Germany - Deutschland, but in English

(...) Popow's travels have led him to believe that countries that do well at the Paralympics usually do well with the inclusivity of the disabled back at home. Germany finished a disappointing 11th in the 2024 Paralympics medals table. Popow believes he has a clue why.

"Grassroot sports in Germany are not improving the way they need to improve," he told DW. Federal government research in 2022 suggested more than half of disabled people in Germany avoided sports. Part of the reason could be that 90% of all playing fields and gymnasiums were not barrier-free. Meanwhile, insurance companies often do not cover medical devices for sports.

"I feel the government and insurers can save a lot of money if they realize paying for disabled sports is better than the bill from a pharmacy. Sports is the best medicine.

"I do running clinics, and I see activity all over the world. The Netherlands is doing a great job. It is the size of the German state of North Rhine Westfalia, and it is more successful than our whole country." The Netherlands was 4th in the 2024 Paralympics medal table. (...)

We meet Mahbuba Maqsoodi in her Munich studio, sitting among sketches and colorful mockup drawings. One of this year's special Christmas postage stamps issued in Germany features one of her artworks. "I'm happy. I feel honored.," she told DW.

Maqsoodi says that while making art, she "always tries to stimulate ideas and encourage the viewer towards contemplation, and also reflection, to move them. In this case, with respect to the subject of birth. It would be nice if this stamp made people think about this heavenly light again."

She was unaware that she is the first female artist ever be chosen for the special Christmas stamp — and that it is also the first contemporary artwork to be featured.

In fact, since the German postal service Deutsche Post began issuing Christmas stamps in 1969, they have never printed an image by a living contemporary artist, nor an artwork by a woman. So this is a milestone in both respects.

(...)

Hello, I’ll go to Germany by car next weekend. I have bought the green badge (edit : Umweltplakette) that should be applied on the windshield. The badge has been purchased with the details of the vehicle (license plate, VIN,…).

Question : since I probably won’t go to Germany again in the coming years, can I paste the vignette onto some transparent plastic sheet and paste the plastic on the windshield ? So that I can remove it after my trip, and put it again in a few years for the next visit ? I don’t want to reduce the visibility because of another vignette. I already have the French CritAir, the Swiss, … my windshield starts to looks like those laptops full of stickers.

What’s the risk ? Since I have the vignette legally paid ?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/22000990

This is nice, but sorry, what colour did you say it was 😂

On November 1, Germany introduces a law making it easier to alter the gender marker and name on official documents. Transgender, intersex, non-binary people have welcomed the move but conservatives are opposed.

The discovery of a World War II-era bomb forced the partial evacuation of the Sternschanze nightlife district in the German city of Hamburg late Saturday.

More than 5,000 people were evacuated to safety from the 300-meter (984-foot) exclusion zone, fire officials said. Police also cleared restaurants and bars in the area.

Residents within a 500-meter warning radius were told not to stay outside, to keep windows and doors closed, and to move to rooms away from the danger zone.

Shortly after midnight local time (2200 GMT Saturday), the fire department, which had been called in for a major operation, said on social media that the bomb had been defused.

The discovery of the bomb also disrupted rail traffic, as the Sternschanze S-Bahn station, which is particularly busy on weekends, was also in the evacuated area.

Early Sunday, Hamburg police said the fire department's measures were gradually being lifted.

The bomb was found during construction work on the grounds of a primary school.

According to a final statement from the fire department, the defusing itself took only about 30 minutes and went without complications.

Germany is accustomed to finding unexploded World War II munitions from Allied and Soviet bombing campaigns. Most are defused without incident by bomb disposal experts.

On Saturday, a World War II-era bomb in Cologne prompted a massive evacuation. After the evacuation of numerous residential buildings and several clinics in the city, the US bomb discovered on Wednesday was detonated in a controlled manner.

Another National Holiday is right around the corner and of course most shops will be closed. Don't forget to do your grocery shopping or you will have to go the more expensive alternatives: gas stations, shops at railway stations and so on...

This year the special festivities will be held in Schwerin. If you're intested you'll find more info on their official website.