Wednesday's top story: CDU politicians hold 'Test vote' on government pension reform plans
The Union parliamentary group has voted in favour of the contentious pension package, but the approval revealed significant internal dissent.
Approximately 15 to 20 Union MPs, mostly younger members known as the Junge Gruppe (Young Group), opposed the bill in a test vote, with a few abstentions. The coalition government of CDU, CSU, and SPD holds a slim majority of twelve votes in the Bundestag, creating uncertainty about whether the pension reform can pass definitively on Friday with its own strength.
The reform aims to maintain the pension level at 48 percent beyond 2031, a key point of contention for the younger MPs who fear massive future costs.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz and CDU parliamentary leader Jens Spahn urged discipline and party unity, warning that failure could destabilise the government.
The pension commission is set to prepare a broader reform proposal by mid-2026, including possible changes to the retirement age.
A secret ballot has been ruled out, so MPs must openly declare their vote, increasing pressure on dissenters.
READ ALSO: Merz digs in on pensions bill despite party rebellion
The coalition insists no changes will be made to the current draft, with the law planned to take effect January 1st, 2026, pending Federal Council approval on December 19th. A government crisis looms if the reform fails to pass.
'Walter LĂĽbcke Memorial' opens in front of CDU's Berlin headquarters
Artist-activists from the “Centre for Political Beauty” (Zentrum für Politische Schönheit) unveiled a bronze statue of Walter Lübcke in front of the CDU party’s headquarters in Berlin on Tuesday morning.
"The construction work...is already complete, and the memorial can now be visited,” said Stefan Pelzer of the Centre for Political Beauty in a statement. “We laid the foundations and built the Walter Lübcke Memorial Park right in front of the CDU and the police."
"Unfortunately, they were unaware of it," he added.
Walter LĂĽbcke, the CDU regional president of Kassel, was murdered in 2019 by a neo-Nazi sympathiser who was against his efforts to support refugees.
The Centre for Political Beauty suggests that the memorial stands against normalisation of the far-right AfD party.Â
"[LĂĽbcke] publicly opposed the extremist views of the AfD and distanced himself from all forms of misanthropy," reads a statement by The Centre for Political Beauty. "For this, he was executed."
According to reporting by Tagesspiegel, the LĂĽbcke family did not wish to comment on the event, but Michael Brand, a friend of the family, condemned the action. Brand suggested that the stunt amounted to "abuse" of LĂĽbcke's name and added that the "tasteless action" made him very angry.
The Centre for Political Beauty is a German activist group which carries out art actions often against far-right politics. Recently they projected a photo of Elon Musk's 'Roman salute' onto the Berlin-Brandenburg Tesla factory. Previously they had erected a Holocaust memorial next to Björn Höcke's house in Thuringia.
Germany launches specialised anti-drone police unit
Germany launched a new drone defence police unit on Tuesday as the country scrambles to respond to UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) incursions widely blamed on Russia.
Major airports will also be outfitted to detect and defend against UAVs, the interior ministry said.
The federal police unit will have "a clear mandate to detect, defend, intercept and, if necessary, shoot down drones," Interior Minister Alexander Drobrindt said at a ceremony near Berlin.
"We cannot accept that hybrid threats using drones remain a danger to our security," he added.
Germany and other European countries have experienced a slew of suspicious drone incidents in recent months.
Russia has been blamed for many of the drone incursions, which have flown over sensitive locations such as airports, military bases, ports and power plants.
READ ALSO: Researchers are fine tuning drone defence at a secluded German airport
German lawmakers this year gave the police broader authority to shoot down drones if necessary.
The government has also proposed giving the military a greater role in responding to potential drone threats in German airspace.
Germany to face USA in Chicago in pre-World Cup friendly
Germany will play a friendly against tournament co-hosts the United States in Chicago on June 6th ahead of their 2026 World Cup campaign, the German FA announced this week.
The match, the four-time World Cup winners' final warm-up game, will take place at Chicago's 61,500-seater Soldier Field days before the tournament begins on June 11th.
Germany have already qualified for the 48-team tournament, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. Chicago is not among the host cities for the tournament.
Broadcaster RTL to cut 600 jobs in Germany
The German branch of broadcaster RTL is to slash about 600 jobs amid sinking TV revenue, the firm said Tuesday, as traditional media struggle in the face of online giants.
"The media market is undergoing profound change," RTL Deutschland CEO Stephan Schmitter said.
"To remain successful and competitive in the long term, we are aligning RTL Deutschland even more consistently with the streaming business."
READ ALSO: What Google's €5.5 billion investment means for jobs in Germany
TV advertising revenue has fallen 20 percent since 2019, RTL said, while there are now more than 6.5 million subscribers to the group's streaming services, up from about 800,000 in 2019.
RTL – based in Luxemburg but majority-owned by German media group Bertelsmann – employs about 7,500 people in Germany.
In a statement, the German Journalists' Union said the cuts could impact the company's news output.
"It is likely to be difficult for editorial offices to maintain their current standards with even fewer staff," union boss Mika Beuster said, calling the cuts a "catastrophe" for those involved.
German nutcracker flips the bird
The German nutcracker originates in the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) region, especially the town of Seiffen, where generations of woodcarvers have handcrafted these traditional figures known for their depiction of authority figures like kings, soldiers and foresters.
Markus FĂĽchtner, a craftsman in Seiffen whose great-great-great-grandfather is credited with creating the original Erzgebirge nutcrackers, recently crafted a rebellious, modern version of this traditional figure that defiantly shows the middle finger (Stinkefinger).
The new designed was conceived as a protest against cheap, mass-produced copies imported from China. FĂĽchtner is thinking of making more nutcrackers to this design, after the first batch of 15 quickly sold out.
READ ALSO: Gift guide - The best Christmas presents to buy in Germany
With reporting by Paul Krantz and AFP.
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