Germany news: Far-right youth groups raided by police

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AdvertisementSkip next section What you need to know

What you need to know

• Police raided homes in 12 federal states in connection with an investigation into far-right youth groups
• Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz marks 1 year in office
• Germany's BMW eyes tariff relief from Washington

Here is a roundup of stories from and about Germany on Wednesday, May 6. 

Skip next section Man feeds gulash soup to lions at German zoo05/06/2026May 6, 2026

Man feeds gulash soup to lions at German zoo

Police responded Tuesday after a 29-year-old man at the Dortmund Zoo fed pork goulash to lions in an enclosure.

The zoo alerted police after staff confronted the man, who refused to provide his personal information.

He told officers the lions seemed "hungry," police reported on Wednesday.  

According to the report, responders found remnants of pork goulash in the man's backpack, some of which had already been eaten by an animal.

Raw pork can be dangerous for big cats. A veterinarian from the Dortmund Zoo secured the meat scraps. The police said the zoo could sue for treatment costs if an animal becomes sick.

The man will, however, not face criminal charges for now, as feeding animals is not a crime, police said.

https://p.dw.com/p/5DM0nSkip next section Germany's BMW eyes tariff relief from Washington05/06/2026May 6, 2026

Germany's BMW eyes tariff relief from Washington

BMW on Wednesday reported a 23% dip in quarterly profits compared with 2025 amid US President Donald Trump's tariffs, which cost the German carmaker an estimated €300 million ($353 million) between January and March.

However, CEO Oliver Zipse told reporters Wednesday after the release of the company's results that he expects EU-US trade tensions to be resolved.

This is even as Trump threatened last week to raise tariffs on European cars, saying that the EU was not complying with a trade deal unveiled last July. The deal still needs to be approved by EU member states.

Zipse said Trump's threat was "not entirely unexpected."

"The American side implemented the deal over eight months ago, the European side still hasn't," he added.

The CEO, who is stepping down next week, said BMW is in talks with Washington to receive tariff relief, as BMW operates its largest plant in the southern US state of South Carolina, and is the US' largest car exporter by value.

"I am also confident that, over the course of the year, we will succeed in agreeing some sort of offset deal, which works in such a way that an offset is created for importers who are also exporters," Zipse said.

US tariffs pile pressure on German carmakers

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https://p.dw.com/p/5DLsOSkip next section IN DEPTH: A difficult first year for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz05/06/2026May 6, 2026

IN DEPTH: A difficult first year for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz

Christoph Strack

A year after taking office, Germany's federal leadership is struggling with the drudgery of coalition governance. Whenever there are problems, the coalition partners are blamed. Or US President Donald Trump.

DW chief political editor Michaela Küfner has observed an emerging pattern: In view of his direct criticism of Trump, Merz "often pays a high political price for his verbal clumsiness."

The question remains: "whether this chancellor, with his unprecedented talent for scoring political own goals, can translate his recognized economic expertise into political action."

Read the full story about the challenges facing Merz's government. 

https://p.dw.com/p/5DLLlSkip next section Germany-wide police raids target far-right youth groups 05/06/2026May 6, 2026

Germany-wide police raids target far-right youth groups

German police on Wednesday morning were searching the homes of 36 suspected members of two far-right youth groups, Germany's Federal Public Prosecutor said.

The groups, "Deutsche Jugend Voran (DJV)" (German Youth Forwards) and "Jung und Stark (JS)" (Young and Strong), are being investigated by Germany's Federal Public Prosecutor for forming a criminal organization.

More than 600 police officers searched approximately 50 locations in 12 federal states, the public prosecutor said.

The suspects are predominantly youth and young adults, some of whom, according to investigators, have been known for violent behavior in the past.

Prosecutors said in a statement that "some of the accused are said to have attacked members of the left-wing scene or people they believed to be pedophiles. In each instance, the victims were beaten by several attackers and sustained significant injuries."

No arrests are planned at this time.

"Today's searches are intended to clarify the existing grounds for suspicion," investigators said in the statement carried by the epd news agency. 

DJV and JS emerged in mid-2024, along with numerous other regionally and nationally organized far-right youth groups. Since then, they have been on the radar of German security authorities. Both groups are considered to be prone to violence.

Law enforcement agencies estimate that each group numbers several hundred members. Both groups operate nationwide, but the DJV is mostly centered in Berlin and Brandenburg.  

Young and radical: Why right-wing populism is on the rise

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https://p.dw.com/p/5DL7ySkip next section Welcome to our coverage05/06/2026May 6, 2026

Welcome to our coverage

Wesley Rahn | Dmytro Hubenko Editor

Guten morgen from the newsroom in Bonn! Today, we are reporting on a nationwide police operation targeting members of two far-right youth organizations.

And the government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz is marking 1 year in office. 

Follow us for this and everything else being talked about in Germany today.

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