Skip next section Munich’s mayor: Oktoberfest to reopen Wednesday evening
10/01/2025October 1, 2025
Munich’s mayor: Oktoberfest to reopen Wednesday evening
The Oktoberfest in central Munich will reopen at 5:30 p.m. local time (roughly two hours from now, at 1530 GMT/UTC), Munich’s Mayor Dieter Reiter said in a video posted to Instagram.
He said police had told him there was no cause for concern in allowing the delayed festival to open. Therefore, he said, the grounds on the Theresienwiese, where the annual festival is held, would be reopened.
https://p.dw.com/p/51Lx2
Skip next section Police: Suspect had explosives in backpack, ‘no indication’ of wider danger
10/01/2025October 1, 2025
Police: Suspect had explosives in backpack, ‘no indication’ of wider danger
The 57-year-old deceased suspect found near the Lerchenauer See lake was apparently carrying an explosive device in his backpack which needed to be defused, Munich police said in an update on their investigations early on Wednesday afternoon.
Police said investigations, including possible defusal operations, continued both at the site where the man was found and at the house in Starnberg, which he is thought to have set on fire.
“The suspect was carrying a rucksack which based on current findings contained an explosive device which then needed to be defused,” police said in the follow-up statement.
The suspect’s 81-year-old mother and 21-year-old daughter were both injured and were receiving treatment in the hospital, police said.
Police said a total of more than 500 officers were on the case, many of them carrying out precautionary checks at and around the Oktoberfest site, given the note mentioning the event written by the suspect.
Investigators also said that an online post boasting about destroying high-price cars overnight was not thought to have any connection to the case.
“Currently there is no indication that other areas of Munich are in danger,” police wrote.
https://p.dw.com/p/51Lp8
Skip next section Cologne opera hall to reopen next September after decade of delays
10/01/2025October 1, 2025
Cologne opera hall to reopen next September after decade of delays
Cologne’s renovated and expanded Opera Hall complex will open in September 2026, the outgoing city mayor and opera officials have announced at a press conference.
Speaking on the renovated main stage, Mayor Henriette Reker said the opening celebrations would take place on September 19 and 20, 2026.
That will be almost 11 years after the originally scheduled reopening date of November 7, 2015. The now-14-year expansion and renovation project became synonymous with delays and cost overruns as the expenditure ballooned to €1.47 billion (roughly $1.7 billion).
“By the end of the year the construction work on the four stages at Offenbachplatz will be complete,” Reker said. “Cologne is getting back what’s so long been missing in the heart of our city: a place for great art, emotions and cosmopolitanism.”
The four-part project involves the renovation of the opera hall, with 1,291 seats, originally built in 1957; the renovation of a 1962 theater with 700 seats; the construction of a new 217-seat underground children’s opera hall; and a new studio hall with a capacity of 220.
https://p.dw.com/p/51L81
Skip next section Sniffer dogs sweep Oktoberfest site
10/01/2025October 1, 2025
Sniffer dogs sweep Oktoberfest site
Authorities are currently trying to muster as many bomb-sniffing dogs as possible to sweep the Oktoberfest grounds, the DPA news agency has reported.
The agency cited security sources saying the animals must search the grounds multiple times, something that requires a great deal of time and personnel.
The city has announced that the Wiesn, the local name for the site, will remain closed until at least 5 p.m. following the bomb threat. If the searches are not completed by then, the closure may have to be extended.
https://p.dw.com/p/51LDS
Skip next section Has Oktoberfest faced security threats in the past?
10/01/2025October 1, 2025
Has Oktoberfest faced security threats in the past?
Security at Munich’s Oktoberfest has been tightened over the years in response to past threats and a deadly attack.
Organizers have implemented permanent security measures, including fences around the festival grounds, bag restrictions, and a heavy police presence.
The most notorious incident was on September 26, 1980, when a , killing 13 people and injuring more than 200.
In 2009, German authorities said they foiled a suspected Islamist plot against the event, leading to stricter entry checks. Police had taken two suspected Islamists into custody after a series of al-Qaeda videos threatened Germany with attacks
Security was heightened again in 2016 after a separate mass shooting several weeks earlier at Munich’s Olympia shopping center, which killed nine people.
Authorities say they continue to treat Oktoberfest as a potential target for both domestic and international threats.
https://p.dw.com/p/51LAG
Skip next section Munich police confirm suspect behind fire is dead
10/01/2025October 1, 2025
Munich police confirm suspect behind fire is dead
Police in Munich have confirmed that the man found dead after a in the city’s north as the suspect in the arson attack.
A police spokeswoman said Wednesday the man could also be linked to a vague bomb threat that prompted the temporary closure of the Oktoberfest grounds.
