-police-called-in-after-angry-nerds-storm-tiny-bavarian-village We have already brought you the weirdest surnames carried by famous people. Who could fail to laugh at the meaning behind footballer Bastian Schweinsteiger's name? But it gets really bizarre when you start to browse through the German telephone book. https://www.thelocal.de/20180809/the-strangest-surnames-in-the-german-telephone-book Thu, 09 Aug 2018 18:57:08 +0200 the-strangest-surnames-in-the-german-telephone-book A road authority in northern Germany has confirmed that it has attempted to make contact with elves and trolls in order to improve safety on a particularly treacherous stretch of motorway. https://www.thelocal.de/20180807/lower-saxony-calls-in-elf-commissioner-to-tackle-autobahn-deaths Tue, 07 Aug 2018 12:26:59 +0200 lower-saxony-calls-in-elf-commissioner-to-tackle-autobahn-deaths It’s been one year since two pandas arrived in Berlin on 24th June 2017, and they’ve got a very particular breakfast routine in Berlin’s Zoologischer Garten. https://www.thelocal.de/20180622/berlins-pandas-and-their-bamboo-breakfast-routines Fri, 22 Jun 2018 17:52:37 +0200 berlins-pandas-and-their-bamboo-breakfast-routines A yet unknown thief used a saw to cut down a tree at the weekend in the central German city of Kassel in order to steal an expensive mountain bike. https://www.thelocal.de/20180621/thief-in-kassel-steals-2000-bike-after-sawing-down-tree Thu, 21 Jun 2018 19:28:35 +0200 thief-in-kassel-steals-2000-bike-after-sawing-down-tree After their son devised a creative way to tidy up his room, the parents of an eight-year-old boy in the small town of Eschwege, Hesse are now several thousand euros in debt. https://www.thelocal.de/20180621/4500-in-damages-after-boy-cleans-room-by-throwing-things-out-of-window Thu, 21 Jun 2018 11:54:02 +0200 4500-in-damages-after-boy-cleans-room-by-throwing-things-out-of-window It's always the quiet ones: two hedgehogs found intoxicated on field are taken to nearby zoo. https://www.thelocal.de/20180618/hungover-hedgehogs-taken-to-zoo-to-recover Mon, 18 Jun 2018 16:37:17 +0200 hungover-hedgehogs-taken-to-zoo-to-recover After embarking on a cruise with his family to Norway, a boy from Berlin returned home to an unwelcome bill amounting to €12,000, German media reported on Wednesday. https://www.thelocal.de/20180615/german-boy-on-cruise-ship-racks-up-12000-in-roaming-charges Fri, 15 Jun 2018 11:59:58 +0200 german-boy-on-cruise-ship-racks-up-12000-in-roaming-charges A bride and groom in southern Germany were in for a big surprise when they came home after their recent wedding. https://www.thelocal.de/20180608/over-30000-deposit-bottles-given-to-bavarian-couple-as-wedding-gift Fri, 08 Jun 2018 12:41:30 +0200 over-30000-deposit-bottles-given-to-bavarian-couple-as-wedding-gift