Two officials shot dead in Bavaria gun check

The German government paid its tribute to Navi Pillay shortly after the announcement of her award.

Pillay’s work fighting against apartheid and for human rights, justice and international law deserves the “highest respect,” government spokesman Steffen Meyer said in Berlin.  

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Pillay “stood for the idea that peace is grounded in justice.”

He went on to praise her for her verdicts at the ICJ concerning the genocide in Rwanda and her work as head of the UN human rights commission.

Awarding her the Nobel Peace Prize not only honored her own work, but was also an “important commitment to international criminal justice.” 

Two local government employees have been shot dead during a routine firearms inspection at a home in southern Germany, police said.

A 60-year-old suspect was arrested early Friday following a standoff lasting more than 12 hours in the Bavarian village of Berngau. (Scroll down for more on the man’s arrest)

The victims, a 45-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman, worked for the district administration in Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz.

They had visited the suspect’s home on Thursday to conduct a routine inspection of legally owned firearms, including whether the weapons were being stored correctly.

Police believe the suspect opened fire on the two officials during the inspection.

Witnesses reported hearing gunshots at around 2 p.m. local time (1200 GMT), prompting a major police operation.

Officers found the 45-year-old government official dead outside the house. The woman’s body was subsequently discovered inside the building.

Police believe both victims died shortly after the shooting.

Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz has sharply criticized former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder for  attending President Vladimir Putin’s birthday bash, a German government spokesperson said on Friday. 

“Putin alone” is responsible for the war in Ukraine, and his orders cause “immeasurable suffering, civilian casualties, families torn apart, and deaths and injuries” every day, spokesperson Steffen Meyer said.

For that reason, “the chancellor sees … it ⁠is downright immoral for Mr. Schröder to ‌attend such a ⁠celebration,” he added.

The German Foreign Office and Interior Ministry said they had not been informed of this trip in advance.

Putin celebrated his 74th birthday at his home in Moscow. 

According to the Kremlin, the Russian leader learned from the media that Schröder was “in Moscow on business” and invited “his old friend.” 

The Nobel Peace Prize announcement is always eagerly anticpated, and this year the news had special resonance in one corner of Germany. That’s because the laureate, Navi Pillay, received the news in the Bavarian city of Nuremberg.

The South African judge, and former UN human rights chief, is attending the Nuremberg Forum to discuss international law.

And the significance of the location was not lost on Pillay. Nuremberg is where Nazi war criminals went on trial after World War II.

Those trials helped lay the foundation of international law.

“Firstly, at this venue, your applause means a great deal to me,” she said to a standing ovation. “You know, you don’t want to receive an award, prize or anything unless the public agrees that you deserve this.”

Germany’s army has decided to acquire large numbers of low-cost cruise missiles capable of striking targets up to 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) away.

Army chief Lieutenant General Christian Freuding announced the decision at a military gathering in Berlin, saying the weapons would be used to overwhelm enemy air defenses through sheer numbers.

The move reflects lessons from the war in Ukraine, where drones and missiles have been deployed in large numbers to exhaust air defenses. Launching numerous relatively cheap weapons simultaneously can force defenders to expend expensive interceptor missiles, potentially allowing more sophisticated weapons to reach their targets.

Germany plans to combine the cheaper missiles with more powerful weapons designed to strike strategically important targets, including US-made cruise missiles it intends to purchase.

Freuding said the army was considering two commercially available systems, although neither had yet been approved for use by the German armed forces. Initial deliveries could begin in 2027.

US defense company Covenant opened a cruise missile production facility in Leipzig earlier this week. It plans to manufacture 1,000 Anthem missiles in 2027 and 5,000 in 2028.

The company says each missile would cost a six-figure sum, below €860,000 ($1 million), compared with several million dollars for conventional cruise missiles.

Deaths from heart attacks in Germany fell by more than 15% between 2022 and 2025, according to figures released by the Federal Statistical Office.

