1. The dilapidated state of the infrastructure is the main reason for Deutsche Bahn's losses
The Germans' relationship to the railway as a means of transport has obsessive traits that are characterized by a lot of indignation, but also by a certain respect. Today Deutsche Bahn announced that it made a loss of 2.4 billion euros in 2023.
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ICE of Deutsche Bahn
Photo: Robert Michael / dpa
Will there therefore be an uprising by train users against the company's board of directors? Hardly likely. “If the Germans want to storm a train station, they buy a platform ticket first,” Russian revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Lenin is said to have sneered. Platform cards have been abolished, but the Germans have long been so familiar with the dilapidated state of Deutsche Bahn that they almost ritually complain about cancellations, delays and other grievances, but they tend to treat those economically and politically responsible with care.
The train is incredibly popular. The group's loss occurred even though customers completed a total of 1.8 billion trips last year. That is 5.8 percent more than in 2022. At that time, the railway only made a loss of 0.2 billion euros. What are the reasons for the poor result? The company reports the high costs for construction, energy and personnel, increased interest rates and ongoing strikes. In 2023, the railway invested around 7.6 billion euros from its own funds into modernizing the rail network. There were also economic problems at the freight transport subsidiary DB Cargo.
My colleague Serafin Reiber reported last week that train ticket prices could be significantly increased.
Serafin says about the balance sheet presented today: “The railway is in the deep red once again. This is a tradition for the desolate state-owned company." The federal government's fatal investment policy based on the motto "subsidize on sight" has further exacerbated the problem. »The railway made advance payments and got even more indebted. Things cannot continue like this: neither with the group's inefficient structures nor with the short-sighted financing of the railway infrastructure, which, unlike in Austria or Switzerland, is not secured for longer periods of time."
Read more here: Deutsche Bahn makes billions in losses
2. The farmers' protests reflect the discontent of many people in our society
In a democracy, do those interest groups that are particularly loud and sometimes rowdy prevail best? This impression could arise if you look back with a little distance at the sometimes violent protests by German farmers against the federal government's subsidy cut plans in recent weeks. Some of the reduction plans have already been withdrawn, and there is still debate about the abolition of tax discounts on agricultural diesel.
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Politician Werner Schwarz, farmer Rupert Schwarz: "He then says: 'You have to do something about it'"
Photo:
Sabine von Bassewitz / DER SPIEGEL
In a very lively interview conducted by my colleague Ansgar Siemens, Werner Schwarz, the Agriculture Minister of Schleswig-Holstein, and the politician's son, his name is Rupert Schwarz, comment on the protests of the past few weeks. The son is a farmer, breeds piglets and took part in the farmers' demonstrations. "We often don't feel like we're being taken seriously," he says, complaining about legal requirements from Brussels and Berlin: "It's about regulations that perhaps have a sensible core, but are poorly made. And communication with us farmers is regularly poor.«
“Do you think it’s a good thing that your son is demonstrating?” my SPIEGEL colleague asks the politician Werner Schwarz, and he says: “I think there has never been so much positive response to farmers’ protests. Other groups have joined, craftsmen and freight forwarders. People don’t feel included in the big social changes.”
It's about technical questions that are sometimes boring for outsiders like me in the dispute between farmers and politicians and also in this interview, but also about the fundamentals. Politician Werner Schwarz says about the violence during the protests, which meant that events organized by the Green Party could not take place: "In Germany, the right to demonstrate is a valuable asset." The attempts to expand its borders are not acceptable to him.
His son Rupert Schwarz makes it clear: "Farmers are a cross-section of society; there are left, right, liberal, green and conservative." And he points to a demo poster that said: "Agriculture is colorful, not brown."
Read the full interview here: Do you think it's good that your son is demonstrating, Mr. Schwarz?
3. The “Nemesis” trading platform, which has now been shut down by the authorities, was supposedly the third largest darknet trading platform in the world
Do you know exactly how the so-called Darknet works? It is worrying for many people that criminals can trade on the Internet in largely hidden channels - for example in drugs, stolen credit card details or hacking services.
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Shutdown banner on “Nemesis Market”: A pixel-look spaceship destroys the lettering on the darknet site
Photo: BKA
Today, the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Frankfurt am Main Public Prosecutor's Office announced that they had succeeded in striking the darknet site "Nemesis Market", which is popular with cybercriminals. The investigators took over the site on the night of Wednesday to Thursday and shut it down.
According to the Federal Criminal Police Office, “Nemesis Market” is the world’s third largest criminal trading marketplace on the Darknet. Most recently, there were probably more than 150,000 users and more than 1,100 seller accounts registered there.
