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Germany news: Politically-motivated crimes double in decade
Germany news: Teen Karl to miss World Cup through injury
Nik Martin with AFP, AP, dpa, KNA, ReutersPublished 06/06/2026Published June 6, 2026last updated 06/06/2026last updated June 6, 2026Bayern Munich's 18-year-old midfielder Lennart Karl sustained an injury during training in Chicago. Meanwhile, politically motivated crimes have doubled in a decade, according to a newspaper report. DW has the latest.
https://p.dw.com/p/5EwWOWhat you need to know
- Germany's 18-year-old midfield star, Lennart Karl, will sit out the World Cup with an injury
- Politically motivated crimes reached a new high in 2025, Welt am Sonntag reported
- Wadephul says Germany to work with Mexico to crack down on drug cartels
- Germany qualifies for the 2027 Women's World Cup
- Bundeswehr Day expected to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors
Read below for a roundup of news from Germany on June 6, 2026.
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Skip next section German dies in wingsuit BASE jump in Swiss Alps06/06/2026June 6, 2026German dies in wingsuit BASE jump in Swiss Alps
A German man has died in a failed wingsuit BASE jump in the Swiss Alps, police said.
The 47-year-old and another German national jumped from approximately 2,080 meters (6,825 feet) in the Vättis area above Bad Ragaz, in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen, on Friday.
Shortly after launching, one of the men fell to his death, the dpa news agency reported, citing a police statement.
The victim, from Kremmen in the eastern German state of Brandenburg, was reported to have been wearing a wingsuit, a specialized bat-like outfit with nylon cells that inflate to create an airfoil shape, with wings between the torso and legs.
The man's body was later recovered by the local air rescue service.
BASE is an acronym for the buildings, antenna (radio/TV masts), span (bridges/arches) and earth (cliffs/rocks/mountains) that jumpers launch from.
The sport is considered extremely dangerous due to high speeds, proximity to terrain and a very small margin for error.
It was the second fatal wingsuit incident in Switzerland in two days.
On Thursday, a 29-year-old man died during another flight attempt in the Valais canton.
https://p.dw.com/p/5EwyaSkip next section Armed Forces Day: 10 military sites open gates to public06/06/2026June 6, 2026Armed Forces Day: 10 military sites open gates to public
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend events across Germany to mark Armed Forces Day (Tag der Bundeswehr).
Ten military bases and barracks are opening their doors to civilians, offering live demonstrations, weapons exhibitions, flight displays and career information sessions.
They include Eckernförde Naval Base on the Baltic Sea — home to Germany’s submarine fleet, Laage Air Base in northern Germany — a key fighter jet station operating Eurofighter Typhoons and Nordholz Naval Air Station — headquarters of German naval aviation on the North Sea coast.
On Saturday morning, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius visited the campus of the Bundeswehr University at Neubiberg in Bavaria, before traveling to Weissenfels in Saxony-Anhalt.
The Bundeswehr urgently needs to grow its ranks. At the beginning of the year, the German armed forces had around 186,000 active soldiers.
The goal is to increase the number of active soldiers to 260,000 by 2035.
https://p.dw.com/p/5EwjGSkip next section Germany qualify for Women's World Cup06/06/2026June 6, 2026Germany qualify for Women's World Cup
Germany has qualified for the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil after the national football team's 2-0 win against Norway in Cologne on Friday.
Debutant Marie Müller's opener in the 18th minute and Carlotta Wamser's effort in the 27th were enough to book a spot at the tournament.
"You can tell that we're happy. We played a good match, which makes us even happier. We've had a lot of energy in the past few days and I think people could see that today," forward Lea Schüller said.
The Germans have one game left in the qualifiers, against Slovenia on Tuesday. However, with 13 points, they can't be knocked out of the top of Group A4.
Norway is second with nine points and can still qualify for the World Cup, but will need to go through the play-offs.
https://p.dw.com/p/5EwgySkip next section Teenage sensation Karl to miss World Cup after injury06/06/2026June 6, 2026Teenage sensation Karl to miss World Cup after injury
Germany's teenage attacking midfielder, Lennart Karl, will miss the World Cup after sustaining an injury in training, coach Julian Nagelsmann said.
The 18-year-old suffered a muscle bundle tear in his left thigh on Friday in Chicago and was taken to the hospital.
Karl, who was due to make his senior World Cup debut, will be replaced by Assan Ouedraogo.
"It is a huge shock for him and for all of us that he will miss the World Cup. It is only a small consolation that he is young and still has many tournaments ahead of him," Nagelsmann said.
Karl enjoyed a meteoric rise this season, helping Bayern Munich clinch the domestic double and reach the Champions League semi-finals.
In Group E, the Germans play their first match against Curacao on June 14 before facing the Ivory Coast and Ecuador.
World Cup 2026: Will international fans come to America?
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https://p.dw.com/p/5EwgSSkip next section Wadephul: Germany, Mexico to step up efforts to stop drugs from reaching Europe06/06/2026June 6, 2026Wadephul: Germany, Mexico to step up efforts to stop drugs from reaching Europe
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Germany planned to work more closely with Mexico to tackle organized crime, including drug cartels, to cut the spread of narcotics to Europe.
"The significant rise in drug use in Germany and across Europe is a cause of great concern to us. That is why we must work together very closely on this,” Wadephul, who is on a two-day visit to Mexico, told journalists.
"We are seeing Europe being virtually inundated by a wave of drugs originating from this region, not only from Mexico, but also from other Central and South American countries,” Wadephul said.
"That is why it must be in our interest to strengthen security cooperation here," he added.
Wadephul had said the fight against organized crime was at the top of the agenda for cooperation.
According to DW correspondent Benjamin Alvarez, Wadephul also announced bids for non-permanent UN Security Council seats in 2035-36 and 2043-44 in Mexico City.
This announcement comes just days after Berlin's defeat in the current race, when it received only 104 votes, falling short against Austria and Portugal.
https://p.dw.com/p/5EwftSkip next section Report: Politically motivated crime hits new high in Germany06/06/2026June 6, 2026Report: Politically motivated crime hits new high in Germany
Politically motivated crime in Germany reached a new high in 2025, according to a newspaper report.
Welt am Sonntag reported that German states recorded at least 85,000 such crimes last year, up from 84,174 in 2024.
Over the past 10 years, the number of these crimes has more than doubled, the newspaper reported, citing its own research.
The data covered 15 of Germany's federal states, with only the figures from Rhineland-Palatinate, in the southwest, missing.
WAS reported that the violent crimes labeled politically motivated were also on the rise, with more than 4,100 offenses recorded last year, including assault, arson and explosives offenses, as well as breach of the peace.
The newspaper said that police had attributed the rise over the past year to the polarized German elections last year, alongside the conflicts in the Middle East.
While more than half of all offenses were classified as right-wing extremism, there was a 35% rise in left-wing extremist crimes, which reached more than 13,000 cases.
https://p.dw.com/p/5EwbuSkip next section Welcome to our coverage06/06/2026June 6, 2026Welcome to our coverage
Nik Martin | Dmytro Hubenko EditorGuten Morgen from DW in Bonn, on the banks of the Rhine River.
Here in Germany, there has been a doubling in the number of politically motivated crimes over the past decade. While right-wing extremism is responsible for half of those offences, crimes by ultra-left-wing activists have risen sharply.
Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has promised to work more closely with Mexico to combat organized crime, including drug cartels, responsible for the significant rise in drug use in Europe.
As the countdown to the World Cup continues, Germany's teenage starlet Lennart Karl has been ruled out of the competition after sustaining an injury in training.
Join us for the latest news from across Germany this weekend.
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