Germany today (Sun 1 Nov): Inflation falls to 2.8% in October, deadlines to note before the end of November, Gen Z protests in 34 cities, the Klassiker ends 2-2

Good morning! Here's your German news for Sunday, 1 November. It's All Saints' Day, so five states including Bavaria and NRW have a holiday — but as it's a Sunday, everything is back to normal tomorrow. A few deadlines are coming up this month, so don't skip item three.

1. [Politics] Gen Z protests spread to 34 cities — about 5,000 in Berlin, police say

• Nationwide protests on Saturday 31 October — the online group "Gen Z regelt" called rallies in 34 cities, according to the organisers. When we previewed it last Monday it was 23 cities
• About 5,000 at the Brandenburg Gate — that's the police estimate; the organisers said more than 10,000
• What they want — more money for education, lower living costs and no return of compulsory military service (Wehrpflicht)
• Largely calm in Berlin — police reported small problems such as pyrotechnics, but said the rally went off mostly peacefully. Some shops on Kurfürstendamm and Unter den Linden had boarded up their windows beforehand
• What it means for you — school and university students and young workers took to the streets together over prices, education and conscription. Worth watching how it feeds into the government's debate on military service and the budget

Source: aljazeera.com · euronews.com · zdfheute.de

2. [Economy] Inflation falls to 2.8% in October, down from 3.3%

• Flash estimate on 30 October — consumer prices were 2.8% higher than a year earlier, says the Federal Statistical Office. In September the rate was 3.3%. Compared with September, prices actually fell 0.2%
• Energy still up 12.2% — a little less than in September (14.9%), but still high. Food prices rose just 0.4%
• Core inflation at 2.1% — that's prices without energy and food. Services cost 2.5% more
• The fuel discount helped — experts credit the "Tankrabatt", the lower energy tax on petrol and diesel for October to December. Commerzbank's chief economist expects inflation to climb back above 3% around the turn of the year
• What it means for you — final figures come on 11 November. The fuel discount ends on 31 December, so expect fuel prices to rise again in January

Federal Statistical Office, flash estimate of 30 October

Source: destatis.de · t-online.de

3. [Society] Your November to-do list — new rules for small loans and three deadlines

• From 20 November: lending rules for small loans and "buy now, pay later" — loans up to €200, interest-free instalments and pay-later services now fall under consumer credit law. Lenders must check that you can repay and give you more information up front
• You can ask for a human — if a computer decided automatically on your loan, you can ask for a person to review it
• By 30 November: confirm your Deutschlandticket — the price rises from €63 to €66.80 a month in January, so existing subscribers must actively agree, in the DB Navigator app or their subscription portal. If you don't, the subscription ends on 31 December (you can reactivate it later). If you ordered on or after 15 October, there's nothing to do
• By 30 November: switching car insurance — to change on 1 January, your cancellation must reach your insurer by 30 November. The postmark doesn't count
• 29 November: Euro 7 starts — for newly type-approved car models first. Cars already on the road are not affected and need no retrofit

Date	What	To do
20 Nov	Credit rules for small loans and pay-later	Check the terms before paying in instalments
29 Nov	Euro 7 starts (new models)	Nothing for existing cars
30 Nov	Deutschlandticket confirmation deadline	Click "agree" in the app or portal
30 Nov	Car insurance cancellation deadline	Make sure your letter arrives in time

Source: berliner-kurier.de · techbook.de · finanzen.net

4. [Culture] 100 years today — Günter de Bruyn, who wrote about both East and united Germany

• Born in Berlin on 1 November 1926 — he died in 2020. Today is his 100th birthday
• Best-known books — the novels "Buridans Esel" (1968) and "Märkische Forschungen" (1978), and his memoirs "Zwischenbilanz" (1992) and "Vierzig Jahre" (1996)
• He turned down the GDR's National Prize in October 1989 — just a month before the Berlin Wall fell
• A writer of the Brandenburg woods — from the late 1960s he lived and wrote in a remote former sheep farm, the "Blabberschäferei" near Görsdorf, close to Beeskow. His foundation now uses it for writers' residencies
• A year of celebrations — Brandenburg opened a jubilee year in April with readings and exhibitions in Potsdam, Beeskow, Görsdorf and other places. For the centenary, S. Fischer has published "Die neue Mittagsgöttin", the last novel he completed in his lifetime — a story set in late-19th-century Berlin and the Spreewald

Source: mwfk.brandenburg.de · wikipedia.org · perlentaucher.de

5. [Arts] Munich's new "Siegfried" — a child forges the sword with a toaster and a chainsaw

