Germany edition

Saxony-anhalt

The following articles have been tagged with "Saxony-anhalt":

Rent-jumping family caught by police

National: 9 Feb 12
An eight-person family that avoided paying rent for years by moving house every two to three weeks has finally been caught in the northern German town of Schneverdingen. READ »

Cop patrolled 22 years without driver's license

Society: 27 Jan 12
Criminal charges have been filed against a policeman in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt who allegedly drove patrol cars for more than 20 years without a proper driver's license, officials have revealed. READ »

Protesters say police used excessive force

National: 9 Jan 12
Organisers of a rally to remember an asylum seeker who died in police custody have complained after two people were injured during their demonstration in Dessau – including one man who was carried unconscious from the scene. READ »

Fox carcass discovery closes restaurant

Society: 2 Dec 11
Health inspectors have shut down a Vietnamese restaurant in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt after they found a fox carcass there, apparently ready to be eaten or served to customers. READ »

Deutsche Bahn hopes DNA will curb metal theft

National: 22 Nov 11
Germany railway operator Deutsche Bahn is spraying so-called “artificial DNA” on its tracks, as well as overhead wires and other metal to hinder thieves from selling it later on the black market. READ »

Masked men threaten footballer at home

Sport: 31 Oct 11
Five masked men broke into the home of Magdeburg footballer Daniel Bauer on Friday night and threatened him and his girlfriend if he didn’t improve his performance in Sunday’s regional league match against Halle. READ »

German population to shrink by a fifth by 2060

Society: 28 Oct 11
Germany's population will plunge by 17 million inhabitants – a fifth of its current size – by 2060, according to a demography study presented by Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich this week. READ »

Welfare couple fight to keep €83,000 in dole benefits

Society: 14 Oct 11
A German couple on state benefits, who were mistakenly paid €83,000 by the job centre, have spent a large chunk of the cash and are fighting to keep some of the rest. READ »

Cold front blankets Brocken in snow

National: 8 Oct 11
The Brocken, the highest point in northern Germany, was covered in four centimetres of snow on Saturday after a cold front caused temperatures to plunge across the country. READ »

Honecker's plane gets new lease of life as luxury hotel

Society: 7 Oct 11
A plane used by East German leaders – including, it is rumoured, Erich Honecker - has been transformed into a luxury hotel complete with Jacuzzi, sauna, bar and flat-screen television. READ »

Heavy storms rage across Germany

National: 12 Sep 11
A storm front swept across Germany on Sunday evening, pummelling several states with rain and, in some areas, ping-pong-ball-sized hailstones. Mud and water was washed across roads and railway tracks causing several accidents. READ »

World's slowest concert crawls to 10th anniversary

Society: 5 Sep 11
A quirky music project to play the longest song in the history of the world on Monday crawled to its 10th anniversary – but there are still 629 years to go. READ »

Police officers riled by new ID requirement

National: 18 Aug 11
Berlin police must now wear personal identification on their uniforms, but many German officers say the requirement puts their lives at risk. Moises Mendoza reports. READ »

Power cut leaves 117,000 chickens to suffocate in factory farm

National: 16 Aug 11
Police have launched an investigation after around 117,000 chickens suffocated in an eastern German factory farm when the power cut out. READ »

One third of children born out of wedlock

Society: 12 Aug 11
One in three children are now born out of wedlock in Germany – double the proportion seen two decades ago – according to government figures signalling a strong shift in social norms. READ »

Iron Age people gave interiors of dwellings a decorative streak

Science & Technology: 8 Aug 11
Archaeologists in Saxony-Anhalt have discovered a 2,600-year-old wall painted in colourful patterns, revealing that Iron Age houses were not the drab constructions they were once thought to be. READ »

Interior Ministry to probe ban of far-right NPD

Politics: 5 Aug 11
Discussions surrounding a possible ban of Germany's neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NPD) have taken a major step forward after the Interior Ministry agreed to participate in a working group to look into the matter. READ »

Saxony-Anhalt premier under fire for comparing police IDs to Jewish stars

Politics: 26 Jul 11
Reiner Haseloff, the conservative state premier of Saxony-Anhalt, is facing fierce criticism after allegedly comparing forcing German police to wear name tags to how Jews had to display the Star of David under the Nazis. READ »

Southeast braces for heavy rains and flooding

National: 20 Jul 11
A broad swath of southeastern Germany has been warned to brace for potentially torrential rains and flooding for the rest of the week. READ »

