Germany edition

Baden-württemberg

The following articles have been tagged with "Baden-württemberg":

Brutal cold triggers reserve power plants

National: 9 Feb 12
After exporting power to France earlier this week, Germany has switched on reserve energy plants amid surging demand for electricity due to the ongoing deep freeze hitting Europe. READ »

Founder of bankrupt Schlecker chain 'ruined'

National: 30 Jan 12
The insolvency of German drugstore chain Schlecker has also ruined its founder Anton Schlecker, who is said to have lost nearly all of his wealth, according to a his daughter. READ »

China's Sany to buy Putzmeister

Business & Money: 30 Jan 12
Putzmeister, a German family-owned engineering firm, is to being taken over by Chinese construction equipment giant Sany Heavy Industry, the German company said on Monday. READ »

Fifth German body found on wrecked cruise ship

National: 29 Jan 12
The body of a fifth German victim has been recovered from the wreck of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, and identified as a woman from Baden-Württemberg, the police confirmed on Sunday. READ »

Frederick the Great celebrations kick off

Society: 24 Jan 12
Germans marked the 300th birthday of Prussian king Frederick the Great’s on Tuesday. His admirers visited his grave in Potsdam to lay flowers and potatoes in honour of the enlightened monarch. READ »

Protesters mount diggers in bid to save trees

National: 22 Jan 12
Demonstrators against the controversial "Stuttgart 21" rail project tried to block workers from felling more than 30 trees early on Sunday. Police removed protesters from trees and demolition equipment to allow teams to finish the work. READ »

Schlecker goes bankrupt, tries to save stores

National: 20 Jan 12
German drugstore giant Schlecker is declaring insolvency in a desperate attempt to save stores and keep the company afloat, the company confirmed on Friday afternoon. READ »

German victim's body 'recovered from ship'

National: 17 Jan 12
The body of a German man killed on the Costa Concordia cruise ship was found on Tuesday, the Italian media said. Divers have recovered five more victims, bringing the confirmed death toll to 11. READ »

Twelve Germans missing from cruise liner

National: 16 Jan 12
Twelve Germans are missing from the huge cruise liner which ran aground and partially sank off the Italian coast on Friday night, killing at least six passengers and leaving scores injured. READ »

President to face TV grilling on loan scandal

Politics: 4 Jan 12
German President Christian Wulff said Wednesday he will submit to a TV interview on the spiralling loan scandal threatening to engulf him. The interview will be aired the same evening. READ »

Faeces-filled flat cleared by authorities

Society: 4 Jan 12
A German court ruled Tuesday that the police were within their rights to clear out a man’s home whose floor was covered with animal faeces and food remains. The man lived with 150 free-roaming rabbits. READ »

The Local's top five politics stories of 2011

Politics: 30 Dec 11
For a country where politics sometimes seems to move at a glacial pace, Germany was practically a hotbed of drama in 2011. We’ve pulled together our favourite five political stories of the year. READ »

Half a million kilometres of traffic jams this year

National: 29 Dec 11
Far from effortlessly zooming down Autobahns at limitless speeds, German drivers are increasingly sitting in traffic– with nearly half a million kilometres of jams recorded this year. READ »

A very German shopping list

Society: 22 Dec 11
Motherhood in the Fatherland follows mum Sabine Devins as she navigates the cultural quirks of having a baby in Germany. In the latest instalment, she discovers that the love for engineering starts early. READ »

Despite snow, Christmas only white in mountains

National: 20 Dec 11
Thick snow caused chaos in western Germany on Tuesday, with several trucks crashing, flights cancelled and public transport disrupted – but those dreaming of a white Christmas are likely to be disappointed. READ »

Nowitzki, Neuner named top German athletes

Sport: 19 Dec 11
Basketball superstar Dirk Nowitzki and biathlon powerhouse Magdalena Neuner have been named Germany’s “Athletes of the Year,” the country’s top sporting honour. READ »

Winter storm 'Joachim' blows over

National: 17 Dec 11
The winter storm ‘Joachim’ had largely blown over Germany by Saturday morning and moved on to Poland, where at least four people were hurt, READ »

