Germany news: 3 missing after Görlitz house collapse

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What you need to know

• Three people missing after house collapses in Görlitz
• One in five German petrol stations in breach of fuel price break — study
• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to welcome Swiss President Guy Parmelinin Berlin
• Child abuse and pornography dominate online offenses — report

Welcome to DW's coverage of what Germany is talking about on Tuesday, May 19, 2026. You can catch up on yesterday's news here.

Skip next section Child abuse and pornography dominate online offenses — report05/19/2026May 19, 2026

Child abuse and pornography dominate online offenses — report

German authorities identified over 15,000 breaches of youth protection regulations on the internet in 2025, the vast majority of which involved child abuse (12,334 cases) and child pornography (1,091 cases), according to a new report.

Other offenses in areas such as political extremism, cyber bullying, adult pornography and violence made up a comparatively small proportion of the transgressions.

In 96% of cases (14,520), authorities were able to bring about the immediate deletion of illegal content, with criminal proceedings launched in almost 6,500 cases.

"These once again alarming figures show how far away we are from enabling safe and secure participation in the online world for children and teenagers," said Education and Youth Minister Karin Prien (CDU), lamenting that many internet providers still do too little to ensure child protection.

And since digital entertainment and artificial intelligence (AI) are becoming more and more central to young people's lives, Prien called for "security, protection and clear rules which keep up with technological advances."

Stefan Glaser, who heads up the state-funded Jugendschutz.net (youth protection) portal which produced the new figures, said that internet providers were continuing to "expand their manipulative business models" rather than implementing effective security measures.

He said that AI chat robots which take on the role of "emotional sparring partners" were particularly problematic, explaining: "Such semi-social relationships warp reality and make it more difficult [for young people] to identify what is artificial and what is real."

In some cases, the study warned, without adequate filters and security settings in place, there is a danger that AI bots could go so far as to describe and even encourage sexual activity among minors.

https://p.dw.com/p/5DyTuSkip next section Football: Freiburg's Europa League final is proof another way can work05/19/2026May 19, 2026

Football: Freiburg's Europa League final is proof another way can work

German Bundesliga club SC Freiburg face Premier League side Aston Villa in the UEFA Europa League final in Istanbul on Wednesday in the biggest game in the club's history — bigger even than the 2022 German Cup final.

Hailing from the Black Forest in southwestern Germany, 100% member-controlled Freiburg are proof that, in a professional football world dominated by big money, another approach is possible.

Read DW's exclusive report about what stands behind Freiburg's success..

https://p.dw.com/p/5Dy6uSkip next section German start-up founders younger than ever – study 05/19/2026May 19, 2026

German start-up founders younger than ever – study

The average age of start-up founders in Germany sunk to a record low of 34.2 years in 2025, while 40% were aged younger than 30, according to a new study by the state-owned German investment bank KfW.

By way of comparison, the average age of those setting up their own businesses in Germany at the start of the century was between 37 and 38, with only 24% of them under 30.

For KfW chief economist Dirk Schumacher, the social media presence of successful start-up influencers is inspiring other young entrepreneurs to follow suit.

"Many young people are reading in the media about successful start-up founders or influencers who are serving as role models for self-employment," he said.

But he cautioned that, while the average age of start-up owners is sinking, the overall number of start-ups is dropping, too.

"In contrast to the past, fewer businesses are actually being founded in Germany," Schumacher said.

Indeed, while the number of new start-ups increased from 585,000 to 690,000 last year, that's still half of the 1.5 million of business foundations registered in 2002.

But that might be set to change as new generations embrace a fresh Gründergeist, or "foundational spirit." While only 26% of the overall German population told the KfW study they would prefer to be self-employed, that figure rises to 36% among the under-30s.

Startups are revolutionizing drone technology

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https://p.dw.com/p/5Dy3vSkip next section Electric car subsidy: over 1,800 applications in first hour05/19/2026May 19, 2026

Electric car subsidy: over 1,800 applications in first hour

A new German state subsidy for electric vehicles has attracted significant interest since applications began on Tuesday morning.