Two killed as storm front batters Germany

National: 23 Jun 11
Two people were killed, several people injured and thousands more had their electricity cut after a storm front causing hundreds of thousands of euros of damage battered Germany on Wednesday night. READ »

Germans want more direct democracy

Politics: 13 Jun 11
A new study says that Germans are becoming less and less interested in traditional, party-based democracy, and want more referendums and more direct influence in political issues. READ »

E. coli death toll hits 30

National: 9 Jun 11
The death toll from an outbreak of killer bacteria centred on Germany jumped to at least 30 on Thursday, as EU and Russian leaders got ready to cross swords over Moscow's ban on EU vegetables. READ »

Seven old reactors set to be mothballed

Business & Money: 27 May 11
Germany’s seven oldest atomic reactors are likely to be switched off permanently after federal Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen struck an agreement with state counterparts for a permanent shutdown. READ »

Women more likely to manage small companies

Business & Money: 20 May 11
Women have better career chances in smaller German companies than large corporations, with a fifth of mid-sized firms being led by a female CEO, according to a new survey released on Friday. READ »

Train drivers in fresh strike on Monday

National: 18 Apr 11
Train drivers at five major private rail operators will again go on strike Monday afternoon and will not return to work until Thursday. READ »

Ancient 'debit card' discovered in Saxony-Anhalt

Science & Technology: 14 Apr 11
Archaeologists in Wittenberg in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt have unearthed a 453-year-old wooden "tally stick" used to keep track of debts. READ »

German media roundup: Westerwelle steps down

Analysis & Opinion: 4 Apr 11
The political body blows that have rained down on Free Democrats leader Guido Westerwelle for more than a year have finally taken their toll. But can his party recover? The Local’s media round-up gauges the debate. READ »

Westerwelle stepping down as FDP leader

Politics: 3 Apr 11
Embattled Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Sunday he would quit as leader of his ailing Free Democratic Party (FDP) next month but stay on as Germany's top diplomat. READ »

Train drivers on strike

National: 31 Mar 11
Regional train commuters across Germany may need to find alternative transport after drivers from 21 private rail operators went on a two-day strike Thursday morning. READ »

Radiation checks offered to travellers from Japan

National: 24 Mar 11
Travellers returning from Japan can be checked for radioactive contamination by authorities, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) announced Thursday. READ »

Tough state elections loom for Merkel's conservatives

Politics: 24 Mar 11
Chancellor Angela Merkel's party has ruled Baden-Württemberg since 1953, but the political fallout in Germany from Japan's nuclear crisis could spell the end in a key state election Sunday. READ »

Greens surge in state election in Saxony-Anhalt

Politics: 20 Mar 11
Voters in Saxony-Anhalt handed German Chancellor Angela Merkel a wake-up call Sunday after the Japan nuclear crisis helped the Greens more than double their support in the second of seven state elections this year. READ »

Saxony-Anhalt goes to the polls

Politics: 20 Mar 11
German Chancellor Angela Merkel braced for a voter backlash Sunday in a state election in Saxony-Anhalt, the first vote since the Japan disaster forced her into a sudden U-turn on nuclear policy. READ »

Greens jump in the polls

Politics: 16 Mar 11
The nuclear crisis in Japan has increased support in Germany for the environmentalist Green party, according to a new poll released Wednesday. The Greens have traditionally taken a strong anti-nuclear stance. READ »

Neo-Nazi candidate probed for web bomb tips

Politics: 15 Mar 11
The main candidate for the neo-Nazi NPD party in Saxony-Anhalt's election this Sunday is being investigated by police for allegedly posting bomb-making tips on the internet. READ »

Poll points to possible left-wing coalition in Saxony-Anhalt

Politics: 11 Mar 11
With just over a week until a state election in Saxony-Anhalt, the centre-left Social Democrats are tied in a poll with the socialist Left party – potentially opening the way for an alliance that could topple the current grand coalition. READ »

Public sector wage dispute ends

Business & Money: 11 Mar 11
The five-week wage dispute between public employees and Germany’s state employers ended late on Thursday evening with an agreement to increase salaries for some 600,000 workers. READ »

Strike cripples rail traffic nationwide

National: 10 Mar 11
A strike by train drivers for both freight and passenger routes crippled rail traffic in Germany Thursday morning, with hundreds of cancellations and countless delays reported across the country. READ »

Suspect in triple murder found dead

Society: 4 Mar 11
Three people have been found dead at a shooting range in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, police said on Friday. They later found the body of a 28-year-old man suspected of involvement in their deaths. READ »