Winter storm ‘Joachim’ snarls transport

National: 16 Dec 11
The fierce winter storm dubbed ‘Joachim’ has caused the suspension of rail services and snarled road traffic in the western part of Germany. A severe weather alert has been issued for the southern parts of the country. READ »

FDP turns to another 'boygroup' member

Politics: 15 Dec 11
Germany's Free Democratic Party has picked 38-year-old Patrick Döring as its new general secretary, following the abrupt departure of Christian Lindner. Critics say it’s the last chance for party leader Philipp Rösler. READ »

What's on in Germany: December 15 - 21

Lifestyle: 15 Dec 11
This Week's Highlights: Synagogue music in Berlin, horses in Frankfurt, and a French dance troupe rocks out in Munich. READ »

Ukrainian minister driving stolen Mercedes

Society: 12 Dec 11
A Mercedes reported as stolen in Germany and apparently smuggled to Ukraine has become the official auto of Ukraine’s justice minister after being confiscated by the authorities, according to media reports. READ »

Slave girl told: 'We'll cut off your head if you run'

Society: 5 Dec 11
A German couple was jailed on Monday for keeping a young woman as a household slave for almost a year, beating her, keeping her prisoner – and threatening to cut off her head if she tried to escape. READ »

Pool named after Spaghetti Western hero Bud Spencer

Society: 2 Dec 11
The city of Schwäbisch Gmünd in Baden-Württemberg has officially named a swimming pool after Spaghetti Western film actor Bud Spencer after rejecting an elaborate internet campaign to name a nearby tunnel after him. READ »

Doctor ordered 11-year-old girl for sex

National: 29 Nov 11
A German doctor has been jailed for more than 17 years in the United States for trying to buy eight hours of sex with a young girl in Ohio - in a police sting operation. READ »

'Stuttgart's future is at stake'

Analysis & Opinion: 28 Nov 11
The people of Baden-Württemberg have spoken: In a referendum on Sunday voters backed state funding for the controversial €4.5-billion Stuttgart 21 rail project. The Local’s media roundup looks at the reaction on Monday. READ »

Bid to halt Stuttgart 21 rail project fails

Politics: 27 Nov 11
Opponents of the controversial Stuttgart 21 rail project failed to get enough votes in Sunday's referendum to force the state to stop funding it. READ »

Stuttgart 21 vote underway

Society: 27 Nov 11
Voters in the German state of Baden-Württemberg go to the polls Sunday to let authorities know whether the controversial, multi-billion euro Stuttgart 21 rail project should get state government support or not. READ »

Pope sued for not wearing seat belt

Society: 26 Nov 11
A man from Dortmund has filed a complaint against Pope Benedikt XVI for not wearing a seat belt in his "Popemobile" during his last trip to Germany. READ »

Mid-sized towns hit worst by bike crime

Society: 22 Nov 11
Nearly 180,000 bikes were stolen across Germany in 2010, estimated at a value of €120 million. According to a new study, more than over 90 percent of bicycle thefts go unsolved. READ »

Neo-Nazi robbers linked to kebab shop killings

National: 11 Nov 11
German detectives investigating the neo-Nazi bomb-making bank robbers thought to have killed a policewoman, have found a gun used in a series of nine notorious snack shop killings in the suspects’ blown-up flat. READ »

Police raid Heckler & Koch in bribery probe

National: 10 Nov 11
Police have raided the headquarters of German gun maker Heckler & Koch as part of an investigation into illegal gun sales to the Mexican government. READ »

Granny could face death sentence in Florida

Society: 10 Nov 11
A German grandmother could face the death penalty in Florida after a court ruled she was stable enough to be tried for the murder of her grandson, who she allegedly drowned in a bathtub while on holiday to see him. READ »

Stone Age paintings found in Swabia

Science & Technology: 9 Nov 11
Archaeologists have found cave paintings thought to be Central Europe's oldest such artwork in Baden-Württemberg’s Swabian Alps. READ »

Dead neo-Nazi robbers linked to cop-killer case

National: 8 Nov 11
German authorities say they are confident they have solved the 2007 murder of a police woman after her pistol was found near the bodies of two neo-Nazi bank robbers. Their accomplice turned herself in on Tuesday. READ »

