Inside Germany is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in Germany that you might've missed. It’s published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.
Pro tip: Don’t forget to collect on your delayed trains
You already know Deutsche Bahn’s wretched punctuality can be a serious pain, but did you know that in exchange for tolerating late trains you can at least save quite a bit on travel costs?
Whenever you’re delayed by an hour or more – whether that’s due to delays on a single train, or because a delay on one train caused you to miss further connections – Deutsche Bahn (DB) may owe you compensation. But the catch is that you have to claim the refund.
A personal example: Last week I took a trip to the French Alps via train from Germany. I booked the whole journey with DB, which included a series of regional and ICE trains through Germany and then a French TGV train from Strasbourg to my destination.
READ ALSO: The ski destinations you can reach by train from Germany
As I thought might happen, my planned itinerary immediately went out the window when my very first train was suddenly delayed just before its last stop, which caused me to miss my next train and then all the rest to follow.
Being something of a veteran of the German railways, I didn’t panic. I checked the DB navigator app for alternative connections…and when that told me there were none I turned to Google maps, which showed several options.
Then I rode a series of different trains to my destination. Twelve hours and five trains later, I arrived at my destination two hours late.
When I got back home I submitted a claim to DB for the delay. (You can find the form in the app or online under the “passenger rights” section.) I needed my order number for the ticket, which I found in an emailed receipt from DB, but you can also find it in the app. The form also asked about the delay and when I arrived at my destination.
I half-expected DB to come back to me asking for more info or further proof, but just a few days later I saw some money had been deposited to my account and an email confirmed the reimbursement had been processed.
In the end, I got about half of the money I paid refunded. (For the record, had there been delays on the French side, which is also not uncommon, the process would be roughly the same but would need to be handled with SNCF.)
Last year we reported that DB had paid €197 million in damages to affected passengers in 2024 alone, which really makes you wonder just how much compensation was left unclaimed.
You can claim delays with DB for up to 90 days from the date of the affected journey.
EXPLAINED: How to get compensation for delayed or cancelled trains in Germany
Chancellor of efficiency
While the press on Friday was focused Friedrich Merz’s re-election as head of the conservative CDU party, on social media young Germans were taking shots at the chancellor’s tech skills.
A video clip of Merz typing on a laptop with just his two pointer fingers quickly started circulating.
On its own the sight of the 70-year-old leader failing to type with ten fingers would probably be met with nothing more than a few snide remarks. But given the chancellor’s recent calls for employees to work more hours and be sick less, many comments online were less than forgiving of Merz’s perceived inefficiency.
“This man theoretically had 30 years to pick up [ten finger typing] but he decided not to,” explains one young German in a TikTok video that sums up the discourse pretty well.
He added, “In Germany’s private sector you can’t keep a job if you type with two fingers…But of all people, the one who tells us we don’t work efficiently enough and don’t work enough in general does that.”
OPINION: Merz really needs to talk Germany up or he'll hand the country to extremists
Meanwhile in space
Earlier this month, former US President Barack Obama set social media buzzing after jokingly saying aliens were "real" on a podcast.
He later clarified that he meant it was likely there was life elsewhere in the universe, not that he had seen any evidence of aliens on or near earth.
Too late: Conspiracy theorists went wild, as did President Donald Trump who accused Obama of revealing "classified information" and announced plans to declassify government files on aliens. Anything to distract from the Epstein files...
But, just in case, who should you call if you see aliens in Germany?
Step forward CENAP – the Central Research Network for Extraordinary Aerospace Phenomena. Founded in 1976, this volunteer‑run organisation investigates unexplained sightings across Germany.
Its experts work with observatories and even the European Space Agency to separate satellites, stars and drones from genuine mysteries.
In 2023 alone, CENAP logged 746 sightings, most of which were in Baden-Württemberg (144), Bavaria (124) and North Rhine-Westphalia (115).
Nearly all of them also turned out to have very terrestrial explanations, but that hasn’t dampened public enthusiasm: polls in Germany show that more than half of residents believe in extra-terrestrial life.
If little green men do appear over Bavaria, there's no need to panic. But you might consider sending CENAP a message.
With reporting by Tom Pugh.
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