Public workers' strikes hit eastern states

Business & Money: 3 Mar 11
Limited strikes by German public workers continued on Thursday, this time teachers street crews and bureaucrats in the eastern states taking part. READ »

Schavan 'embarrassed' by Guttenberg

Politics: 28 Feb 11
Members of Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg’s fellow conservatives criticized him for plagiarizing his doctoral on Monday, with Education Minister Annette Schavan calling him an embarrassment. READ »

Academics attack Guttenberg over plagiarized thesis

Education: 26 Feb 11
Embattled Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg withstood harsh criticism in parliament at the end of the week for copying large sections of his doctoral thesis only to be further attacked by academics at the weekend. READ »

Lame tiger cub learning to walk with water therapy

Society: 23 Feb 11
A partially paralyzed Malaysian tiger cub in Germany is showing signs that she may learn to walk thanks to special water therapy, zookeepers said Wednesday. READ »

Neo-Nazis and protestors fill a tense Dresden

National: 19 Feb 11
Thousands of anti-fascists and neo-Nazis as well as police officers trying to keep them apart filled Dresden's city centre on Saturday after organisers of three neo-Nazi demonstrations were given the judicial go-ahead to march. READ »

Guttenberg drops Dr. title

Politics: 18 Feb 11
Following accusations he plagiarized parts of his doctoral dissertation, Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg on Friday said he would stop using his academic title and apologized for making mistakes. READ »

SPD and Greens set for power in Hamburg

Politics: 13 Feb 11
A centre-left coalition of Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens looks set to win next week's election in the city-state of Hamburg, according to the latest opinion poll published in Focus magazine. READ »

Lone wolf attacks 15 sheep overnight

Society: 9 Feb 11
Authorities urged farmers in the northern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to secure their fences on Tuesday after determining that a lone wolf likely killed and severely injured a total of 15 sheep in a single field overnight. READ »

Train driver ignored two stop warnings before deadly crash

National: 1 Feb 11
The driver of the freight train that collided with a passenger train over the weekend, killing 10, apparently ignored two stop signals just before the accident, a media report said Tuesday. READ »

Freight train driver investigated over crash

National: 31 Jan 11
Prosecutors have placed under investigation the 41-year-old driver of the freight train that collided with a passenger train Saturday night, killing 10 people, on the suspicion he drove through a stop signal. READ »

Ten killed, dozens injured in train crash

National: 30 Jan 11
Ten people were killed in a horror rail smash Saturday night in Saxony-Anhalt when a goods train and passenger train collided head-on. READ »

Flooding still critical along many rivers

National: 18 Jan 11
Floodwaters remained high across parts of Germany on Tuesday, with officials reporting critical levels as rivers continued to swell from heavy rain and snow melt. The Main and Elbe are both rising. READ »

Neo-Nazis using sports clubs to spread message, researcher says

Sport: 18 Jan 11
Right-wing extremists have begun infiltrating sports clubs to influence young people across the country, a leading researcher said Tuesday, calling the situation a pressing problem. READ »

Milder weather set to continue through the week

Society: 16 Jan 11
The warmer period is set to continue this week, with rain and fog the dominant factors rather than freezing temperatures and snow, weathermen said at the weekend. READ »

Flood threat remains along nation's rivers

National: 12 Jan 11
Germany remained on flood alert on Wednesday, with high water rising more quickly than predicted in the south and citizens building an emergency dam in the country's financial capital Frankfurt. READ »

Heavy rain in forecast as floods begin to recede

National: 11 Jan 11
Flooding caused by melting snow eased in parts of Germany on Tuesday, but with heavy rain in the forecast, the situation remained tense. Meanwhile authorities reported three flood-related deaths. READ »

Thaw threatens floods

National: 7 Jan 11
Rising waters threatened many German river regions on Friday, as rain and milder temperatures continued to melt snow and ice. The Rhine and Mosel could see widespread flooding over the weekend. READ »

Dioxin farm scandal spreads to UK

National: 6 Jan 11
Germany's dioxin animal feed scandal has spread to Britain, where authorities are hunting for processed food made from tainted eggs, the European Commission said Thursday. READ »

Freezing rain makes roads hazardous

National: 6 Jan 11
Freezing rain and icy roads caused countless accidents across broad swaths of Germany on Thursday morning. Scores were hurt in bus crash near Augsburg. READ »

Dioxin scandal spreads

National: 5 Jan 11
Some 3,000 tonnes of dioxin-contaminated fatty acids used to enrich animal feed have been distributed in at least four German states, according to official estimates. The authorities are shutting down more farms as a precaution. READ »

