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Inside Germany: Biergarten rules, open-air pools and mixed messages on migration

Inside Germany: Biergarten rules, open-air pools and mixed messages on migration

Local Germany03-05-2025
Inside Germany is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in Germany that you might've missed. It's published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.
Is this still the Germany that needs immigration?
Germany is getting a new government next week, and though a fresh start always tends to feel like a positive thing, foreigners in the country would be forgiven for feeling a little disheartened.
The AfD, who were
handed an official "right-wing extremist" label
by the German intelligence agency on Friday, are currently polling at around 26 percent, having come second in the federal elections. Meanwhile, Friedrich Merz - who campaigned on a hard-right, anti-migration platform - is being sworn in as Chancellor on Tuesday.
This week, both Merz and his chief of staff Thorsten Frei both declared that the government would initiate its
crackdown on migration "from day one"
, echoing US President Donald Trump's election pledge to "seal the border on day one". Incoming Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has
previously expressed admiration for Trump
: back in January, he praised the President's habit of governing by decree and said Germany needs to do the same when it comes to immigration.
Scanning recent headlines, it's hard not to see other small echoes of the US President's stance on immigration - including the targeting of student activists from abroad. In April, four international students - three of them EU citizens - were facing deportation for taking part in a pro-Palestinian protest at Berlin's Free University.
The incoming government also says it wants to
explore stripping dual nationality
from people it deems to be "extremist" or "antisemitic", which experts fear is the thin edge of a far more authoritarian wedge.
Amid all this tough talk and Trumpian echoes, the coalition pact gushes warmly about the role that skilled workers will play in shoring up the German economy. In a desperate push to get these workers into the country, the parties want to create a new 'Work and Stay' agency and speed up the process of recognising qualifications.
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As columnist Brian Melican
points out in his recent op-ed
, however, Germany isn't looking particularly welcoming right now. "As a result of the poor economy and the increasingly xenophobic vibes we're giving off, immigration to Germany – both illicit and wholly legal – is already falling," he writes.
Though it may come as a surprise to the incoming government, vibes do matter when people decide whether to move to a country. And while the CDU and CSU may dream of a world where only those migrants with a PhD in Astrophysics move in, to get the best and brightest, they may have to speak with less distain whenever they use the word "migration".
Picture of the week
Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christoph Reichwein
This joyful picture, snapped by DPA's Christoph Reichwein, shows a boy springing off a three-metre high diving board into the pool at the Grugabad in Essen.
As temperatures soared across the country, the start of May saw several open-air swimming pools around the country finally reopen their doors for the season. The
Freibäder
are now set to stay open for a number of months, providing a brief cool refuge on the most sweltering days of summer, before closing again sometime in September - or even October.
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How to impress the locals in a German
Biergarten
April 23rd was National Beer Day in Germany, marking the unofficial opening of the beer garden season. During the light, balmy evenings, one of the great pleasures of life is sitting in a leafy
Biergarten
with friends, with a cool beer or a glass of wine in hand.
As writer Tom Pugh
explains in his recent article
, however, the German beer garden comes with its own special set of rules and customs. So before you can truly let you hair down, though, it's good to get familiar with some etiquette and vocab.
As a warm-up act, you'll need to start with a
'Muntermacher'
- a refreshing drink that roughly translates as 'the energiser'. What you pick is mostly up to you, but beware: it will need to set you up for an afternoon of drinking.
While spending time in the
Biergarten
, you will also need to navigate the culturally sensitive terrain of picking a
Helles
over a
Pils
(or vice versa), and be sure not to neglect the important roles of both the
Pfandmünzen
and the
Bierdeckel.
Even the act of leaving the beer garden can come with its own set of tough decisions. Was the last beer you had truly an
Absacker
(night cap), or do you still have room for 'one for the road', which in German is known as a
Wegebier
?
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Poland's border checks: Beginning of the end of Schengen? – DW – 07/07/2025
Poland's border checks: Beginning of the end of Schengen? – DW – 07/07/2025

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Poland's border checks: Beginning of the end of Schengen? – DW – 07/07/2025

Border controls are creeping back across Europe, known as a free-travel zone. But are they solving anything? When Poland introduced border checks with Germany and Lithuania this week, it wasn't the first time that a Schengen country took such a step. These measures are typically justified as necessary to curb irregular migration, combat human smuggling, or address national security concerns. But for many analysts, it may be one of the clearest signs yet that the European Union's borderless travel area, seen as a symbol of integration and common identity, is under increasing strain. According to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the controls are temporary and aimed at stopping human trafficking and irregular migration. Yet the move comes just weeks after Germany itself ramped up checks along all its land borders, including with Poland, under the new conservative government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz. For many observers here in Brussels, the tit-for-tat measures reflect a deeper shift away from European solidarity and toward national self-interest. Created in the 1990s, the Schengen Area allows passport-free travel across 29 European countries, covering most of the EU plus several non-members like Norway and Switzerland. It facilitates the free movement of over 450 million people and underpins Europe's single market by eliminating internal border checks for goods, services, and labor. For businesses, commuters, and travelers alike, Schengen is one of the EU's most practical achievements. In an interview with DW, Birte Nienaber, Associate Professor at the University of Luxembourg, underlined that Europe is seeing a slow erosion of border-free moment in Europe, one frontier at a time. Davide Colombi, a migration researcher at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) based in Brussels, agrees that the recent Polish-German dispute fits a broader European pattern. 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Centrist leaders face pressure to show "toughness" on migration — and border controls are a visible measure popular with the public. But how effective are they really? Official statistics cast doubt on the pertinence of border checks inside the Schengen area. German police say that in the first month of enhanced border operations this spring, just 160 asylum seekers were turned away. Polish media reports that Germany returned around 1,000 migrants to Poland between May and mid-June, a figure not significantly different from previous years. "Smugglers or those trying to enter irregularly know exactly how to avoid official checkpoints," said migration expert Nienaber. "The controls don't stop them. They only create the illusion of control." Researcher Colombi agreed that such policies are more about optics than outcomes. He underlined that EU member states have so far failed to prove the necessity for the controls in, for instance, curbing migration, or preventing terrorist attacks. 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Poland starts spot checks at German border  – DW – 07/07/2025
Poland starts spot checks at German border  – DW – 07/07/2025

DW

time8 hours ago

  • DW

Poland starts spot checks at German border – DW – 07/07/2025

Random checks will be carried out along Poland's borders with Germany and Lithuania and come after the German government ordered a similar approach for entry into Germany. Authorities in Poland on Monday began carrying out random checks at 52 border crossings at the country's border with Germany in a move contrary to the spirit of the European Union's visa-free Schengen zone. The comes afterstricter German controls at the Germany-Poland border, which have been stepped up under Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government after they were reintroduced in November 2023. The Polish border checks, which also apply to Poland's border with Lithuania, are set to run initially until August 5. Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said Sunday the controls were meant only to combat "illegal immigration" and that Polish and other EU nationals would not face hindrances. The controls will reportedly focus on buses, minibuses, cars carrying large numbers of passengers and vehicles with tinted windows. Before Poland's announcement, the German government said it would begin turning back asylum-seekers at the Polish border, leading to claims by Polish nationalist and far-right politicians that Berlin is overwhelming Poland with migrants. Since May 8, German officials have refused entry to around 1,300 people on the border to Poland, according to the German Interior Ministry, with one in 10 cases involving an asylum request. EU rules on the Schengen area stipulated that countries are allowed to introduce temporary measures as a "last resort" and "in exceptional situations." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

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