Michelin stars glitter at German restaurants

Society: 8 Nov 11
The release of a new Michelin restaurant guide in Germany has dashed some dreams and made others come true. Nearly 250 German restaurants were awarded stars by the gourmet guide this year. But 13 restaurants have lost stars. READ »

Western states likely to miss day-care targets

Society: 7 Nov 11
Latest statistics suggest that western German states will fall well short of a 2007 target of ensuring that one in three children would have a day care spot by 2013. READ »

Big cuts in store for Bundeswehr

National: 26 Oct 11
The German government announced the biggest cuts in its military since the end of World War Two on Wednesday, closing or significantly scaling down more than 100 of its 400 bases and cutting 15,000 soldiering jobs. READ »

Calls grow for national design museum

Lifestyle: 25 Oct 11
Despite the worldwide acclaim German-designed products receive, there's no national museum for design. But that could soon change. READ »

Corruption probe into Rolls Royce and Daimler's newest subsidiary

Business & Money: 25 Oct 11
Prosecutors are investigating corruption allegations at Daimler and Rolls Royce's newest subsidiary, German specialist engine manufacturer Tognum. READ »

Jazzed up in Stuttgart

Lifestyle: 18 Oct 11
Buttoned-down Stuttgart might appear to be an unlikely jazz mecca, but the venerable music genre is making a comeback in the southwestern German city after being popularized by American GIs after the war. Tracy Moran reports. READ »

East Germany's iconic traffic man turns 50

Society: 13 Oct 11
East Germany’s most enduring public figure is celebrating his 50th birthday this Thursday: The colourful little traffic light man has watched over millions of pedestrians and become an international design icon. READ »

Making a castle your home

Lifestyle: 11 Oct 11
Rich in castles and stately manors, Germany has plenty for sale to both commoners and bluebloods alike. Sally McGrane reports on buying your own fairytale home. READ »

Kidnappers used victim as a slave to clean flats

National: 5 Oct 11
Police have arrested three people after a 19-year-old man was kidnapped and used as a slave to clean two filthy flats - fearing for his life after being beaten up and even dangled head-first off a bridge. READ »

Experts urge vaccinations as tick diseases increase

National: 29 Sep 11
Health experts are urging an inoculation campaign after what officials say is an increase in tick-related diseases in southern Germany. READ »

Another German tourist killed in Afghanistan

National: 26 Sep 11
The German Foreign Ministry confirmed Sunday evening that a German civilian was killed on Saturday in the west Afghan province of Ghor. READ »

Pope's final message - go back to basics

National: 25 Sep 11
Pope Benedict XVI ended his first state visit to Germany on Sunday evening with a call for the Catholic Church to go back to basics. READ »

Pope pleases Muslims, disappoints Protestants

National: 23 Sep 11
Pope Benedict XVI met representatives of the German Muslim community on Friday before leaving Berlin to head for the heart of Lutheranism. While Muslim leaders were pleased with his comments, he left some Protestants disappointed. READ »

Stuttgart 21 rail project costs expected to surge

National: 23 Sep 11
As key players in the controversial Stuttgart 21 rail project prepare to meet on Friday, two newspapers are reporting the final price tag may be €370 million more than expected. READ »

Hugo Boss comes clean on Nazi past

Society: 21 Sep 11
Fashion firm Hugo Boss, long rumoured to be Adolf Hitler’s favourite tailor, has published a report on its less than laudable record during the Third Reich. READ »

German astronaut picked for space station mission

Science & Technology: 18 Sep 11
German astronaut Alexander Gerst will fly aboard a Russian rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2014. The Baden-Württemberg native will be on board the station for half a year conducting zero-gravity experiments. READ »

Drinks maker granted trademark for German f-word obscenity

Society: 14 Sep 11
A drinks maker has been awarded a trademark for a German 'f-word' obscenity after a two-year legal fight for an alcoholic beverage using the word. READ »

Hollywood director Emmerich says mum won’t let him vote Green

Society: 12 Sep 11
German film director Roland Emmerich has revealed that it's not easy being Green when his mother is around. She stopped sending him his postal vote forms to Hollywood when she learned of his environmentalist political leanings. READ »

