Germany today (Sun 8 Nov): Frankfurt–Würzburg line shut for 5 weeks from tomorrow — ICE ~45 min longer, the BND could secretly enter homes, economic experts' report on Wednesday, Bayern and BVB level on 21 points

Good morning! Here's your German news for Sunday, 8 November. From tomorrow the rail line between Frankfurt and Würzburg is closed for five weeks. If you're planning to head south by train, don't miss item 3.

1. [Politics] Could the BND secretly enter homes? — the coalition's plans for the intelligence services law

• Reported on Sat 7 Nov — the CDU/CSU and the SPD have agreed in the Bundestag on amendments to the reform of the intelligence services law, according to the AFP and dts news agencies
• Secret entry into homes — the foreign intelligence service, the BND (Bundesnachrichtendienst), would be allowed to secretly enter homes, including in Germany, to prepare or carry out surveillance. For a home in Germany, or the home of a German citizen abroad, it would need a separate order, checked in advance by an independent oversight body
• Keeping communications data — the BND and the domestic intelligence service, the BfV (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz), could order telecoms and internet companies not to delete connection data they already hold for a while — usually up to three months for the BND. To actually see the data, they'd have to make a separate request
• Why? — foreign governments and extremists are increasingly paying criminals to do their dirty work, as "errand boys". So the BfV is also to be allowed to watch these organised crime groups
• What it means for you — this isn't law yet, and no date has been set for the vote. Privacy matters a lot in Germany, so expect a big debate

Source: yahoo.de (AFP) · mittelstand-nachrichten.de (dts)

2. [Economy] On Wednesday the "economic wise men" hand Chancellor Merz their annual report

• Wed 11 Nov — the German Council of Economic Experts (Sachverständigenrat), which advises the government and is often called "the economic wise men" (die Wirtschaftsweisen), presents its 2026/27 annual report (Jahresgutachten)
• At the Chancellery — Chancellor Friedrich Merz will receive it in person, and the council's chair, Monika Schnitzer, is due to speak
• The May forecast — the experts expected the economy to grow by 0.5% this year, down from 0.9% in their forecast last autumn. For 2027 they forecast 0.8%
• Prices too — the spring report expected inflation of 3.0% this year and 2.8% next year, because of energy prices linked to the Iran war
• What it means for you — the report is the starting point for debates on jobs, prices and tax policy. The new growth figure will be on the news on Wednesday evening

A new forecast comes out on Wednesday (11 Nov)

Source: bundeskanzler.de · finanznachrichten.de · lebensmittelpraxis.de · deutsche-handwerks-zeitung.de

3. [Society] From tomorrow: five weeks of rail works between Frankfurt and Würzburg

• Mon 9 Nov to Sat 12 Dec — the line between Gemünden (Main) and Aschaffenburg Hbf is fully closed. Deutsche Bahn (DB) is bundling its building works into one block
• Long-distance trains take a detour — ICE and IC trains between Hanau and Würzburg are diverted and take about 45 minutes longer. Frankfurt–Nuremberg keeps running once an hour; some other trains are cancelled
• Buses instead of regional trains — replacement buses (Schienenersatzverkehr) run instead of the RB 79, RE 54 and RE 55: an express bus stopping only in Lohr and a bus stopping at every station, each once an hour
• What's being done? — more than 40 km of track renewed, more than 500 sleepers replaced and 500 m of noise barriers built, at a cost of over €23 million
• What it means for you — if you're travelling from Frankfurt towards Würzburg, Nuremberg or Munich before mid-December, check your times again in the DB Navigator app before you set off

Source: deutschebahn.com · eisenbahn.de

4. [Culture] "Monaco Franze" star Helmut Fischer at 100 — a photo exhibition in Munich and a BR special

• His 100th birthday is on 15 Nov — actor Helmut Fischer, much loved for the 1983 BR series "Monaco Franze", was born on 15 November 1926
• Exhibition opened Sat 7 Nov — "Monaco Franze 100" is on at the Bergson Kunstkraftwerk in Munich-Aubing
• Filming locations then and now — photographer Michael von Hassel shows scenes from the series side by side with the same places today. He tracked down more than 200 locations
• On BR on Sat 14 Nov at 20:15 — episodes 1 and 7, followed at 21:55 by the 1991 two-part film "Der Unschuldsengel"
• What it means for you — the series is full of Munich dialect and humour. If you live in Munich, it's fun to go and find the neighbourhoods you see on screen

