Skip next section Leica marks 35 mm camera centenary with strong sales
06/26/2025June 26, 2025
Leica marks 35 mm camera centenary with strong sales
German camera maker Leica is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its first mass-produced 35 mm camera, while reporting strong growth for its most recent financial year.
Chief executive Matthias Harsch told the DPA news agency that sales in the year ending March 31 nearly reached €600 million ($701 million), calling it “an absolutely fantastic year” for the company.
Leica has grown “on a global basis,” Harsch said, expressing confidence about the current year despite ongoing international trade tensions.
He noted that Leica had shipped large volumes of cameras and lenses early to the US — an important export market — when . He now expects solutions to the trade dispute soon, allowing the company to move forward with “great optimism.”
Leica is also considering entry into new product segments, including the potential launch of a smartphone with Leica optics for the European market.
So far, the “Leitz Phone,” developed in collaboration with the Japanese manufacturer Sharp, has only been available in Japan. Leica optics are also featured in high-end smartphones made by Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi.
https://p.dw.com/p/4wU1G
Skip next section Germany sees one of the deadliest swimming weekends in years
06/26/2025June 26, 2025
Germany sees one of the deadliest swimming weekends in years
Germany has recorded its deadliest weekend for swimming accidents so far this year — and one of the worst in the past decade — according to the German Life Saving Association (DLRG).
At least 15 people died last weekend, DLRG spokesman Martin Holzhause told the RND media group. “It was the deadliest weekend this year and one of the deadliest in the past 10 years,” he said, noting that the final number may rise as not all cases have been confirmed.
The DLRG, which describes itself as the world’s largest voluntary water rescue organization, said drowning fatalities in Germany have increased each year for the past three years. In 2024, 411 people drowned — 31 more than in 2023.
“On hot weekends, the risk of accidents while swimming always increases. But I cannot explain why so many people died last weekend,” Holzhause said.
He added that is contributing to a higher drowning risk by increasing the number of hot summer days.
“This also increases the dangers posed by heat,” he said, calling for more supervised swimming areas across the country.
https://p.dw.com/p/4wU18
Skip next section Welcome to our coverage06/26/2025June 26, 2025
Welcome to our coverage
Guten Tag from DW’s newsroom in Bonn, and welcome to DW’s coverage of developments in Germany on Thursday, June 26.
has just seen one of its deadliest swimming weekends in a decade, with at least 15 drownings.
Rescuers who reported the figures warn that climate change and too few supervised spots are raising the risk, with another hot weekend expected.
Meanwhile, the German Bundestag is set to debate the fallout of the recent conflict between Israel and Iran and the extension of Bundeswehr troop deployments in Lebanon and Kosovo.
For all of the latest news from Germany, stay tuned here.
https://p.dw.com/p/4wU17
The post Germany updates: Rescuers record deadly weekend for swimmers appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