Dioxin shuts farms, forces hen cull

National: 3 Jan 11
The discovery of animal feed laced with poisonous dioxin has forced the closure of countless farms and the slaughter of at least 8,000 egg-laying chickens, as German officials on Monday reacted to a widening agriculture scandal. READ »

From euro crisis to Eurovision

National: 3 Jan 11
What will be the big stories in Germany in 2011? The Local breaks down what could be a difficult year for the government but a triumphant one for the economy, music and women’s football. READ »

37-year-old loses hand to firecracker

Society: 30 Dec 10
A man from Saxony-Anhalt has become the first major casualty of the New Year’s pyrotechnic orgy by blowing off his left hand with a firecracker, police announced Thursday. READ »

Major rail link down as travel chaos continues

National: 24 Dec 10
Germany's pre-Christmas travel chaos shifted from airports to roads and railways Friday. Frozen overhead wires caused the suspension of the Berlin-Hannover rail link, while ice caused several motorway accidents. READ »

Motorists warned of delays and danger

National: 23 Dec 10
Motorists should expect clogged roads and long traffic jams on Thursday as hordes of people go on holiday, compounding the effects of recent bad weather, the ADAC motor club has warned. READ »

FDP dips below five percent in regional polls

Politics: 19 Dec 10
The Free Democratic Party, junior partner in Germany's governing coalition, would fail to enter two state parliaments if elections were held there this weekend, a new poll shows. FDP leader Guido Westerwelle is under pressure. READ »

Blizzard slams Germany

National: 17 Dec 10
The blizzard “Petra” hammered Germany with more snow on Friday, causing countess road accidents, shutting down air traffic and trapping hundreds of people in an icy train. READ »

Stephanie zu Guttenberg joins husband on Afghanistan visit

Politics: 13 Dec 10
Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg’s Stephanie wife has taken the unusual step of joining her husband on a surprise visit to Germany’s troops in Afghanistan, officials announced Monday. READ »

Winter travel havoc persists

National: 10 Dec 10
Winter weather continued to wreak havoc on German air travel on Friday, with more snow, sleet and freezing temperatures forcing airports to cancel flights across the country. READ »

Wahl-O-Mat blackout in Saxony-Anhalt ahead of March election

Politics: 5 Dec 10
The computer programme Wahl-O-Mat which helps voters decide how to cast their ballot will not be available to people in Saxony-Anhalt ahead of the March 20 state election. READ »

Snow wallops Germany

National: 2 Dec 10
Germans woke up to heavy blanket of snow and widespread traffic chaos on Thursday, with police reporting the most problems in the states of Saxony and Bavaria. READ »

Schools failing to integrate special needs students, study finds

Society: 29 Nov 10
Germany has been slow to develop schools including children with special needs despite signing an international accord to create a more inclusive educational system, a new study revealed Monday. READ »

Snowstorm snarls road and air traffic

National: 29 Nov 10
Snow and ice in Germany caused hundreds of accidents, lengthy traffic jams and dozens of flight delays on Monday, as meteorologists forecast frigid temperatures and a possible storm surge along the coast. READ »

Snowstorm buries Harz Mountains

National: 23 Nov 10
Heavy snow has brought winter to northern Germany, with 50 centimetres dumped in the last two days on the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz mountain range, the German Weather Service said Tuesday. READ »

Police stick to refusal to make officers wear identifying badges

Society: 14 Nov 10
Most German states are still refusing to have police officers wear name or number badges, saying such identification would put officers in danger, despite a compromise suggested by Berlin. READ »

Sinkhole filled, but residents not allowed to return

National: 8 Nov 10
One week after an enormous sinkhole opened up in the Thuringia community of Schmalkalden, authorities said Monday that the hole had been filled, but the area remained too unstable for residents to return. READ »

Neo-Nazi NPD votes to join forces with smaller right-wing party

Politics: 7 Nov 10
The far-right extremist National Democratic Party (NPD) agreed to a merger with the like-minded German People's Union (DVU) during a party conference in the German city of Hohenmölsen, an NPD spokesman said on Saturday. READ »

Saxony-Anhalt officials warn of sinkhole plague

National: 2 Nov 10
One day after a massive sinkhole appeared underneath a town in Thuringia, officials in the neighbouring state of Saxony-Anhalt warned residents on Tuesday the region sees at least two such incidents per week. READ »

