The auctioneer’s hammer comes down with a loud rap as a black bust of Adolf Hitler changes hands for €2 400. ”Going for the third and last time,” the auctioneer calls as a lipstick that once belonged to Eva Braun, Hitler’s partner whom he married just before they committed suicide, goes for €1 100.
Michael Schumacher can look forward to noisy support from his loyal home fans at this weekend’s German Grand Prix — and not much else. A victory seems out of reach for the seven-time Formula One champion and his underachieving Ferrari team.
In one of the most sensational archaeological discoveries in Germany, four papal seals dating back 600 years have been uncovered from a medieval toilet shaft in the northeastern city of Greifswald, officials said on Thursday. The four round seals cast in lead date to the papacy of Pope Bonifatius IX (1389-1404).
Europeans have been invited to throw themselves into the river on Sunday for their first ”Big Jump,” a day called to advocate clean and living waterways through public awareness events across 12 European Union countries.
German police, called to a house early on Sunday because of complaints about noise, were taken aback to be welcomed as eagerly expected male strippers. Two officers were greeted by a group of women with cries of "Are the strippers here at last?" when they visited the premises in the north-western port city of Bremen.
Lance Armstrong rarely gets upset. But it was clear ahead of this weekend’s potentially dangerous eighth and ninth stages of the Tour de France that the American doesn’t appreciate too much attention going to his rivals for the yellow jersey. Robbie McEwen picked up 35 points for his win on Friday.
A German teenager confessed on the first day of his trial on Tuesday to creating the internet Sasser worm that waylaid millions of computers around the globe last year, a court official said. The Sasser worm had struck on May 1 and in less than a week hit thousands of companies and as many as 18-million computers worldwide.
A bribery scandal looked set to snowball at German car giant Volkswagen (VW) on Friday in what threatens to deal a fresh blow to the image of Europe’s biggest car maker just as it is beginning to steer itself out a long crisis. The burgeoning scandal was triggered by the shock resignation two weeks ago of the personnel chief at VW’s Czech arm.
Fifa is to consider using an electronic microchip in balls at the 2006 World Cup finals if experiments prove successful, Fifa president Sepp Blatter said on Monday.
The microchip, which is supposed to confirm whether or not a ball has crossed the goal line, is being tested at the under-17 world championship in Peru later this year.
With 12 months to go until the 2006 World Cup, football fans will have an early taste of what to expect when the Confederations Cup starts in Germany on Wednesday. For Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann’s team and the World Cup organising committee the competition serves as a dress rehearsal for the main event.
About 40 000 prostitutes will offer their services to football fans at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, according to experts. Cologne and Dortmund, two of the host cities for the World Cup, have even erected a number of wooden ”sex huts” for the football showpiece, with condoms and showers at hand.
Newly crowned French Open champion Rafael Nadal was brought down to earth in Germany on Wednesday losing his first match of the season on grass to lowly ranked German Alexander Waske. Doubles specialist Waske won 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, ending a 24-match unbeaten run from the 19-year-old Spaniard.
A German court on Tuesday quashed the hopes of a group of naturists who wanted to cycle along the Rhine river wearing nothing more than a smile. The group of 12 naturists was planning to cycle along the Rhine in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg on Saturday as part of what it was dubbing "World Nude Cycling Day".
A German woman was astonished to find deutschemark banknotes and account savings books worth €100 000 (R821 000) tucked in the lining of an old washing basket she bought at a flea market. The woman, from Bavaria, bought the basket for just €7 (R57),
World number one Roger Federer had a tough test against Sweden’s Robin Soderling in the first round of the ATP grasscourt tournament here on Tuesday before triumphing 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 6-4. Federer however, far from being unhappy, said the close game as he builds up for the defence of his Wimbledon title stood him in good stead for the rest of the tournament.
Police in Germany said on Monday they stopped a vehicle on suspicion that it was being driven by a human skeleton — only to find out that no traffic laws were violated. The life-sized durable plastic skeleton — wearing only a pair of sunglasses over the eyeball sockets — was sitting in the left front seat.
