Ruling Law and Justice party takes 44% of vote, eight seats more than absolute majority

Law and Justice (PiS) party set to secure absolute majority in parliament

PiS party deploys laws on mining and criticism of LGBT people in pursuit of poll boost

Media criticised for use of live-stream images and coverage of attack on synagogue

Voters increasingly ready to back party with narrow policies promising individual benefit

Shock after gunman livestreamed attack in Halle in which two people were shot dead

Malgorzata Gersdorf warns Poland is on the brink of authoritarianism ahead of election

Man arrested after attack on synagogue in Halle during Yom Kippur streamed online

Voters being warned of plague of so-called ‘LGBT ideology’ ahead of Sunday polls

Senior official in Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union says there is ‘no new German position on Brexit’

Majority of easterners unimpressed with how democracy is practiced in Germany

If his attempt to flee East Berlin failed, he risked prison. If it succeeded, he might not see his family again

Coalition options await Sebastian Kurz as conservative ÖVP wins 38% of snap election

Court urges compromise with 470,000 owners in case that could stretch to 2023

Former chancellor’s conservatives make gains while far-right Freedom Party slips

At the time, it seemed like a tiresome hoop to jump through. But it changed my life

Global climate protest may propel Vienna away from populist-conservative coalition

Freedom Party leader Hofer expected to be in a position to form another coalition with the People’s Party

Country’s political wunderkind will have to work exceedingly hard for a return to power

Chancellor’s interest in climate ebbs when it conflicts with German commercial interests

Protesters criticise German chancellor’s carbon dioxide tax and fuel hike measures

Protests mark 1st anniversary of Greta Thunberg’s solo school strike in Stockholm

US actor and singer's Looking for Freedom became part of Germany’s 1989 protests

Polarstern scientific environmental mission to drift with currents to North Pole

Björn Höcke rattled by reporter’s questions about his use of terms such as ‘living space’

Leaked documents suggest software fitted to detect if exhaust test being carried out

Angela Merkel calls for a ‘show of strength’ from EU on environment and digitalisation

Democracy campaigner Joshua Wong labels Hong Kong ‘the new Berlin’ on German trip

News comes ahead of snap election and after revelation party broke spending laws

Study suggests Germans feeling unusually chipper after ‘retreat in nearly all worries’

Judge calls men’s tactics, befriending single parents online to get closer to their children, ‘perfidious’

A gripping docudrama on German TV recounts the chancellor’s handling of the refugee crisis

Public selection process is a novelty, and a risk, for Germany’s oldest party

Trump approach is anathema to German chancellor’s level-headed approach to compromise

AfD’s success has reshuffled Germany’s coalition arithmetic for mainstream parties

Panda couple, Meng Meng and Jiao Qing, produce first panda cubs born in Germany

Election shows greater changes are underway in Germany’s wider political system

Exit polls put AfD finishing second with 27.5% in Saxony and 22.5% in Brandenburg

Events held in Poland to mark the 80th anniversary of the start of second World War

One key frustration is the growing fatigue with Merkle and her liberal migration legacy

Most papers sternly opposed to move but more right-leaning outlets more supportive

Proposal would see rent for 100sq m apartment reduced to maximum of €800 a month

Gifted but ruthless engineer built German car maker into a 12-brand empire

New conductor Kirill Petrenko will front free open-air concert – for one night only

Claims obscene postcards to supreme court president were sent by PiS-affiliated judges

Strong consumer spending not enough to counter weakening industrial production

‘Irish peace is European peace,’ says Macron ahead of visit to Paris from British PM

British PM visit fails to dent Brexit deadlock as German support for Ireland appears solid

German newspapers universally scathing of British PM and supportive of Irish concerns

German leader rebuffs UK attempts to make her officially negotiate on EU withdrawal

Federal finance minister enters race amid unpopular coalition and looming recession

Taking stock of dark and light legacy of a first experiment in democracy 100 years on

We are letting the British media make us doubt the strength of Berlin’s support

Far-right party paints itself in poll campaign as heir to protests that brought down wall

Berlin Letter: Forests are a cultural touchstone, so climate change’s effects have hit hard

SPD interim co-leader says party’s ambition is to lead alliance with Left Party and Greens

Petition seeks 20 cent charge per cigarette to be returned on proof butt is not discarded

‘Rainbow disease’ remarks and communist era comparison add to clerics’ anti-LGBTI rhetoric

The 1944 uprising remains a touchstone in Polish cultural memory

Berlin disagrees with Washington’s policy of ‘maximum pressure’ on Iran

Prosecutors in Munich charging Rupert Stadler with a number of offences

Karlsruhe court rules banking union of 2014 does not contradict German law

Suspect, who lived in Switzerland, had no apparent motive for the attack

The 31-year-old German blogger had denied claims that she invented 22 Holocaust victims in her family

Leading magazine could face fine over ‘LGBT-free zone’ sticker in its latest edition

Sebastian Kurz aide brought hard drives to be destroyed at specialist company in Vienna

CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer sworn in as new defence minister

Germany calls crisis summit as Austria threatens further action against motorists

Claims PiS and church ‘directly responsible’ for hooligan attack on regional pride parade

EU-UK withdrawal agreement not up for renegotiation, German chancellor insists

Chancellor surprises everyone with choice to succeed Von der Leyen as defence minister

Kaiser Wilhelm II’s family is fighting with German state for return of valuable property

One critic calls freshly opened James Simon Gallery ‘Berlin’s most expensive cloakroom’

High cost of living in Dublin is only part of the reason why young Irish are giving it a go in Germany’s capital

Over 100 members warn that party in danger of being hijacked by regional chief Björn Höcke

German position ‘justifiable but by no means mandatory’, report says

Conviction of Ali Bashar for rape and murder of 14-year-old sparks fresh round of debate

German chancellor says she is ‘doing fine’ after another shaking spell with Finnish PM

Retail giant faces boycott calls after it fired employee for online comments about gays

All rise for round two in the long-running legal action between Facebook, Max Schrems and the Data Protection Commissioner

Transatlantic channel allows US to spy on EU citizens Data Protection Commission alleges

Data Protection Commissioner action could have major impact on firm’s business model

Irish people based in the sprawling German region offer advice on the CSU visit

Ahead of Irish trip, CSU pledges support for Ireland in all Brexit scenarios

‘Mission accomplished’ says smiling Rory Gallagher fan Steinmeier of Higgins’s visit

Ireland’s new consulate general to open later this year in Frankfurt

Whether for inward investment, exports or tourism, Germany is a top five country for Ireland with potential for much more

Michael D Higgins and Frank-Walter Steinmeier attend Other Voices concert in Berlin

Michael D Higgins on visit to Leipzig says challenges have brought Europe to the brink of change

President meets Angela Merkel and Frank Walter Steinmeier on German state visit

President cites it as proof of ‘strong and enduring’ bilateral relationship

President Higgins meets Angela Merkel and Berlin mayor during second day of state visit

President and Tánaiste Simon Coveney in Germany on three-day state visit

German defence minister (60) is seen as a liberal and reliable pair of hands

Higgins will visit a nation that has come a long way from mere ‘uninformed sympathy’

Any criticism of Berlin’s role in austerity will invite finger-pointing at Irish tax regime

France hits highest-ever temperature of nearly 46 degrees and wildfires rage in Spain

Second bout of public shaking sparks theories of cause and poses dilemma of privacy

Berlin Letter: Isherwood and his partner are being celebrated in the city’s gay museum

Cool rooms and 1,000 water stations supplied by Parisian authorities amid heatwave