Source: sonntagsblatt.de (epd) · abendzeitung-muenchen.de · wunschliste.de

5. [Arts] The 75th Mannheim-Heidelberg film festival — awards on Thursday

• 5–15 Nov — the International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg (IFFMH) is taking place for the 75th time
• Awards on Thu 12 Nov — at the Karlstorbahnhof in Heidelberg, the festival's own prizes are presented together with the German Documentary Film Award (Deutscher Dokumentarfilmpreis)
• The prize money — €20,000 for the main documentary award, €5,000 for the music film award and €3,000 for the newcomer award (Förderpreis)
• What it means for you — festival tickets are on sale at iffmh.de. If you live near Mannheim or Heidelberg, catch one of the screenings left before the weekend

Source: mvp.de · wochenblatt-reporter.de · echo24.de

6. [Entertainment] One lie, a lot of chaos — Jannik Schümann's new comedy "Jossi"

• Thu 12 Nov, 21:00 on ARTE — the six-part comedy series "Jossi" starts. It's on arte.tv from the same day
• Fri 13 Nov in the ARD Mediathek — it also goes up on the public broadcaster ARD's streaming site. Each episode is about 30 minutes
• The story — Wanja, an unknown actor played by Jannik Schümann, claims to be Jewish to land a film role. One lie and misunderstanding follows another. Nilam Farooq is in it too
• What it means for you — it's public TV, so it's free. At 30 minutes an episode, it's great listening practice with German subtitles on

Source: serienjunkies.de · wochenblatt-reporter.de · presseportal.de (ARD)

7. [Sports] Bayern and Dortmund both win 2-1 — level on 21 points

• Sat 7 Nov, Bundesliga matchday 9 — Bayern won 2-1 away at Mainz. Kimmich (14') and Lennart Karl (57') scored, both set up by Kane
• Dortmund 2-1 too — against Elversberg, with two goals from Felix Nmecha (55', 71'). Dortmund are still unbeaten
• Other results — Leipzig 5-2 Augsburg, Paderborn 2-2 Frankfurt (Burkardt equalised in stoppage time), Stuttgart 1-0 Bremen
• Today — 15:30 Cologne v Leverkusen, the "Rhine derby"; 17:30 Freiburg v Union Berlin; 19:30 Hoffenheim v Schalke
• International break next week — Klopp's national team play Serbia away on Fri 13 Nov and the Netherlands at Berlin's Olympic Stadium on Mon 16 Nov in the Nations League

Bayern top on goal difference · Freiburg still play today

Source: bundesliga.com · hessenschau.de · zdfheute.de

Weather

City	Mon 9 Nov	Tue 10 Nov	Wed 11 Nov
Berlin	☁️ 7° / 1° cloudy, mostly dry	🌤️ 7° / 1° sunny spells	🌧️ 5° / 3° light rain at times
Hamburg	⛅ 8° / 4° mostly cloudy	☁️ 5° / 3° cloudy	☁️ 5° / 3° cloudy and dry
Munich	🌦️ 9° / 2° light rain at times	🌧️ 10° / 7° rain	🌦️ 11° / 6° cloudy, rain at times
Cologne	🌤️ 9° / 2° sunny spells	☁️ 6° / 1° mostly cloudy	🌧️ 10° / 5° rain at times
Frankfurt	⛅ 9° / 3° mostly cloudy	☁️ 6° / 3° cloudy	🌦️ 10° / 6° light rain at times

Tip: On Monday morning there'll be thick fog in places, and frost is possible in the east and south. If you're driving, allow extra time and watch out for ice on bridges. Munich gets a lot of rain on Tuesday, and if you're going to the start of the Cologne carnival season on Wednesday (11.11), take a rain jacket. (Forecast: wetter.com; Berlin checked with wetter.net and wetter.de; DWD situation report)

German from today's news

Word	Meaning	Example from the news
die Sperrung	closure (of a road or rail line)	Die Sperrung dauert bis zum 12. Dezember.
der Umweg	detour	Die ICE-Züge fahren einen Umweg.
der Geheimdienst	intelligence service	Der Geheimdienst soll neue Befugnisse bekommen.
das Gutachten	(expert) report	Die Wirtschaftsweisen legen am Mittwoch ihr Gutachten vor.
der Drehort	filming location	Viele Drehorte sehen heute ganz anders aus.
die Folge	episode	Die Serie hat sechs Folgen.

Have a cosy Sunday afternoon, and watch out for fog tomorrow morning. Schönen Sonntag! 🇩🇪