German football bosses go into the final year of preparations for the 2006 World Cup knowing only the final polish needs to be added to the 12 hosting stadiums. ”We now have the best infrastructure for football in the world,” said Wolfgang Niersbach, vice-president of the 2006 World Cup Organising Committee.
Archaeologists have discovered the skeletons of a lord and his retainers in a burial mound at Germany’s most celebrated Bronze Age site. An archaeologist said the intact, 4 200-year-old mound was one of at least eight ”barrows” within view of the ancient site that yielded the 3 600-year-old Nebra celestial disc.
The spectacular crash suffered by McLaren’s world championship challenger Kimi Raikkonen in the European Grand Prix has sparked safety concerns over the tyres used in formula one. New rules have stopped teams from changing tyres during the race unless they are deemed to be in dangerous condition.
Brazilian Rubens Barrichello seized a rare podium finish on Sunday for Ferrari in this disappointing season for the once-serial champions and then predicted a revival in fortunes for formula one’s most famous stable. The Brazilian came home behind the victorious Fernando Alonso after an exciting finish to the European Grand Prix.
BMW motor-sport director Mario Theissen insisted at Nürburgring on Saturday that the German company expects to stay with Williams beyond the end of this season despite persistent rumours to the contrary. Williams look set to be forced to share their engine supply with Sauber next season.
The 2006 World Cup football finals in Germany will be surrounded by draconian security measures, but organisers are determined not to spoil the occasion for the fans, German Interior Minister Otto Schily said on Wednesday. ”We have a gigantic task to fulfil,” Schily told a meeting of Germany’s 16 regional interior ministers.
Bad news continued to pile up for Germany and its beleaguered Chancellor Gerhard Schröder on Tuesday, as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development slashed its growth forecasts and investor confidence slid on concerns that a global slowdown could bring the stuttering German economy to a standstill.
German internet security experts declared victory on Monday in a bid to head off a computer virus before it spreads through millions of personal computers worldwide. Sober.P is the computer worm that sent neo-Nazi German-language e-mails on to hundreds of thousands of computers last week.
A husband told police he slept in the same bed with the body of his wife for a year after she died — because he ”did not want to part with her” even after death. Frankfurt police on Friday said the man said his wife had sent him out on a shopping errand last May and that he returned to find her dead.
A German woman in her 80s said on Tuesday she has been ordered by her pension fund to produce a certificate to prove she is still alive. Martha Kruse telephoned the Bundesknappschaft fund after her payments were suddenly stopped, only to be told by an employee: "Don’t get upset, but you died on January 28."
Top-ranked Roger Federer beat French teenager Richard Gasquet 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (4) on Sunday to defend his Hamburg Masters title and collect his tour-leading sixth championship of the year. By avenging one of only two losses this year, Federer stretched an Open-era record — he has now won 19 consecutive finals.
Australian Open champion Marat Safin became embroiled in an argument with an old friend and the umpire before crashing out of the second round of the Masters Series in Hamburg on Wednesday. The volatile Russian lost 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 to Juan Carlos Ferrero, the former French Open champion from Spain.
Defending champion and top-ranked Roger Federer cruised into the third round of the Hamburg Masters and avenged his Olympic defeat by beating Tomas Berdych 6-2, 6-1 on Wednesday. In his first tournament following a three-week break to rest inflammation in both feet, Federer will next meet Tommy Robredo.
Andre Agassi’s attempts to turn himself into a contender for the French Open once again failed to convince as he fell at the first hurdle of his last build-up tournament at the Hamburg Masters on Tuesday. Earlier, David Nalbandian slipped to a surprise defeat on the second day of the Masters Series.
A German who stabbed and dismembered his gay lover, stored some of his organs in the fridge to eat later and fed other body parts to his cat was sentenced to 13 years in prison on Tuesday. The case has drawn comparisons with a cannibal trial that intrigued and appalled Germany last year.
Top-ranked Roger Federer won his first match after a three-week injury layoff, but some of his main challengers at the Hamburg Masters left the tournament on Monday. Second-seeded Andy Roddick was upset in the opening round by Nicolas Massu of Chile; Rafael Nadal pulled out; and Carlos Moya withdrew, citing a shoulder injury.