Berlin suspects charged with planning terror attack

National: 10 Sep 11
The two men arrested on Thursday in Berlin on suspicion of planning a terror attack have been remanded in custody by a judge. READ »

Merkel urges vigilance in face of terror threat

National: 9 Sep 11
A day after police in Berlin detained two men on suspicion of planning a bombing attack, Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Friday that terrorism remained a clear and present danger. READ »

Police thwart terror plot

National: 8 Sep 11
Police on Thursday arrested two men in Berlin for acquiring chemicals amid suspicions they were planning a terrorist bomb attack. READ »

Northeastern state election gets underway

Politics: 4 Sep 11
Voters go to the polls in German Chancellor Angela Merkel's home state Sunday, with surveys showing her conservatives are likely to cling on to power after a campaign dominated by the euro debt crisis. READ »

Merkel campaigns to the last in north-east

Politics: 2 Sep 11
Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) hopes to turn the page on a string of electoral defeats in a poll in the north-eastern German state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Sunday. READ »

Libyan rebels use German weapons

National: 31 Aug 11
Libyan rebels have reportedly been using Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifles in their struggle against dictator Muammar Qaddafi. The German company denies that it sold weapons to anyone in the embargoed country. READ »

Heidelberg home has huge hornet nest

Society: 31 Aug 11
Around 1,000 hornets have built a huge nest on the side of a house near Heidelberg – wowing bug experts and leaving the family bemused. READ »

Cooler days mark end to wet and grey summer

Society: 29 Aug 11
Cold air will stream in from the North Sea this week, keeping northern Germany damp, while high pressure will clear out the clouds over the central and southern parts of the country. READ »

Frankfurt dubbed Germany’s crime capital

National: 29 Aug 11
Frankfurt has been declared the most dangerous city in Germany according to still unreleased crime statistics for 2010, which apparently show the city had the largest number of murder and manslaughter cases per 100,000 residents. READ »

Deutsche Bahn boss offers to delay Stuttgart 21 demolition work

National: 25 Aug 11
The chief of German railway operator Deutsche Bahn has said he's willing to postpone demolition work on the Stuttgart train station until after a referendum on the controversial project likely later this year. READ »

Unpopular tuition fees could soon be history

Education: 24 Aug 11
German universities have been allowed to charge tuition fees since 2007. But many states have decided to ditch them, soon leaving only Bavaria and Lower Saxony still taking money from their students. Hannah Cleaver reports. READ »

Saxony leads education vanguard

Education: 16 Aug 11
Germany’s education system from kindergarten to university is making noticeable progress with the state of Saxony leading the way, according to an annual education survey. 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 »

Universities bracing for flood of students

Education: 11 Aug 11
An end to military conscription and growing interest in higher education mean German universities are about to be flooded with an unprecedented number of new students this autumn. Moises Mendoza reports. READ »

The changing face of Germany

Analysis & Opinion: 5 Aug 11
The definition of what it means to be German slowly appears to be changing – and that’s a good thing, according to The Local’s Marc Young. READ »

Internal party anger puts pressure on Merkel

Politics: 2 Aug 11
Angela Merkel is facing fresh pressure on her leadership after a former state premier from her own Christian Democrats has won widespread support for a scathing attack on the party’s performance. READ »

Stuttgart 21 compromise put forward

National: 30 Jul 11
Just as proponents and opponents seemed further apart than ever regarding the controversial Stuttgart 21 rail project, a possible compromise solution was unveiled Friday night. But on Saturday, opposition to it had already surfaced. READ »

Stuttgart 21 arbitration ends in acrimony

Society: 29 Jul 11
The saga of attempted conciliation between opponents and supporters of the Stuttgart 21 project has reached an end with no compromise and with opponents insisting that “stress tests” on the massive rail plans were rigged. READ »

City refuses to name tunnel after actor Bud Spencer despite internet support

Society: 28 Jul 11
Officials in Schwäbisch Gmünd in Baden-Württemberg have declared they won’t name a tunnel after spaghetti western actor Bud Spencer despite a massive internet campaign. The ageing action star will however get a pool in his honour. READ »

