The Local Germany

How labour reforms have left Germany's working poor desperate for change

Thu, 11 May 2017 10:52:00 +0200

Hospital cleaner Petra Vogel is exactly the kind of voter in the sights of Social Democrats determined to unseat German Chancellor Angela Merkel at legislative elections in September.

Fire at major Ruhr area hospital kills at least two

Fri, 30 Sep 2016 11:52:53 +0200

Tragedy struck the western German town of Bochum on Friday morning when a huge fire broke out in a hospital in Bochum, killing at least two people.

Young man ‘surfs’ on train after forgetting bag inside

Fri, 22 Apr 2016 17:47:15 +0200

When a 20-year-old in western Germany noticed he’d left his luggage on the train he took swift action - jumping onto the coupling at the back as the locomotive rolled out of the station.

Teen 'Salafists' arrested over bomb attack on Sikh temple

Thu, 21 Apr 2016 17:22:58 +0200

Police said on Thursday that two teenagers they have arrested in connection with a bomb attack on a Sikh temple in the western German city of Essen are linked to the Islamic fundamentalist scene there.

Essen to be 2017 'Green Capital' of Europe

Thu, 18 Jun 2015 17:54:05 +0200

The German city of Essen has been named the European Green Capital for 2017 at a ceremony on Thursday in the current capital Bristol in the UK.

Police union doesn't have time for petty crime

Mon, 19 Jan 2015 11:48:24 +0100

The German Police Union (DpolG) said on Monday that officers overworked with serious cases and terrorism should no longer be asked to investigate minor crimes.

Germany spends millions on animal-only bridges

Wed, 18 Sep 2013 18:32:00 +0200

Germany is living up to its environmentally-friendly image by spending millions of euros on building bridges just for animals. Humans caught crossing them face a €35 fine. More than a hundred wildlife bridges are to be built in the next decade.

Biscuit bully uses shopping cart as weapon

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 08:16:00 +0200

An impatient biscuit shopper in western Germany faces possible assault charges after ramming a woman with her shopping cart.

General Motors to invest €4 billion in Opel

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:41:00 +0200

General Motors will invest €4 billion in its troubled German subsidiary Opel and its British sister brand Vauxhall by 2016, the US auto giant has announced.

Chilly economic climate and weather hit zoos

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 09:45:00 +0200

Zoos in North Rhine-Westphalia are under intense financial pressure as the cold keeps visitors away and the chill economic climate kills off corporate sponsorship, an investigation by a German regional paper showed this week.

Opel to end Bochum car production in 2014

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 17:33:00 +0100

German carmaker Opel, the loss-making arm of US auto giant General Motors, said Friday it will press ahead with plans to phase out auto production at one of its Bochum factory at the end of 2014, earlier than planned.

Christo opens gigantic ‘air’ sculpture in Ruhr

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 13:16:00 +0100

The largest inflatable object in the world has been unveiled in the city of Oberhasen in Germany’s Ruhr Valley. The sculpture,conceived by Bulgarian artist Christo, is being housed in a gigantic exhibition space.

Galatasaray torpedo Schalke's CL dreams

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 07:56:00 +0100

Schalke 04's Champions League ambitions ended in spectacular fashion on Tuesday as a last-minute goal from Turkey forward Umut Bulut sealed a 3-2 defeat to Galatasaray that put the Turkish side into the quarter-finals.

Steel demand slumps, ThyssenKrupp suffers

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 10:12:00 +0100

German heavy industry giant ThyssenKrupp said Tuesday it is forecasting sluggish sales and earnings this year as it continues to suffer from weak steel demand in Europe.

ThyssenKrupp to axe 2,000 European steel jobs

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:05:00 +0100

German heavy industry giant ThyssenKrupp unveiled plans on Friday to axe more than seven percent of the workforce at its Steel Europe division to make the business more competitive.

Truck crashes into bus stop injuring five children

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 13:54:00 +0100

German police arrested on Wednesday morning a truck driver who crashed into a bus stop, injuring five children, including two schoolgirls seriously, and spilling gravel from the vehicle all over the road.

ThyssenKrupp completes stainless steel unit sale

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 13:25:00 +0100

German industrial giant ThyssenKrupp said Friday it has completed the sale of its stainless steel unit Inoxum to the Finnish group Outokumpu.

ThyssenKrupp posts massive €4.7 billion loss

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:49:00 +0100

German heavy industry giant ThyssenKrupp said on Monday it would not pay any annual dividends after it posted a loss of €4.7 billion for the year following a write-down of two loss-making steel plants.

Duisburg shuts down for WWII bomb detonation

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 10:16:00 +0100

The city of Duisburg came to a standstill on Tuesday night when the city was evacuated in order to safely detonate a half-tonne World War II bomb. Thousands of residents spent over seven hours in emergency shelters.

East German payments 'no longer needed'

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:23:00 +0100

Mayors in the struggling Ruhr area in west Germany want to end their “solidarity” payments to eastern Germany, saying the east no longer needs the money and their cities are heavily in debt, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Tuesday.