Here's a roundup of news from or pertaining to Germany on November 12, 2026:
Mulled wine prices rising, but roughly in line with inflation, as Christmas markets open
Some of the steepest prices can be found in Bavaria this year, with a cup of Glühwein costing up to €7 in extreme cases, before we start talking about the deposit or Pfand on the recepticleImage: Michael Bihlmayer/CHROMORANGE/picture alliance'Tis the season, already. Preparations are underway around Germany and in several cities, Christmas markets are opening to the public.
Some markets are already open in Essen and in Hamburg, Duisburg's opens on Thursday, and Cologne's follows a day later.
The coupons.de website has sought to track the planned prices for mulled wine or Glühwein as the markets open their doors nationwide.
The bad news? These prices are rising like so many others. The better news? The year-on-year increase is actually smaller than overall inflation figures, at around 1%.
Workers put giant mock candles on the vast Christmas tree in central Dortmund on November 10, 2026. Image: D. Kerlekin/Snowfield Photography/picture allianceOn average, a cup is liable to set you back around €4.60 (roughly $5.10). Not entirely surprisingly, Munich tops the nationwide pricing chart, with the price peaking at €7. Other sites nationwide tend not to have the gall even to charge 6 euros.
Bargain hunters determined to get the best value mulled wine will need to venture deep into the center of Germany — hardly its core tourist hub — to find the lowest prices starting at around €3.50.
Deposits for the cup, the "Pfand," are also only going in one direction, and in the meantime range from €1 all the way up to €5. But there's a strong argument, particularly with the better designs or after a memorable trip, that this can be money well spent as a memento!
Sauna fire in northwest causes major damage to building complex
The fire took around seven hours to fully extinguishImage: Matthias Brüning/dpa/picture alliancePolice in the Emsland region in the northwest near the border to the Netherlands have reported a major fire in a complex of residential and commercial buildings in Papenburg.
The fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon, police said the following morning, causing damages worth "at least €10 million ($11 million)." Several hundred emergency services personnel were deployed.
"Based on current findings, the fire broke out in the sauna area of a gym facility on site, and quickly spread to further parts of the complex of buildings," police wrote.
Two men were in the sauna at the time and initially tried to douse the flames but without success.
Police said the buildings were evacuated as the fire spread, with some surrounding buildings also being cleared as a precaution because of possible smoke-related dangers.
Several people were injured, police said, including the two men in the sauna area suffering mild burns and suspected smoke inhalation sickness. They were treated in a nearby hospital but soon discharged.
"There were also injuries among the first responders," police wrote. "Four police officers, two firefighters and members of the rescue teams suffered mild injuries, particularly via smoke inhalation."
The fire was only extinguished late on Wednesday night, several hours after it started. The area is sealed off, with possible risks of damaged buildings collapsing. Police have also launched investigations into the fire's cause, but said that at present, the area was not safe for that work to start at full scale.
Study: 1 in 10 German residents show signs of excessive debt
Germany's largest credit bureau Creditreform has published its "2026 Debtors' Atlas."
It finds that 10.16% of German adults, or 7.36 million people, exhibit at least the early warning signs of excessive debt. A year ago the ratio was 9.74%.
"The financial situation of private consumers has further deteriorated," Patrik-Ludwig Hantzsch, Creditreform's head of economic research, said. "In particular, the sharply increased living costs, energy costs and housing costs are straining expenditures."
Hantzsch said employment was also becoming an issue once more, saying "above all, well-paid jobs in manufacturing industries have been cut back in large numbers in recent months."
The report also highlights rising cases of signs of excessive debt prior to legal action being taken, such as payment reminders or warnings being sent, saying "consumers are taking on more credit-financed expenditures — increasingly also for smaller purchases — at simultaneously rising interest rates."
A larger share of men than women have excessive debts, perpetuating a longstanding trend.
People around the middle of their working lives, aged 30-39 and 40-49, are most likely to be affected — but the cohort with the fastest-rising share of people with excessive debts are young adults below the age of 30.
Bremen, Berlin, Saxony-Anhalt and North Rhine-Westphalia were among the states with the highest rates of excess debts, while the wealthy and fiscally conservative states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg had the lowest levels.
DAX clears 27,000 points for first time
The DAX indexes the 40 leading companies in GermanyImage: Bastian Caro/picture allianceGermany's main DAX stock market index has cleared the 27,000-point mark for the first time in its history in morning trading.
It climbed by around 1.3% in order to pass the milestone.
A combination of some positive outlook data from major companies, not least engineering giant Siemens, and the falling oil prices of recent days have helped fuel the uptick.
Siemens' shares had risen by almost 5%, to just over €291 (around $323) each, helping to spur on the gains and making the company the morning's top performer.
Despite several years of low growth and recession in the German economy, the DAX, like many Western indices, is now trading twice as high as it was prior to the COVID pandemic.
Police raid sites of Gremium MC biker gang in Baden-Württemberg
Police launched operations across the southwestern state early on ThursdayImage: Enrique Kaczor/dpa/picture allianceHundreds of police officers searched apartments and meeting sites for the biker group "Gremium MC" in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg early on Thursday.
The state interior ministry said the operation was part of a move to outlaw three sub-chapters of the group, the ones based in Böblingen and Leonberg, as well as the "Gremium MC Chapter Nomads Bosphorus Türkiye."
This last group was highlighted as a meaningful part of Gremium MC by security officials. It describes itself on Facebook as a great example that "people of different cultures and faiths can be strong together," featuring images of men posing with knives and other weapons.
Gremium MC prominently incorporates into its iconography the symbol of the Prussian military medal for exceptional valor, the Iron Cross, which was discontinued after World War I, reintroduced by Adolf Hitler during World War II, and then scrapped for good.
State Interior Minister Manuel Hagel was expected to make further comments later in the day in Ludwigsburg.
Gremium MC is deemed an "outlaw motorcycle gang" in Baden-Württemberg's latest security report, a term used for biker groups that do not recognize the state monopoly on the use of force and are often tied to organized crime.
"Extortion, drug dealing and pimping in particular tend to be part of their activities," state authorities say.
Baden-Württemberg counts 154 biker chapters in the state with around 2,000 members.
Founded in 1972 in Mannheim, various chapters of Gremium MC across the country have faced legal issues in recent years. In 2021, another chapter in the southwest, Gremium MC Southgate in Heidelberg, was outlawed on suspicion of organized crime activity.
Hanover: 3 injured by attacker in car overnight
Police in Hanover reported early on Thursday that three men were injured by an unknown driver in a car in the nearby town of Ronneberg.
One person sustained severe injuries in the incident late on Wednesday, police said.
Two of the wounded were taken to a nearby hospital while the other could be cared for at the scene.
Police said the driver fled the scene and that a search operation was ongoing. Authorities were also still investigating a potential motive for the apparent attack.
Welcome to our updates
Today's updates start with a focus between the southwestern Kurpfalz and Swabian regions, where police have launched major morning raids against a biker gang.
The state Interior Ministry in Baden Württemberg has outlawed three of its chapters. Hundreds of police officers mobilized in the early hours of the morning.
The major IG Metall trade union is planning further strikes in the carmaking sector and other metalworking industries, with an announcement anticipated later in the day.
To the north, near Hanover, police report an apparent car attack injuring three men overnight.
And in the spirit of offering the public service journalism people are truly thirsting for, we'll have some info on the average and localized pricing of mulled wine or Glühwein at Christmas markets this year, as the early birds start to open their doors to visitors. (Yes, already!)
Stay tuned for updates on all this and anything else of note in or pertaining to Germany as the day progresses.