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Germany news: DB hampered by 'organized irresponsibility
DB chief Evelyn Palla wants to move away from the culture of ''organized irresponsibility" by empowering new decision-makers within the railway operator. Brass musicians in Bavaria hope to set a new record. DW has more.
https://p.dw.com/p/5I7DJ Advertisement Skip next section What you need to know What you need to know DB's Evelyn Palla sets 2035 as goal for completing major reforms within railway company Pride events are taking place in several German cities a week after a deadly attack on a Pride march in Berlin Authorities warn of holiday traffic disruption in Germany amid the two-hour closure of a key pass road in Austria A forest fire is burning out of control in the Upper Palatinate region of Bavaria, with four firefighters so far injured in the blaze Here is a round-up of some of the main stories from and about Germany hitting the headlines on the weekend of August 1-2.
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08/02/2026 August 2, 2026 Brass musicians wrap up a 72-hour performance in Bavaria Around 1,850 brass musicians finished an unprecedented, 72-hour live performance with a church service In St. Jacob's church in Nürnberg, Bavaria on Sunday.
The event involved over 140 bands from across the German state, with them swapping roughly every 90 minutes to ensure there are no interruptions longer than 10 seconds.
The record is now to be confirmed by Germany's Record Institute.
Bavaria's Premier Markus Söder agreed to act as patron for the event.
In a statement, he conservative politician praised the "enthusiasm" and "passion" displayed by the musicians, and said that music creates "a strong sense of community — not only inside the circle of brass musicians, but also between them and their listeners."
08/02/2026 August 2, 2026 Kölln cereal recalled due to 'foreign objects' German cereal producer Kölln is expanding its contamination warning for its cereals with chocolate over fear that "foreign objects" might have gotten into the packages.
"We would like to emphasize that, to date, there has been only one known case in which a hard plastic part from our production process was found in a package. The foreign object was not baked into the product," they said in a statement online.
The warning now applies to cereal packages of 375 grams with batch numbers L6165, L6164 and L6235. The packages are also marked with "best before" dates of 17.04.2027, 16.04.2027 and 05.06.2027.
Kölln urged customers to return their product to supermarkets, promising a full refund regardless of having a receipt.
08/02/2026 August 2, 2026 Deutsche Bahn chief Evelyn Palla blasts 'organized irresponsibility' in the company The culture inside Germany's Deutsche Bahn (DB) is already shifting but the current crisis will take years to overcome, the head of the national railway company told Germany's Welt am Sonntag .
CEO Evelyn Palla criticized the old decision-making process in DB, saying that the central management often made big decisions on the operative level.
"The people in the headquarters, who made those decisions, don't have any responsibility for implementing them in the field," Palla said. "They have to be implemented by colleagues who are out there. But they say 'I didn't make this call, and it also doesn't work for me.' Then the headquarters says 'I have no operational responsibility, those people in the field did not implement [the decision] properly.' In the end it was something like organized irresponsibility."
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She told the paper that much has been "reformed" and "slimmed down" since she took the reins of the state-owned firm last October , and that multiple administration levels inside DB had been cut.
"But all of that does not make for a better (Deutsche) Bahn," she added. "Things will only change when the management changes, when decentralized units take responsibility and live with it."
In the interview published on Sunday, she also said that the German railway network was "run into the ground by 25 years of saving money" and that tangible improvements will take time.
She pointed to DB's 200-year anniversary coming in 2035, saying that "this should be the year when the worst is behind us."
08/02/2026 August 2, 2026 We are resuming our coverage Welcome back to our coverage of top news stories from Germany on this early August weekend.
On Sunday, Berlin is preparing for an anti-Islamist march in response to the deadly terror attack which shook Germany to the core a week ago.
In Bavaria, over1,800 brass musicians are hoping to break the record for the world's longest concert as they near the end of the unprecedented 72-hour live performance.
And Evelyn Palla, the head of Germany Deutsche Bahn, is decrying "organized irresponsibility" inside the troubled railway company .
We will be bringing you more on these and other stories from Germany in this live blog.
08/02/2026 August 2, 2026 We've paused coverage Thank you for reading the weekend edition of our blog about Germany and be sure to check in on Sunday morning to stay up to date with the latest headlines out of the country.
08/01/2026 August 1, 2026 WATCH — Hamburg Pride draws 300,000 after Berlin terror attack Hamburg's Pride parade went ahead under heightened security, one week after a 21-year-old drove a van into crowds at Berlin Pride. The attack killed one person and injured 29 others.
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08/01/2026 August 1, 2026 IN DEPTH: Germany widens deportations to Afghanistan Oliver Pieper Earlier this week, Germany for the first time deported a man with no criminal record to Kabul.
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