Three people are missing after an apartment building collapsed in Görlitz, Germany plans €10 billion investment in civilian defences, Bundeswehr deploys Patriot missiles to Turkey and more news on Tuesday, May 19th.
Tuesday’s top story: Three missing after apartment building collapsed in Görlitz
An apartment building collapsed in the city centre of Görlitz early on Monday evening.
Five people were initially reported missing, but according to police two have since appeared. Emergency responders have continued a search for buried people through the night.
The police suspect that the building’s collapse may have been caused by a gas explosion. So far, however, a conclusive cause has not been clarified.
Debris lies between the two neighboring apartment buildings after the collapse of an apartment building in downtown Görlitz. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Olgierd Linke
Surrounding buildings are also being monitored, and at least ten homes have been evacuated.
The collapsed house is a building from the Wilhelminian period on James-von-Moltke-Straße not far from the train station, and is thought to have been used primarily for vacation rentals.
The German Press Agency reported that a man who had arrived at the building that afternoon was at a nearby supermarket when he heard the explosion. When he returned from the supermarket, he found only a large pile of rubble in the place of the house.
He feared that his wife and cousin might be under the rubble.
Görlitz is the easternmost city in Germany, it is located in the state of Saxony on the border with Poland and has 57,000 inhabitants.
READ ALSO: Görlitz – How a German city became a seismograph for far-right surge
Germany unveils €10 billion civil defence overhaul
Germany is set to launch a sweeping €10 billion civil defence programme by 2029, aiming to bolster national resilience in the face of growing security threats.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) announced the plan, which includes the procurement of 1,000 special-purpose vehicles and 110,000 camp beds, as well as the creation of a new coordination unit within the Interior Ministry to work with the Bundeswehr during emergencies.
The initiative will also introduce nationwide training standards for emergency responders, particularly for incidents involving chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear materials.
Civil defence education is to be incorporated into school curricula.
Also, public shelters – such as bunkers and subway stations – will be catalogued and integrated into the federal digital warning system and the NINA emergency app, allowing citizens to locate the nearest shelter quickly.
Despite these efforts, the German Red Cross has warned that the country still lacks adequate shelters, volunteers and equipment.
Germany to deploy Patriot air defence system to Turkey
Germany will deploy a Patriot missile air defence battery to Turkey as part of a NATO rotation, Berlin’s defence ministry said Monday.
About 150 soldiers currently based in the northern city of Husum would move with a Patriot anti-missile system to Turkey from the end of June to September, the ministry said.
The move is part of a rotation that will relieve an American unit currently on deployment, it added.
“Germany is taking more responsibility within NATO,” Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said. “The close work our soldiers are carrying out with our Turkish and American partners shows how reliably we cooperate with our allies.”
The Patriot is an American-made mobile air-defence system designed to intercept tactical ballistic missiles, low-flying cruise missiles and aircraft.
The US unit had been moved to boost Turkish defences in response to Iranian rocket attacks that hit American allies in the region after the United States and Israel launched their war on Tehran at the end of February.
READ ALSO: Who would really be affected by the removal of US troops from Germany?
NATO forces have downed Iranian ballistic missiles over Turkey at least three times since war started.
Germany has previously deployed Patriot systems to Turkey from 2013 to 2015 to help protect air space on the border with Syria.
‘Little’ Freiburg chasing glory in debut European final
Freiburg have never won a trophy nor qualified for the Champions League, but could achieve both with victory against Aston Villa in the Europa League final in Istanbul on Wednesday.
The match at Besiktas Park is the Black Forest side’s second major final – after losing the 2022 German Cup final to Leipzig on penalties – and is just rewards for their steady development.
Once not even the biggest club in Freiburg, the club are enjoying the most successful period in their history.
While German giants with huge followings like Hamburg, Schalke and Stuttgart have wobbled and suffered relegation in recent seasons, Freiburg have established themselves as European regulars.
Freiburg’s success is a result of a strong community connection along with loyalty to coaches rarely seen in modern football.
Freiburg’s Swiss midfielder #44 Johan Manzambi (R) and Sporting Braga’s Portuguese midfielder #08 Joao Moutinho vie for the ball during their last match. (Photo by Silas STEIN / AFP)
Moments after beating Braga to reach the final, Nicolas Hoefler, a 36-year-old midfielder who will retire in the summer after two decades at the club, stood motionless on the pitch as overjoyed fans streamed onto it.
He told reporters he struggled to believe what “little Freiburg” had achieved.
READ ALSO: Inside Germany – Freiburg’s sporting heroes, the nation’s best dance clubs and a trip to the palace
Renewables make Germany net electricity exporter last year
Germany has reclaimed its position as a net electricity exporter for the first time since 2023, according to the Federal Network Agency.
In the first quarter of 2026, the country exported 17.9 terawatt-hours of electricity while importing 15.3 terawatt-hours, reversing last year’s import surplus. The agency attributed this shift to falling wholesale prices in Germany, which made it more attractive for neighbouring countries to purchase German electricity.
Austria remained the largest consumer of German power, with notable increases in exports to Denmark and Norway, while exports to France dropped by half compared to the previous year.
Renewable energy sources played a pivotal role, accounting for 57.1 percent of Germany’s electricity exports, with onshore wind power leading the way.
Renewable sources also made up over half of imported electricity to Germany, but nuclear energy was the top individual source.
The figures highlight Germany’s growing reliance on clean energy and its renewed status as a key supplier in the European electricity market.
With reporting by DPA, AFP and Tom Pugh.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: thelocal.de