Firefighters and police were called early Wednesday to a blaze at a single-family home in the Lerchenau district. A severely injured man was discovered near Lerchenauer See and died shortly afterward. Police later confirmed he was the suspect.
Investigators believe a family dispute triggered the arson. Explosive devices were also discovered inside the house. The whereabouts of one missing person remained unclear, but police said the individual was not considered a danger.
The Oktoberfest site in central Munich remains shut down until 5 p.m. as a precaution after the threat was received.
https://p.dw.com/p/51L5U
Skip next section Merz praises coalition unity after cabinet retreat
10/01/2025October 1, 2025
Merz praises coalition unity after cabinet retreat
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has described his conservative–Social Democrat coalition as working well together, .
“We have really managed in recent months to create a very good, very collegial, very open working atmosphere in this coalition,” the CDU leader said at the end of his cabinet’s retreat in northern Berlin. “That is why I am confident the tasks ahead can be solved.”
The coalition has been in office for about five months and held its first retreat this week. Merz said the government sees the economy’s challenges and aims to restore Germany’s leading position. He added that federal investment programs are already being well received, with companies increasing spending.
Speaking alongside him, Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil called the two-day meeting both enjoyable and effective.
Klingbeil said the focus was on strengthening competitiveness and innovation and on securing growth and jobs.
https://p.dw.com/p/51KU0
Skip next section Munich festival grounds shut down over letter threat as extremist link is probed
10/01/2025October 1, 2025
Munich festival grounds shut down over letter threat as extremist link is probed
Munich authorities have confirmed the Oktoberfest grounds were shut down after a letter was discovered threatening an attack connected to .
After a fire and explosions rocked a building elsewhere in the southern city, investigators are also probing a possible extremist link after a post on the indymedia.org website claimed responsibility for arson and assaults under the title “Antifa means attack.”
The post said, “We torched several luxury cars and paid house visits in the north of Munich.”
https://p.dw.com/p/51Keh
Skip next section WATCH – What else do we know about the situation in Munich?
10/01/2025October 1, 2025
WATCH – What else do we know about the situation in Munich?
DW’s Michael Watzke gives the latest on the situation in amid the bomb threat and the earlier fire.
https://p.dw.com/p/51KEi
Skip next section Cabinet retreat seeks to cut bureaucracy, boost digital services
10/01/2025October 1, 2025
Cabinet retreat seeks to cut bureaucracy, boost digital services
Almost five months after being sworn in, the conservative and center–left federal cabinet is wrapping up its first retreat with a modernization plan .
The two-day meeting at Villa Borsig on Lake Tegel has focused on cutting bureaucracy and strengthening Germany’s competitiveness. The government has approved about 80 measures to make state and administration more efficient, citizen-friendly, and digital.
The Ministry for Digital and State Modernization said initial projects will begin immediately. Plans include reducing bureaucracy costs by 25% — about €16 billion (about $18.8 billion) — cutting federal staff levels by 8%, launching a central online vehicle registration portal, and creating a digital reporting platform for citizens to flag red tape.
Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger said the agenda represents a major step to ease burdens on citizens and businesses, adding it would serve as the government’s foundation for the legislative term with projects implemented “step by step.”
https://p.dw.com/p/51KCP
Skip next section Oktoberfest closed amid bomb threat, police probe links to earlier incident
10/01/2025October 1, 2025
Oktoberfest closed amid bomb threat, police probe links to earlier incident
Munich’s Oktoberfest grounds have remained closed until at least 5 p.m. Wednesday after a , local authorities have said.
Officers were deployed to the venue to search for other explosive devices, with workers asked to leave the area.
Police said the closure followed a fire in a house in the Lerchenau district, where explosive devices were discovered. Officers said they are investigating possible connections to the Theresienwiese festival site and other locations, though no specific threat has been confirmed.
Firefighters and police were called to the house early Wednesday after reports of a blaze and loud bangs. A family dispute is believed to have triggered the fire.
One person was found critically injured at the scene and later died, while another person remains missing but is not considered a danger, police said.
Police said specialized teams were called to the scene to defuse booby traps in the building.
https://p.dw.com/p/51Jj1
Skip next section Welcome to our coverage10/01/2025October 1, 2025
Welcome to our coverage
Guten Tag from DW’s newsroom in Bonn.
You join us as Munich’s Oktoberfest grounds remain closed after a bomb threat linked the venue to an explosion and fire in the city’s north.
Police say the closure followed a fire in a house in the Lerchenau district, where explosive devices were found.
One person was found critically injured and later died at the home.
Follow DW for more news about this and other stories from Germany here in our blog.
https://p.dw.com/p/51Jjc
The post Germany news: Oktoberfest set to reopen after bomb scare appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