The investigation into “Nemesis Market” has been going on for a year and a half, reports my colleague Max Hoppenstedt. "With the help of technical surveillance measures, the German officials determined that part of the server infrastructure was located within the country." After their takeover, the authorities placed a banner on the darknet site. A spaceship flies over the animated logo, fires a laser shot and hits the “Nemesis” lettering, which then explodes in pixel optics.
Read more here: Investigators shut down Darknet marketplace – and leave greetings to criminals
What else is important today?
Countries announce accelerated expansion of nuclear power:
Germany has said goodbye to nuclear power, other countries do not want to hear about this course. Around 30 countries are committed to expanding nuclear energy. One argument: climate protection.
Attacker throws burning object at Israeli embassy:
Arson attack on the Israeli embassy in The Hague: According to Dutch police, a person threw a burning object towards the diplomatic mission. Investigators found a backpack nearby.
Abuse on set - that's what the allegations against Nickelodeon are about:
Successful series from the 1990s and 2000s in focus: A new documentary addresses alleged abuse and sexism at Nickelodeon. What the accused are accused of and how the children's channel reacts.
Veltins' son wants to sue for an inheritance worth millions:
The Veltins brewery is threatened with an ugly inheritance dispute. The son Carl-Clemens, who was excluded from the family business, has sued his sisters at the Arnsberg regional court.
Why people left Africa 60,000 years ago:
Many millennia ago, the people from whom we descend today emigrated from Africa. Possible reason: a huge volcanic eruption.
My favorite story today: Messi's first contract agreement
The rise of world football star Lionel Messi began on a piece of paper 23 years ago. The 13-year-old from Argentina was in Barcelona at the time. On a paper napkin, a man named Carles Rexach, technical secretary of FC Barcelona, "under his own responsibility and despite some contrary opinions, signed the player Lionel Messi." The napkin on which this agreement was signed is “probably the most significant in football history,” writes my colleague Florian Haupt. The current napkin owner, who resides in Andorra, has passed the paper on to the auction house Bonhams for auction. The basic bid is 200,000 pounds (around 230,000 euros). The auction was originally scheduled to begin on Monday of the current week and be completed by the end of the month. But at short notice it was postponed to April. “There are also legal ambiguities behind this,” reports my colleague – and happily describes the sports-historical complications surrounding the scrap of paper.
Read the whole story here: The bizarre battle for football's most important napkin
What we recommend today at SPIEGEL+
The questionable promises behind the new nuclear power:
Experts around the world are working on new nuclear reactors. They should be more economical and safer than previous systems. However, researchers have now come to a completely different conclusion in a comprehensive study.
How safe are flights with Boeing jets?
The series of breakdowns and scandals at Boeing also affects the company's passengers. They ask themselves whether they can still trust the US manufacturer's aircraft. A graphic analysis.
The royals in a PR mess:
The rumors about Princess Catherine are taking on absurd proportions: you can hardly brew yourself a cup of tea without amateur detectives crowing supposed certainties into the world. The development is dangerous.
"A burger is not a quinoa bowl":
Dirt, expired food and vegan burgers that weren't: research by "Team Wallraff" has shaken Burger King. What the new boss Jörg Ehmer wants to change and what grievances he has already called branch managers about.
Which is less important today
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Photo:
dts news agency / IMAGO
Wake-up song for football heroes: Leony, 26,
German singer with the real name Leonie Burger, sings the official song of the European Football Championship taking place in Germany. So far she is known for hits such as the song “Waking Up”, which she recorded together with Felix Jaehn. Now she is supposed to record a European Championship song together with the US band OneRepublic and the Italian dance trio Meduza. In an Instagram post, Leony was enthusiastic: “This is a huge honor for me.”
Mini concave mirror
From the “Hamburger Abendblatt”:
“A former top agent explains how Russian community services work in Germany.”
You can find the entire concave mirror here.
Cartoon of the day
And tonight?
Could you watch the film “Jacquot”, the document of a great artist’s love, in the Arte channel’s media library. In the 1990 film, director Agnès Varda portrays her partner Jacques Demy and, of course, herself. Varda was a pioneer of the Nouvelle Vague and made great films such as "Wednesday Between Five and Seven", Demy, among others, the enchanting music film " The Umbrellas of Cherbourg«.
My colleague Nils Minkmar wrote about what is special about Varda's work: »Your films describe the world, work and life using aesthetic but also moral questions. Everyone puts happiness first - but what is allowed in return?" (Read the obituary from 2019 here.)
A lovely evening. Heartfelt
Yours, Wolfgang Höbel, author in the culture department