What you need to know
- Trade union Verdi has called a nationwide strike for public transport workers, with only long-distance train services unaffected
- Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has kicked off a tour of Southeast Asia and the Pacific region
This is a roundup of news stories from and about Germany on Monday, February 2, 2026:
WATCH: US Jews reclaiming German citizenship
Germany allows victims of Nazi persecution and their descendants to reclaim citizenship that was deliberately taken from them.
As ever more people fear rising authoritarianism, racism and antisemitism in the US under the Trump administration, growing numbers of American Jews are now taking advantage of this opportunity.
One of them is 103-year-old Holocaust survivor Ruth Gruenthal, who features in this video from DW:
Growing number of refugees returning home with financial aid
The number of asylum-seekers returning home after receiving financial help to do so from Germany grew markedly in 2025, according to figures from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) cited by media.
Altogether 16,576 people returned home of their own free will in 2025 under the REAG/GARP subsidy scheme run by BAMF, as compared with 10,358 the year before, a BAMF spokeswoman told newspapers from the Funke media group.
The BAMF scheme aims to encourage refugees to return to their homelands or go to other countries willing to accept them by paying for flights and providing €1,000 ($1,186) in start-up money per adult and €500 per child or minor.
The growth in the number of returnees is attributed largely to the fact that the subsidy became available again for Syrian refugees in January 2025, after having been stopped for some time because of the civil war in their country.
BAMF said 5,976 people had applied to leave Germany for Syria under the scheme by the end of December 2025, of whom 3,678 had already departed.
Wadephul visiting Singapore
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has kicked off a tour of Southeast Asia and the Pacific region with a visit to the city-state of Singapore.
There, he was due to hold talks with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and his counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan.
He is also scheduled to give a speech at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
In 2024, Germany and Singapore agreed to an action plan specifically focusing on future technologies.
The EU and the city-state are also parties to a free trade agreement that came into force in 2019.
More than 2,000 companies from Germany have operations in Singapore, which is a leading financial, technology and logistics hub in the region.
Wadephul’s trip comes as Germany continues its drive to diversify its range of international partners amid dwindling confidence in the US as a reliable ally.
Public transit strikes set to cause widespread disruption
Many bus, trams and underground services in Germany will not be operating on Monday amid a nationwide strike by the trade union Verdi.
Millions of employees and schoolchildren who rely on public transport will be forced to find alternative methods of getting to work or school, with wintry weather conditions adding to their problems.
All 16 German states bar one, Lower Saxony, where employees have agreed not to strike for now, are to be initially affected by the industrial action, Verdi said.
Employees of national rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) will not be taking part in the strike, meaning that its train services are expected to run without restrictions.
“The suburban commuter trains in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Cologne, Nuremberg, Rhein-Main [the Frankfurt metropolitan area] and the regional and long-distance services of DB are not represented by Verdi as a company and are therefore not affected by the strike,” DB said.
Verdi is demanding improvements to working conditions, including shorter working weeks and shifts and longer rest periods.
It is also calling for higher bonuses for nighttime and weekend shifts.
According to the union, negotiations are also taking place on higher wages and salaries in the states of Bavaria, Brandenburg, Saarland and Thuringia, and at the Hamburg underground network.
Welcome to our coverage
A warm guten Tag from DW’s newsroom in Bonn at the start of another wintry week.
Many users of buses, trams and underground rail systems will be left out in the cold on Monday as members of the large Verdi trade union stage a strike affecting almost all German states.
The industrial action aims to pressure municipal authorities into granting public transport workers better working conditions.
Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is visiting Singapore at the start of a tour of Southeast Asia and the Pacific region that will also take him to New Zealand, Tonga and Australia in the course of the week.
Please read on for more on these and other stories from and about Germany in our blog on Monday, February 2!
- Trade union Verdi has called a nationwide strike for public transport workers, with only long-distance train services unaffected
- Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has kicked off a tour of Southeast Asia and the Pacific region
This is a roundup of news stories from and about Germany on Monday, February 2, 2026:
This is a roundup of news stories from and about Germany on Monday, February 2, 2026:
Germany allows victims of Nazi persecution and their descendants to reclaim citizenship that was deliberately taken from them.
As ever more people fear rising authoritarianism, racism and antisemitism in the US under the Trump administration, growing numbers of American Jews are now taking advantage of this opportunity.
One of them is 103-year-old Holocaust survivor Ruth Gruenthal, who features in this video from DW:
Germany allows victims of Nazi persecution and their descendants to reclaim citizenship that was deliberately taken from them.
As ever more people fear rising authoritarianism, racism and antisemitism in the US under the Trump administration, growing numbers of American Jews are now taking advantage of this opportunity.
One of them is 103-year-old Holocaust survivor Ruth Gruenthal, who features in this video from DW:
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The number of asylum-seekers returning home after receiving financial help to do so from Germany grew markedly in 2025, according to figures from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) cited by media.
Altogether 16,576 people returned home of their own free will in 2025 under the REAG/GARP subsidy scheme run by BAMF, as compared with 10,358 the year before, a BAMF spokeswoman told newspapers from the Funke media group.
The BAMF scheme aims to encourage refugees to return to their homelands or go to other countries willing to accept them by paying for flights and providing €1,000 ($1,186) in start-up money per adult and €500 per child or minor.
The growth in the number of returnees is attributed largely to the fact that the subsidy became available again for Syrian refugees in January 2025, after having been stopped for some time because of the civil war in their country.
