This is a roundup, not a single story, and the roundup format is the point. Friday September 25, 2026 in Germany was a day of institutional recalibration across multiple fronts — each item small on its own, collectively revealing a country negotiating its power structures, industrial base, historical memory, and regulatory posture simultaneously. In Berlin, the Left Party's 25.7% state election victory has produced a mandate to explore a three-party coalition with the Greens (14.3%) and SPD (12.1%). Delegates approved exploratory talks by a large majority. SPD leader Steffen Krach hedged carefully: talks do not automatically mean negotiations. The math is clarifying — only three-party alliances can command a majority, and the incumbent CDU-SPD coalition no longer has the numbers. The CDU came second at 18.8%, the AfD third at 16.3%. BASF, Germany's largest chemicals company and a DAX-listed industrial giant, has approached Evonik — the country's second-largest chemicals firm, MDAX-listed and predominantly owned by the RAG Foundation — about a voluntary takeover of all shares. Evonik confirmed prior reports from Dealreporter and the Financial Times but said talks were not currently taking place. If completed, the deal would consolidate Germany's top two chemicals companies and require German and EU competition authority approval. Evonik is also the longtime sponsor of Borussia Dortmund, having served as primary jersey sponsor until Vodafone took over in June 2025. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius traveled to Budapest for what he called a "restart" of German-Hungarian military relations. New Hungarian PM Peter Magyar has campaigned on resetting ties with Brussels, Kyiv, and NATO after the Orban era's Russia-friendly posture. Hungarian Defense Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi declared: "We will be allies again." Pistorius also visited the Dohany Street Synagogue, Europe's largest, seating some 3,000 people. The Bundesrat passed a law shifting e-scooter accident liability from individual renters to the companies that rent them out. The reform targets a practical enforcement gap: renters are often minors covered by family liability insurance, but tracking them down for compensation claims is frequently impossible, especially when scooters are anonymously hired. The law also covers grey areas like pedestrians injured by illegally parked scooters. E-scooters are currently treated like bicycles, not motor vehicles, with less stringent insurance requirements. The most revealing story may be the smallest. In Heidenau, near Dresden, the CDU and AfD voted together to ban new Stolpersteine — the brass memorial plaques embedded in sidewalks bearing the names of Holocaust victims. The stated rationale: passersby "walk over or even step onto the names of the victims." The city administration opposed the motion. The International Auschwitz Committee called CDU participation "scandalous," describing it as "a transparent and despicable attempt to drive Nazi victims in Heidenau out of the city once again." The vote directly tests the political firewall that mainstream German parties have pledged to maintain against the far right. Volkswagen and its subsidiary Audi are recalling nearly one million vehicles in Germany due to steering problems. Former Hamburg SV captain Peter Nogly, who led the club to Bundesliga, German Cup, and European Cup Winners' Cup titles in the late 1970s, died aged 79 after a long illness. He played 320 Bundesliga matches, captained the club 122 times, and was never sent off.
