Today in Germany: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday

Today's top story: Auschwitz survivor living in Germany has died at age 101

Noted German Holocaust survivor Albrecht Weinberg, who devoted much of the end of his life to educating younger generations about the Nazis' crimes, died on Tuesday at the age of 101.

Weinberg's friend and housemate Gerda Daenekas told AFP that he passed away peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday morning.

Born into a Jewish family in northwestern Germany, Weinberg and his two siblings were sent to Auschwitz in what was Nazi-occupied Poland when he was 18.

All three survived but his parents were among more than 40 members of his family who perished in the Holocaust.

Weinberg saw the end of the war in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, in a condition he described as "more dead than alive".

He eventually moved back to Germany permanently when he was already well into his 80s and became active in remembrance work, particularly with young people.

He also published a memoir about his experiences.

Weinberg attracted nationwide attention last year when he returned his Federal Cross of Merit, Germany's highest honour, in protest against centre-right MPs passing a motion on immigration policy with support from the far-right AfD party.

READ ALSO: Buchenwald show keeps Holocaust memory alive as survivors pass away

Heavy traffic expected on the Autobahn as Germany heads into holiday

Anyone planning to travel on the roads over the coming Ascension Day holiday and following weekend may need some patience.

Traffic jams are expected from Wednesday afternoon onwards as the country gets ready to mark Christi Himmelfahrt – a nationwide public holiday – on Thursday.

Many employees will have booked Friday off as a 'bridge day' to make it an extra long weekend. 

Motoring club, the ADAC, said delays are expected on key routes, including in nearby countries. A lot of traffic is to be expected in the Alps, in Austria and Italy, and also in the direction of the North Sea and Baltic Sea.

Ascension Day is also a public holiday in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Luxembourg and Belgium.

READ ALSO: What's open and closed in Germany on Ascension Day?

The traffic situation is expected to ease on Friday and Saturday. It will likely get busier again from Sunday as drivers return home. 

Germany's fuel discount now reaching drivers 

Customers at the petrol pumps are increasingly benefiting from the fuel discount brought in by the German government, although discrepancies on pricing remain. 

That's according to independent advisory body, the Monopolies Commission, who have analysed data since the reduction was brought in on May 1st. However, experts added the discount was not fully passed on to customers in the first few days.

READ ALSO: Germany's fuel discount tax cut haven't fully reached drivers

The Munich-based ifo Institute also estimates that the passed-on savings are slightly below the tax reduction of 16.7 cents per litre.

Based on Monday’s fuel prices, ifo expert Florian Neumeier calculated a pass-on of 14 cents for diesel and 15 cents for premium petrol.

Fuel prices rose slightly on Monday on a nationwide daily average. According to the ADAC, the price of diesel rose by 0.3 cents to €1.987 per litre, but remained below €2 for the fourth day in a row. E10 gasoline rose by 0.6 cents to €1.974.

The Monopolies Commission also pointed out unfair pricing in general. The data suggests "that fuel prices in Germany were, in some cases, systematically higher than in France and the UK even before the fuel rebate was introduced".

This is consistent with "ongoing competition problems at the German wholesale level", said the experts.

The tax reduction is set to remain in place until the end of June. 

Germany plans 'active cyber-defence' as online attacks rise

Germany said this week it plans to develop "active cyber-defence" to hit back against a sharp rise in online attacks, many made more dangerous by artificial intelligence.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said he would push a new law through cabinet this month to allow security services to retaliate against servers used in attacks.

The goal was to "disrupt and destroy the attackers' infrastructure", he told a press conference in Berlin, saying many attacks originated from Russia.

"This means ensuring that someone attacking us from a server – for example, to attack an energy company in Germany from abroad – will no longer be able to do so in future with that infrastructure, that server, that software or those facilities."

Serious cybercrime and attacks on German companies, government agencies and critical infrastructure are on the rise, causing more than €200 billion of economic damage last year, his ministry said.

Germany wants to put TikTok 'in European hands'

TikTok's European business should be "in European hands", following the example of the United States, Germany's Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer said Tuesday.

ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, ceded control of the platform's US operations to a majority American-owned joint venture, in response to a government threat to ban its US operations.

"I am firmly convinced that Europe should follow the American example and that the company's ownership structure must be put up for discussion," Weimar told reporters before meeting his EU counterparts in Brussels.

"That means we should place TikTok's European business in European hands," he said.

TikTok has sought to allay EU concerns about data by storing European users' information in Europe, with limitations on who can access the data.

READ ALSO: Inside Germany - The AfD's army of staunch supporters - in Nigeria

Germany's Lufthansa to take majority control of Italy's ITA Airways

Europe's largest airline group Lufthansa announced Tuesday its intention to expand its current minority stake in Italy's ITA Airways to 90 percent.

Lufthansa "will exercise its option to acquire a majority stake in ITA Airways in June of this year" at "a previously agreed purchase price of €325 million", the Lufthansa Group said.

It added that the deal, which was approved by the company's board on Monday, remained subject to regulatory approvals in both the European Union and the United States.

Since acquiring a 41 percent minority stake in ITA Airways in January 2025, Lufthansa has reserved the right to gradually increase its ownership.

The seller is the Italian government, which had previously held 59 percent of the airline. It will now retain a 10 percent stake.

The increased ownership means "ITA Airways will be fully integrated into the Lufthansa Group, both organisationally and financially", it said.

READ ALSO: The major airlines in Germany cutting flights and raising prices

With reporting from AFP and Rachel Loxton