Florists in Wolfsburg Germany

Final VW Beetle drives off Mexico factory floor - DW (English)

Mexico, over 21,500,000 had been produced. The final car (above) received a ceremonial sendoff complete with mariachi band. Dubbed "El Rey" ("the king"), the car was sent to VW headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany. VW Beetle through the years Political statement Despite no longer being made, the original Beetle remained popular and recognizable, often linked to 1960s nostalgia. However, it also made a political statement. While holding the post of Uruguay's president from 2010-2015, Jose Mujica continued to use his 1987 Beetle to get around (above). The old car, part of his personal abstention from luxury, cemented his reputation as a humble politician. VW Beetle through the years A place in drivers' hearts The VW entered its third generation in 2012, with the production of a new model in the US. But just six years later VW said it would cease making the car in 2019, instead focusing on electric and family vehicles. VW's CEO left the door open to revive the much beloved Beetle in the future. Until then, however, the iconic car will continue to hold a place in the hearts of old and young alike. Devised under Hitler The first "Beetle," or Käfer in German, was conceived in the 1930s by a design team led by engineer Ferdinand Porsche, tasked by German dictator Adolf Hitler. During the war, VW used slave labor at what became its headquarters Wolfsburg in northern Germany and a href="https://www.volkswagena...https://www.dw.com/en/final-vw-beetle-drives-off-mexico-factory-floor/a-49544177-0

Dortmund crush Hannover 5-1 in German Bundesliga - Xinhua | English.news.cn - Xinhua

Freiburg 4-2 after Andrej Kramaric provided a brace on the road. Bayer Leverkusen returned to winning ways through goals from Kai Havertz, Kevin Volland and Julian Brandt against Wolfsburg. Quaison's second-half winner secured Mainz a 2-1 win over bottom side Nuremberg and Eintracht Frankfurt shared the spoils with Werder Bremen following a two-all draw. The following fixtures conclude the 19th round on Sunday: Bayern Munich face Stuttgart and Fortuna Dusseldorf encounter Leipzig. http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-01/27/c_137777320.htm

Five reasons to be excited about the 2018/19 Bundesliga season

Schalke, runners-up last season, will share that ambition as Domenico Tedesco starts a second campaign in charge with a trip to Wolfsburg. Mouth watering yet? How about getting your teeth into Borussia Dortmund new-look and talent-charged under Lucien Favre - and their home opener against RB Leipzig while Borussia Mönchengladbach play host to Bayer Leverkusen in a Rhine derby? Happy yet? Yes, thought so. Lucien Favre is charged with bringing the good times back to Borussia Dortmund. © imago / Revierfoto 2) Second season success syndromeIt is always hard to follow up success with yet more, but there is no reason to suggest the men who embroidered the colourful narrative of the 2017/18 season will not weave their magic once again. Step forward James Rodriguez. The Colombia international was stunningly reborn at Bayern last term, and in the second 12 months of his two-year loan from Real Madrid, he will seek to be just as impressively influential.Watch: James Rodriguez's stunning debut season in the Bundesliga Tedesco's maiden season at the Veltins Arena was an unqualified success, one that he will want to back up in the same way his former classmate, Julian Nagelsmann, has done at Hoffenheim. With Mark Uth, fresh from his breakthrough Bundesliga season, in the Royal Blues ranks, you would not bet against that happening.Werder Bremen were one of the largest surprise packages of last season with new coach Florian Kohfeldt earning plaudits in his first major role and goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka keeping enough clean sheets to spawn numerous puns about blank Czechs. More should be expected.3) Dugout differencesThere is nothing better than the bright sunshine, luscious pitches and overpowering whiff of optimism that a new season brings. The ambitions of clubs and fans differ, and some have more reason than most to be optimistic. Yes, we're looking at you Bayern! Niko Kovac now holds the reins at the Allianz Arena, but hi...https://www.bundesliga.com/en/news/Bundesliga/james-rodriguez-kovac-favre-josh-sargent-5-reasons-to-be-excited-about-2018-19-509740.jsp

Dortmund crave out 3-2 win over Cologne in German Bundesliga - Xinhua

The following fixtures are scheduled for Saturday: Hertha Berlin host Hoffenheim, Freiburg see Bayer Leverkusen, Schalke face Werder Bremen, Mainz encounter front runners Bayern Munich, Wolfsburg clash with newly promoted Stuttgart and Monchengladbach take on Leipzig. http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-02/03/c_136945777.htm

Green party politician remains most popular head of federal state in Germany: poll - Xinhua | English.news.cn - Xinhua

With an approval rate of 66 percent, Daniel Guenther, Minister President of Schleswig-Holstein, was the second most popular head of a federal state in Germany, followed by Stephan Weil of Lower Saxony who was ranked third with 60 percent. At the bottom of the ranking was Berlin's governing mayor, Michael Mueller (SPD), whose work was only rated positively by 27 percent of people living in the German capital's federal state. Following a big win in the European Parliament elections in May, where the Green party in Germany won 20.5 percent of votes and became second strongest political force, support for the Green party in Germany is at a historic high. According to last week's Trendbarometer, the Greens would gain the same number of votes as the governing conservative union CDU/CSU if elections were to be held. With regards to a first Green German chancellor, Winfried Kretschmann recently told the Funke Media Group that a German government led by the Greens would not involve a radical change of policy. "Nobody needs to be afraid of a Green Chancellor. We are not trumps or Erdogans or Orbans who throw everything overboard," Kretschmann told the German newspapers. The head of Baden-Wuerttemberg noted that he did not see "big differences" in alliances with the CDU/CSU and the SPD. "In socio-political issues, we make progress with the social democrats, in economic policy with the CDU/CSU". http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-07/16/c_138229413.htm