The German government has put aside €3 billion ($3.5 billion) to subsidize the purchase of electric or hybrid vehicles by private households, who are eligible for subsidies ranging from €1,500 to €6,000 ($1,740 to $7,000) depending on family size, annual income and vehicle model.

"We have already had 1,858 applications," said Mandy Pastohr, the president of the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (Bafa), just 15 minutes after the government portal foerderzentrale.gov.de went live on Tuesday morning.

The subsidies are available until 2029 and can be backdated to January 1, 2026, with German Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) hoping to encourage the purchase of up to 800,000 environmentally friendly vehicles.

EVs back in the fast lane as oil prices surges

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https://p.dw.com/p/5DxjoSkip next section Thousands of German petrol stations breach 12 o'clock rule05/19/2026May 19, 2026

Thousands of German petrol stations breach 12 o'clock rule

Almost one in five petrol stations in Germany have breached a new law in the last month by increasing prices at non-permitted times.

The so-called "12 o'clock rule" was introduced on April 1 and stipulates that German petrol stations may only raise gas prices once per day — namely at midday.

The price break is intended to protect drivers from sudden, extreme price rises in the context of global shortages due to the war in the Middle East, and give them more planning security.

But a study by the lobby group "Mehr-Tanken" ("fill up more") has found that 2,995 out of 15,240 petrol stations had increased prices at non-permitted times on around 17,000 occasions between April 1 and May 11.

The highest rate of violation was in the southern state of Bavaria, where 25.6% of petrol stations were found to have broken the rules, while the lowest rate was in Berlin (8.2%).

Overall, 19.7% of petrol stations infringed regulations — almost one in five. But petrol station operators have rejected the accusations.

"We have received reports that we're dealing with the consequences of a badly designed law, not with intentional breaches," insisted Daniel Kaddik, head of the National Federation of Free Petrol Stations, in an interview with local newspapers in the eastern German city of Leipzig.

Kaddik claimed that submissions of price changes were being delayed in many cases by various automated systems, slow pipes or ongoing transactions, thus skewing the statistics.

https://p.dw.com/p/5DxWLSkip next section Görlitz: Three missing after house collapse in eastern German city05/19/2026May 19, 2026

Görlitz: Three missing after house collapse in eastern German city

Three people remained missing in the eastern German city of Görlitz on Tuesday after a residential building collapsed on Monday evening.

The precise cause of the collapse of the 19th-century house in the city center is still unclear, although local police suspect a gas explosion.

Emergency services are therefore proceeding cautiously with the help of gas readers, and also to prevent further collapses of rubble.

Initially, five people were listed as missing — but two were holidaymakers who had not yet arrived in Görlitz, and appeared shortly after midnight.

"They're fine, they weren't in the building at the time of the collapse," said police spokeswoman Anja Leuschner, explaining that the building housed rented accommodation and holiday homes. "They were lucky that they weren't there."

Görlitz, located in the eastern state of Saxony, is Germany's most easterly city, and lies directly on the border with Poland.

https://p.dw.com/p/5DxPNSkip next section Welcome to our coverage05/19/2026May 19, 2026

Welcome to our coverage

Dmytro Hubenko Editor

Guten Morgen! Welcome to DW's coverage of what Germany is talking about on Tuesday, May 19, 2026.

Emergency services are still searching for three missing people after a house collapsed in the center of Germany's most easterly city, Görlitz, on Monday evening. Local police suspect a gas explosion.

Meanwhile, a new study suggests that almost one in five German petrol stations have breached new rules limiting the amount of times they can increase fuel prices.

Later on Tuesday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will welcome Swiss President Guy Parmelin to Berlin, and we're also expecting the results of an inquiry into the car attack at Magdeburg Christmas Market in December 2024.

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