Merz calls for unity at CSU party conference

We’re pausing our coverage of the weekend’s news out of Germany until later on Sunday morning. 

Hope to see you then! Bis morgen früh!

An overnight fire engulfed Eagle’s Nest, a historic Nazi-era site once used by Adolf Hitler in Germany’s Bavarian Alps. Firefighters faced difficult conditions battling the flames at the mountaintop location, while one suspect has been taken into temporary custody. Police are looking into whether this is a potential case of arson.

DW spoke to historian Sven Keller of the Obersalzberg Documentation Center about the site’s historical significance, why it was preserved, and how Germany deals with landmarks associated with its Nazi past.

Germany’s prosecutor’s office said that a German national has been placed in pre-trial detention for allegedly attempting to join the so-called “Islamic State” terror group, while abroad, German news agency dpa reported.

The agency cited a spokeswoman for the Federal Prosecutor’s Office as saying that an arrest warrant had been executed and that a 21-year-old was extradited to Germany.

The suspect is accused of travelling to Ethiopia from Berlin in January 2025, with the purpose of joining the IS terror group in Somalia and receive training there.

Prosecutors allege that he never reached Somalia, but instead traveled to Pakistan to join Islamic State, where he was reportedly arrrested in February 2025.

The suspect stands accused of attempted membership in a terrorist organization abroad. He is also accused of preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state. 

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz highlighted the threat Germany faces from extremist parties to foreign enemies, including a “massive threat” from Russia.

“How do we safeguard our freedom and our security in Europe, in the face of growing threats from extremists within and foreign powers from without?” ​the chancellor said, adding that Russia was seeking “to destabilise Germany on a daily basis.”

Germany is one of the biggest military and political supporters of Ukraine and has been on high alert for acts of sabotage in recent months.

That’s especially since an explosive-laden drone was discovered near a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig airport. Berlin said Moscow was behind the attempted attack.

In one of the most recent incidents, on Thursday, police in the German state of Brandenburg arrested a Ukrainian man on suspicion of spying for Russia.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz once again stood firm on any notion of ever working with Germany’s far-right.

Merx restated his opposition to any change in the”firewall” policy of isolating the far-right Alternative ​for Germany party (AfD) at the CSU conference in Munich.

“Anyone who feels they have to ​vote for these people has no place ⁠in ​our Union. ​They have no ​place amongst ‌us,” Merz said.

The AfD, has been topping national opinion ⁠polls although a Friday poll showed Merz’s conservative bloc closing the gap.

Nevertheless, according to the poll, Merz’s coalition would still fall short of a majority were an election to be held.

The poll, conducted for public broadcaster ZDF, asked voters which party they would support if a federal election were held this Sunday.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz gave an indication that the electricity tax could be lowered next year.

“If it’s possible — and I think it is — then the electricity tax must be lowered next year,” Merz said Saturday at the CSU party convention in Munich.

His coalition partners have already agreed to lower the electricity tax for everyone to the European minimum as quickly as possible.

To date, the federal government has only approved reductions for industry, agriculture, and forestry and Germany’s Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) has said there is not much wiggle room, despite forecasts of higher tax revenues.

Federal chancellor and CDU leader Friedrich Merz called on the CDU its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, to show maximum unity.

“The CDU and CSU must stand together more closely than ever,” Merz said at the close of the CSU’s party convention in Munich.

He said the Union is being attacked by “extremists” from the political fringes and said that the Union does not want to — and will not leave Germany in the hands of these forces.

Merz emphasized his relationship with CSU leader Markus Söder, saying that he was “the strong voice” for the CSU in Bavaria, but also at the federal level.

“We are united by a deep-seated sense of responsibility for our country,” Merz said, adding that it was a shared responsibility.

German police have arrested a Ukrainian man accused of spying for a Russian intelligence service with a focus on “militarily relevant information,” federal prosecutors said. DW’s correspondent reports.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is set to make an address at the Munich Exhibition Halls as the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) closes its two-day party conference.

Merz’s speech comes at a turbulent time for the CDU/CSU alliance and expectations among delegates for the speech by the leader of the conservative bloc are mixed. 

The CSU is the Bavarian sister party of Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and there remain a number of key issues that have many in the CSU concerned over the future of the party at a national level.

A point of contention is who from the conservative bloc will succeed outgoing President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, with there being no clarity as yet from Merz or CSU leader Markus Söder, as to who their candidate would be.

Coupled with that leadership question, there is discontent over the pace of implementation of reforms of Germany’s retirement, nursing care and health insurance systems.

There is also concern over a strategy to deal with the rise of the far-right in the form of the Alternative for Germany party (AfD).

A fire broke out on Friday evening at the Kehlsteinhaus in Bavaria more commonly known as the Eagle’s Nest and used as a retreat by Adolf Hitler and Nazi officials.

The Kehlsteinhaus was engulfed in flames, a police statement read, adding that a suspect has been arrested and the incident was being criminally investigated.

Read more about that here. 

Guten Morgen  from a chilly newsroom here in Bonn.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz is set to address his CDU’s Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) as their 2-day party conference wraps up in Munich.

The coalition government that Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the CSU belong to along with the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) is facing a number of challenges.

There has been speculation over the political future of Merz’s coalition, consiting of CDU, the CSU and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), folllowing a string of electoral setbacks and policy issues.

And then overnight, a fire has ripped through the one-time retreat in the Bavarian Alps, built for Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Stay tuned for the latest on these stories and more from Germany this weekend.