Berlin moves to greatly reduce ‘solidarity tax’ for eastern Germany - Euronews

The bill, proposed by the finance minister from Angela Merkel’s CDU party, has been encouraged with support from the CDU’s coalition partner the SPD.The Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, Stephan Weil, said: "It is absolutely time to noticeably reduce the burden on small and medium incomes by abolishing the solidarity surcharge."Weil also thinks it's good that 10% of Germans should continue to pay the solidarity surcharge. "Nobody would understand, however, if the highest incomes in Germany were now to be rewarded with tax gifts totalling around eleven billion euros. We'd better invest this money in education and climate protection."Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel, parliamentary party and state leader of the SPD in Hesse, also supports Scholz.What is the Soli tax?The solidarity surcharge was introduced in 1991, to help reconstruction of the east following the reunification of Germany in the wake of the fall of the Berlin Wall.The tax was originally supposed to be in place only for a limited time but became permanent in 1995.Initially, the solidarity rate was 7.5%, but since 1995 it has been 5.5%. In addition, the surcharge has been unlimited since 1995.Contrary to some assumptions, taxpayers in the west and east have to pay the tax.According to the Ministry of Finance, in 2018 the German state received €18.9 billion as a result.Criticism of the billAccording to the Ministry of Finance, single people with an annual gross income of up to €73,874 would not have to pay anything. From €109,451 gross annual wages, the full supplement would have to be paid.Accordingly, a family with two children and an annual income of €221,375 or more...https://www.euronews.com/2019/08/13/berlin-moves-to-greatly-reduce-solidarity-tax-for-eastern-germany

The German European: how Ursula von der Leyen rose to become EU president - New Statesman

Chancellor Angela Merkel, for one, is a fan. Merkel brought von der Leyen into her first cabinet in 2005, just two years after the latter became a minister in the state of Lower Saxony. In fact, for a while Merkel appeared to be grooming von der Leyen as her successor. (Merkel’s actual chosen successor and CDU party leader, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, will take over at the defence ministry.) But von der Leyen never truly had enough allies in her own party to succeed Merkel in the Chancellery, perhaps because she was always something of an outsider, personally and ideologically. She joined the CDU at the relatively late age of 32 and spent years working as a doctor and taking care of her family before her rapid rise as a member of Merkel’s team. That’s not to say von der Leyen is especially popular with Germany’s other major parties. All of the Social Democratic MEPs broke with their European colleagues to reject von der Leyen in the confirmation vote. The German SPD even distributed a letter in Brussels stating that she was an “inadequate and inappropriate candidate”. The Greens in Europe — the party is surging in Germany and could take over the Chancellery at the next election — also whipped to vote against von der Leyen, though their opposition is not all personal, but rather due to the fact that she is not a Spitzenkandidat (the lead candidate put forward by each parliamentary bloc in the European elections). The German public are not fans either. According to the most recent SPON poll, 68 per cent are unsatisfied with her work as defence minister. Defence minister is a tough job, but that’s a strikingly poor number. Nevertheless, many Germans are pleased that one of their countrymen — or rather women — will head the European Commission for the first time in 50 years. Putting a German face on the EU could improve the Commission’s messaging towards Europe’s biggest member state. span id="docs-internal-guid-36c63774-7fff-ea93-5b1d-71...https://www.newstatesman.com/world/europe/2019/07/german-european-how-ursula-von-der-leyen-rose-become-eu-president

Germany’s Landesbanken still seeking clean bill of health - Financial Times

One public sector bank yet to be given a clean bill of health is Hanover-based NordLB, a lender with €160bn in assets majority-owned by the German states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt with regional Sparkassen holding a minority stake of 35 per cent.The bank, weighed down by a vast portfolio of non-performing shipping loans, expects that it will be singled out as the weakest link in Germany’s banking system in the European Banking Authority’s stress test on Friday. “That would not be a surprise,” NordLB told the Financial Times. The lender has started to woo new investors in an attempt to raise fresh capital of about €3.5bn, with the state of Lower-Saxony standing ready to pitch in taxpayers’ money alongside external investors. Six potential bidders are conducting due diligence and have until November 28 to decide if they will table a binding offer. Among the suitors is Landesbank peer Helaba, as well as listed rival Commerzbank, private equity funds Cerberus and three other PE investors, said a person familiar with the process. “I am glad that we have different options and am open for several different scenarios,” Lower Saxony’s finance minister Reinhold Hilbers told the FT, adding that a deal with a different Landesbank as well as one with private investors was on the ca...https://www.ft.com/content/d7d380cc-dcdb-11e8-9f04-38d397e6661c