Deaths from cerebrovascular diseases, including strokes and brain hemorrhages, also declined by 6.3% over the same period.

However, deaths from respiratory diseases rose by around 8% in 2025 compared with the previous year, reaching 81,200.

Overall, Germany recorded around 1.01 million deaths in 2025, virtually unchanged from the previous year. The total was nevertheless 5.6% lower than in 2022.

Despite the decline in heart attack and stroke-related deaths, cardiovascular disease remained Germany’s leading cause of death, accounting for 334,100 deaths in 2025.

Heart attack deaths fell among both men and women, with the sharpest decline, 30.6%, among people aged 80 to 85.

It is not clear what is behind the decline. Changes in population size and age structure may have contributed, as the statistics are not adjusted for age.

Nearly 65,000 young people left school in Germany without obtaining a basic school-leaving qualification in the 2024/2025 academic year, according to figures from the Federal Statistical Office.

The figure rose from 62,000 the previous year and 56,000 two years earlier, continuing an upward trend that has raised concerns about educational standards and Germany’s shortage of skilled workers.

The proportion of students leaving school without at least a Hauptschulabschluss, Germany’s basic secondary school qualification, reached 8.4% in 2024/2025.

That compares with 6.6% in 2018/2019 and around 5.5% in 2013/2014.

The latest rate is the highest recorded in 20 years, although it was even higher around the turn of the millennium.

The number of school leavers without qualifications has also risen substantially over the past decade, from around 47,400 in 2014/2015.

Numbers temporarily fell during the COVID-19 pandemic, potentially reflecting relaxed examination requirements, before beginning to climb again.

The figures were obtained by the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), a political party founded by former Left Party politician Sahra Wagenknecht.

German police have begun excavating land in the southern state of Bavaria in a renewed search for a woman who disappeared without a trace almost two decades ago.

Investigators say new information suggests that the remains of Kerstin Lee Langley, missing since the summer of 2007, could be buried in a meadow and woodland near the village of Kadenzhofen, north of Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz.

Specialists from Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office and the Regensburg criminal police department are examining an area covering approximately 100 square meters (1,076 square feet).

An excavator is removing soil in layers, which investigators then examine for possible evidence.

Police spokesperson Corinna Wild told public broadcaster BR24 that investigators were following specific information suggesting Langley’s body could be buried at the site.

Police told DW they had ruled out any connection between the search and a fatal shooting just a few kilometers away in the village of Berngau, where two local government employees were killed during a routine firearms inspection at around the same time on Thursday afternoon.

Police said a man who opened fire on local government employees in the southern town of Berngau barricaded himself inside his home and contacted their operations center by telephone.

He admitted firing shots, said he had firearms in his possession and warned that he would not surrender without resistance.

Special police units, including a tactical response team with an armored vehicle, were deployed to the village. A police helicopter was also used, while residents were advised to stay indoors or avoid the cordoned-off area.

Negotiators spent hours trying to persuade the suspect to surrender peacefully.

“We always try to achieve a peaceful solution, and that generally happens through communication,” a police spokesperson said.

However, at around 2:20 a.m. (0020 GMT/UTC) Friday, officers entered the building using explosives.

Police said officers fired shots during the operation, lightly wounding the suspect in the leg. He was subsequently given medical treatment.

Police have not yet established why the suspect allegedly opened fire on the two officials.

Investigators from the Regensburg criminal police department are expected to question the man in coordination with prosecutors in Nuremberg-Fürth.

Guten Tag from the DW newsroom in Bonn.

You join us after what should have been a routine firearms inspection ended with two local government employees dead in a Bavarian village.

The two officials had gone to a home in Berngau on Thursday to check whether legally owned guns were being stored correctly.

Police believe the 60-year-old homeowner shot them both.

Officers responding to reports of gunfire found one of the officials, a 45-year-old man, dead outside the house. The body of his 54-year-old female colleague was later discovered inside.

Stay with us here for these stories and more of what Germany is talking about today.