Cultivating the king of grapes

Society: 22 Jul 11
German winemaking has long banished the horrors of the Blue Nun and Black Tower – these days Riesling is coveted around the globe. But, as Hannah Cleaver discovers, don’t expect to find a good bottle at your supermarket. READ »

Groundswell grows to name new tunnel for spaghetti western star

Society: 21 Jul 11
Officials in Schwäbisch Gmünd have been surprised to discover their public search for name for a new tunnel has been hijacked by an online campaign hoping to honour spaghetti western star Bud Spencer. READ »

Betraying Berlin

Analysis & Opinion: 19 Jul 11
Roger Boyes, the Berlin correspondent for the British daily The Times, is going back to London. In his last column for The Local, he explains why he had to end his stay in the ‘narcoleptic’ German capital. READ »

Raid targets suspected Islamist fund-raisers

National: 19 Jul 11
German police raided eight apartments and an office in the Stuttgart area on Tuesday in an operation aimed at cracking down on fund-raising for Islamic extremists abroad, although no one was arrested, authorities said. READ »

Conservative MP admits alcohol problem after car accident

Politics: 8 Jul 11
A senior MP from Angela Merkel’s conservatives has admitted he is an alcoholic and checked himself in for treatment after fleeing the scene of a minor car accident on Saturday night. READ »

Internal documents suggest Bahn hid true costs of Stuttgart 21

National: 3 Jul 11
Deutsche Bahn did not reveal the true costs of its controversial Stuttgart 21 train station construction project, according to Der Spiegel magazine which has seen internal company documents. READ »

Killer bacteria helps contain inflation

Business & Money: 28 Jun 11
Inflation in Germany stayed put at 2.3 percent in June, in part because of a drop in vegetable prices sparked by a killer bacteria, the national statistics office said Tuesday. 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 »

Nine police injured in Stuttgart 21 clash

National: 21 Jun 11
Nine police were injured after clashes on Monday night between police and anti-Stuttgart 21 protesters who had stormed the controversial rail project, authorities announced. READ »

Greens mull supporting Merkel on nuclear exit

Politics: 17 Jun 11
The Green party is set for a major internal battle next week when its leadership asks parliamentarians to support the German government's nuclear power exit strategy even if it's less ambitious than they would like. READ »

Ban upheld on anti-abortion activists approaching pregnancy centre visitors

Society: 16 Jun 11
A German court has told anti-abortion campaigners they must not speak to women near a pregnancy advice centre in Freiburg, in the conclusion of a months-long conflict. READ »

Stuttgart 21 project resumes despite protests

National: 14 Jun 11
Deutsche Bahn restarted work on the controversial Stuttgart 21 rail project Tuesday after police broke up a group of protestors trying to halt construction. 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 »

Greens open to coalition with Merkel's CDU

Politics: 11 Jun 11
Green Party boss Cem Özdemir has said that he could envisage a coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) after the next federal elections in 2013. READ »

Stuttgart 21 rail project construction to restart

National: 10 Jun 11
Construction work on the controversial Stuttgart 21 rail project is to restart next week after a two-month pause to assess the future of the project following a state election in Baden-Württemberg. READ »

Warming climate causes honeybees to oversleep flower bloom

Science & Technology: 10 Jun 11
As the climate grows warmer, flowers are blooming earlier in the spring and this year many German honeybees awoke to find many blossoms already gone. Researchers are working to find out why. READ »

Family accused of enslaving woman

National: 9 Jun 11
A German family of three has been arrested on charges of keeping a 20-year-old woman as a slave for nearly a year in their home until her escape last weekend, prosecutors said Thursday. READ »

Holidaymakers face summer transport chaos

National: 6 Jun 11
Holidaymakers face unusual transport chaos in Germany this summer, with the ADAC car club forecasting a sharp rise in traffic jams, while there have been early signs that overheating on trains may once again become a problem. READ »

Weatherman Kachelmann acquitted of rape

Society: 31 May 11
After a 14-month legal drama in which lawyers were sacked, the impartiality of judges challenged and the accuser’s story changed, German TV weatherman Jörg Kachelmann was cleared Tuesday of charges of raping his former girlfriend. READ »