Sinkhole swallows car

Society: 1 Nov 10
A large sinkhole opened up overnight in the middle of residential area in Thuringia, sucking a nearby car and part of a garage into its depths and forcing authorities to evacuate residents, police said on Monday. READ »

Rail delays continue despite strike's end

National: 26 Oct 10
Train delays and disruptions were expected to continue throughout Tuesday despite rail workers' announcement mid-morning that they had finished their strikes. READ »

Neo-Nazi caught coaching youth football despite club ban

Sport: 8 Oct 10
A children’s football coach suspended from his club in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt for his membership in the neo-Nazi NPD party has defied the ban and is back on the pitch, according to media reports on Friday. READ »

Eastern floodwaters ease but alert remains high

National: 4 Oct 10
Floodwaters in the eastern states of Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg were slowly receding on Monday morning, following several tense days along the region’s dykes. READ »

Neighbourhood beer proves better than a bake sale for charities

Lifestyle: 17 Sep 10
Berliners can now feel good about their hangovers. For every bottle of a new beer the capital’s denizens guzzle down, the profits will go to social initiatives in their neighbourhoods. The Local met with the founder of Quartiermeister for a drink. READ »

Three-year-old bitten to death by Rottweiler

National: 12 Sep 10
A three-year-old child was bitten to death by a Rottweiler dog in Saxony-Anhalt on Saturday evening, authorities have confirmed. READ »

Doctor shortage reaching crisis, study warns

Society: 3 Sep 10
Germany’s worsening doctor shortage means there could be 7,000 fewer general practitioners by 2020 than there are today, two peak medical bodies warned Friday. READ »

Man found guilty of bashing Israeli teen

National: 31 Aug 10
A 20-year-old cook was found guilty Tuesday of beating an Israeli teenager while yelling ''Jewish swine'' in the Saxony-Anhalt town of Laucha. READ »

Hospitals review hygienic standards after infant deaths

National: 25 Aug 10
German hospitals are reviewing their hygienic standards this week after the tragic deaths of three infants at a Mainz clinic where they were exposed to bacteria through dirty feeding infusions, a survey of facilities showed on Wednesday. READ »

Lambs likely killed by wolves in Brandenburg

Society: 20 Aug 10
German farmers have been warned to get used to living with wolves after 15 lambs were killed and another 20 animals were severely injured in an attack in Brandenburg this month. READ »

Stasi checks for public servants extended

Politics: 6 Aug 10
Candidates for government jobs, including elected office, now face Stasi background checks until 2019 under a government plan revealed on Friday. READ »

Behemoth wine barrel to be tapped after 400 years

Travel: 29 Jul 10
The world’s oldest giant wine barrel, held in a Saxony-Anhalt hunting mansion, has been refilled for the first time in its 400-year history and will be filling glasses at a festival beginning on Friday. READ »

Corpse in crashed car boot was married to policeman driver

Society: 5 Jul 10
Saxony-Anhalt police investigating a deadly head-on car crash have discovered that the additional dead body of a woman found in the boot of one car was likely the wife of its deceased driver, who was a policeman, they said on Monday. READ »

Bundeswehr protects soldiers from harassment with anonymity

National: 29 Jun 10
Bundeswehr soldiers who serve on foreign deployments and their families experience so much harassment in Germany that the military has taken to blurring their faces in press photos, a media report said on Tuesday. READ »

Brewer banishes Bud to crown Hasseröder official World Cup beer

Society: 23 Jun 10
German football fans nearly rioted during the last World Cup after FIFA and its beverage sponsors tried to force Budweiser on them. Ben Knight reports on how the popular East German brew Hasseröder became this year’s official beer. READ »

Support grows for Gauck presidency

Politics: 5 Jun 10
Resistance is growing to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s choice for Germany's president, Christian Wulff, as increasing numbers of politicians from the governing coalition state their preference for his opponent Joachim Gauck. READ »

New monument to honour Russia's Catherine the Great

Society: 3 May 10
The eastern German town of Zerbst is set to gain the country's first monument honouring Russian Empress Catherine the Great after a tenacious two-decade campaign. READ »

Lynxes clawing back a bit of German wilderness

Society: 26 Apr 10
Go for a walk in the wooded Harz region and you could end up face-to-face with a wild lynx. Hannah Cleaver reports on the efforts to reintroduce the tuft-eared cats to German forests. READ »

FDP gears up for fresh tax cut battle

Politics: 23 Apr 10
The pro-business Free Democrats are planning to use their party conference Saturday to trumpet their new tax plan, even as senior members of their conservative coalition partners, the Christian Democrats, attack the proposals. READ »