• Premiere on 29 October at the Bavarian State Opera — director Tobias Kratzer staged "Siegfried", the third opera of Wagner's Ring cycle. Vladimir Jurowski conducts
• Siegfried starts as a child — a child actor (Felix Fröbel) plays him at first, while tenor Benjamin Bruns sings from the edge of the stage. Matthias Klink is Mime
• Grater, frying pan, toaster, chainsaw — that's what the child uses to forge the sword Nothung. The staging reads art as the release of a child's creativity
• Mostly good reviews — the FAZ clearly enjoyed the idea; the SZ found the child "takes some getting used to" but called it a very classic production overall
• More performances — today (1 Nov) and on 4, 7 and 10 November. It runs about 5½ hours (today's performance starts at 4 pm), sung in German with German and English surtitles

Source: bachtrack.com · perlentaucher.de (FAZ and SZ reviews)

6. [Entertainment] Stuttgart DJ Bunt. tops the German album chart with his debut

• "Levi Did It" enters at No. 1 — the first full album by DJ and producer Bunt. went straight to the top of the official German album chart published on 30 October. The 15-track album came out on 23 October
• From bookkeeping to arenas — the 30-year-old from Stuttgart used to work in bookkeeping. His TikTok hit "Clouds" took him onto stages around the world
• A German band at No. 2 too — medieval rock band In Extremo enter at No. 2 with "Tranquilo II", and Philipp Poisel's "Gute Zeiten" is a new entry at No. 6
• Same No. 1 single — Tate McRae's "Housewife" stays on top for another week
• What it means for you — Bunt. makes "folktronica", a mix of folk and electronic music, mostly with English lyrics — proof that German pop isn't always in German

Source: offiziellecharts.de · volksstimme.de (dpa) · edmtunes.com

7. [Sports] The Klassiker ends 2-2 — Kane hits the bar from the spot, Dortmund level in the 89th minute

• Saturday 31 October in Munich, 75,000, sold out — the top-of-the-table game we previewed yesterday ended Bayern 2, Dortmund 2
• Goals — Konrad Laimer 38' (Bayern), Serhou Guirassy 60' (Dortmund), Dayot Upamecano 66' (Bayern), substitute Fábio Silva 89' (Dortmund)
• Kane misses a penalty on 56 minutes — his shot hit the crossbar. It was the chance to make it 2-0
• Still level at the top — both teams are unbeaten after eight games (five wins, three draws) and level on points; Bayern stay first
• Bellingham's goal ruled out — Dortmund's 34th-minute goal was disallowed after a VAR check for a foul

Source: fcbayern.com · zdfheute.de · theanalyst.com

Weather

City	Mon 2	Tue 3	Wed 4
Berlin	☁️ 9° / 6° cloudy	🌦️ 10° / 4° showers	🌤️ 9° / 3° some sun
Hamburg	🌧️ 9° / 8° light rain	⛅ 10° / 5° mostly cloudy	🌤️ 10° / 3° some sun
Munich	☁️ 6° / 0° cloudy	🌬️ 6° / 2° cloudy, windy	🌬️ 6° / 2° cloudy, windy
Cologne	🌧️ 10° / 8° light rain	⛅ 11° / 6° mostly cloudy	🌤️ 11° / 4° some sun
Frankfurt	🌤️ 10° / 1° some sun	☁️ 8° / 3° cloudy	🌬️ 9° / 2° some sun, windy

Tip: rain in Hamburg and Cologne on Monday and in Berlin on Tuesday. Munich is the coldest, with highs of 6 °C all three days and 0 °C on Monday night. High pressure brings morning fog and frost, so if you drive, allow ten extra minutes to scrape the windscreen. (Forecast: wetter.com; Berlin checked against wetter.net)

German from today's news

Word	Meaning	Example from the news
die Kundgebung	rally	Tausende kamen zur Kundgebung am Brandenburger Tor.
die Inflationsrate	inflation rate	Die Inflationsrate ist im Oktober auf 2,8 Prozent gesunken.
die Frist	deadline	Die Frist endet am 30. November.
die Kündigung	cancellation (of a contract)	Die Kündigung muss rechtzeitig ankommen.
das Unentschieden	draw	Der Klassiker endet mit einem Unentschieden.
der Elfmeter	penalty	Kane verschießt einen Elfmeter.

Put those deadlines in your calendar — and enjoy a quiet Sunday. Einen schönen Sonntag! 🇩🇪