BAMF said 5,976 people had applied to leave Germany for Syria under the scheme by the end of December 2025, of whom 3,678 had already departed.
The number of asylum-seekers returning home after receiving financial help to do so from Germany grew markedly in 2025, according to figures from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) cited by media.
Altogether 16,576 people returned home of their own free will in 2025 under the REAG/GARP subsidy scheme run by BAMF, as compared with 10,358 the year before, a BAMF spokeswoman told newspapers from the Funke media group.
The BAMF scheme aims to encourage refugees to return to their homelands or go to other countries willing to accept them by paying for flights and providing €1,000 ($1,186) in start-up money per adult and €500 per child or minor.
The growth in the number of returnees is attributed largely to the fact that the subsidy became available again for Syrian refugees in January 2025, after having been stopped for some time because of the civil war in their country.
BAMF said 5,976 people had applied to leave Germany for Syria under the scheme by the end of December 2025, of whom 3,678 had already departed.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has kicked off a tour of Southeast Asia and the Pacific region with a visit to the city-state of Singapore.
There, he was due to hold talks with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and his counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan.
He is also scheduled to give a speech at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
In 2024, Germany and Singapore agreed to an action plan specifically focusing on future technologies.
The EU and the city-state are also parties to a free trade agreement that came into force in 2019.
More than 2,000 companies from Germany have operations in Singapore, which is a leading financial, technology and logistics hub in the region.
Wadephul’s trip comes as Germany continues its drive to diversify its range of international partners amid dwindling confidence in the US as a reliable ally.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has kicked off a tour of Southeast Asia and the Pacific region with a visit to the city-state of Singapore.
There, he was due to hold talks with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and his counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan.
He is also scheduled to give a speech at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
In 2024, Germany and Singapore agreed to an action plan specifically focusing on future technologies.
The EU and the city-state are also parties to a free trade agreement that came into force in 2019.
More than 2,000 companies from Germany have operations in Singapore, which is a leading financial, technology and logistics hub in the region.
Wadephul’s trip comes as Germany continues its drive to diversify its range of international partners amid dwindling confidence in the US as a reliable ally.
Many bus, trams and underground services in Germany will not be operating on Monday amid a nationwide strike by the trade union Verdi.
Millions of employees and schoolchildren who rely on public transport will be forced to find alternative methods of getting to work or school, with wintry weather conditions adding to their problems.
All 16 German states bar one, Lower Saxony, where employees have agreed not to strike for now, are to be initially affected by the industrial action, Verdi said.
Employees of national rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) will not be taking part in the strike, meaning that its train services are expected to run without restrictions.
“The suburban commuter trains in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Cologne, Nuremberg, Rhein-Main [the Frankfurt metropolitan area] and the regional and long-distance services of DB are not represented by Verdi as a company and are therefore not affected by the strike,” DB said.
Verdi is demanding improvements to working conditions, including shorter working weeks and shifts and longer rest periods.
It is also calling for higher bonuses for nighttime and weekend shifts.
According to the union, negotiations are also taking place on higher wages and salaries in the states of Bavaria, Brandenburg, Saarland and Thuringia, and at the Hamburg underground network.
Many bus, trams and underground services in Germany will not be operating on Monday amid a nationwide strike by the trade union Verdi.
Millions of employees and schoolchildren who rely on public transport will be forced to find alternative methods of getting to work or school, with wintry weather conditions adding to their problems.
All 16 German states bar one, Lower Saxony, where employees have agreed not to strike for now, are to be initially affected by the industrial action, Verdi said.
Employees of national rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) will not be taking part in the strike, meaning that its train services are expected to run without restrictions.
“The suburban commuter trains in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Cologne, Nuremberg, Rhein-Main [the Frankfurt metropolitan area] and the regional and long-distance services of DB are not represented by Verdi as a company and are therefore not affected by the strike,” DB said.
Verdi is demanding improvements to working conditions, including shorter working weeks and shifts and longer rest periods.
It is also calling for higher bonuses for nighttime and weekend shifts.
According to the union, negotiations are also taking place on higher wages and salaries in the states of Bavaria, Brandenburg, Saarland and Thuringia, and at the Hamburg underground network.
A warm guten Tag from DW’s newsroom in Bonn at the start of another wintry week.
Many users of buses, trams and underground rail systems will be left out in the cold on Monday as members of the large Verdi trade union stage a strike affecting almost all German states.
The industrial action aims to pressure municipal authorities into granting public transport workers better working conditions.
Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is visiting Singapore at the start of a tour of Southeast Asia and the Pacific region that will also take him to New Zealand, Tonga and Australia in the course of the week.
Please read on for more on these and other stories from and about Germany in our blog on Monday, February 2!
A warm guten Tag from DW’s newsroom in Bonn at the start of another wintry week.
Many users of buses, trams and underground rail systems will be left out in the cold on Monday as members of the large Verdi trade union stage a strike affecting almost all German states.
The industrial action aims to pressure municipal authorities into granting public transport workers better working conditions.
Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is visiting Singapore at the start of a tour of Southeast Asia and the Pacific region that will also take him to New Zealand, Tonga and Australia in the course of the week.
Please read on for more on these and other stories from and about Germany in our blog on Monday, February 2!
Source URL: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-news-nationwide-strikes-hit-public-transport/live-75756854