Mönchengladbach – November 03, 2026 -- Openbank by Santander now pays 100 euros for every successful referral that leads to a new BestGiro checking account, and 50 euros for every referred BestCard Smart credit card. The promotion runs until December 31, 2026, and the participation terms apply.

Stuttgart – November 03, 2026 -- Buying a flat to rent out is not automatically a sound investment, says Mireille Funke, owner of FUNKE immobilien in Stuttgart. In her view, purchase price, financing, rental potential, location, condition and the buyer's own circumstances decide whether the numbers work.

Fürth – November 03, 2026 -- German discounter NORMA has been named Germany's "Preissieger" (price winner) for the sixth year in a row, scoring the maximum 100 points in a consumer survey run by FOCUS MONEY and DEUTSCHLAND TEST for 2026.

NORMA leads Netto and Lidl by a wide margin

Among food discounters, Netto follows NORMA with 90.3 points. Lidl comes in at 78.0 points. The award recognizes NORMA's price-performance ratio, meaning how much customers feel they get for their money.

Strasbourg – November 03, 2026 -- ARTE launches the concert series "Braths Sessions" on arte.tv and YouTube on November 8, with seven short episodes that recast contemporary songs for string orchestra.

Seven artists get orchestral rewrites

The series features music by Souly, Wamen, Alizade, Vicky Sometani, RAPK, Kayla Shyx and BERWYN. French multi-instrumentalist, composer and conductor Braths, whose real name is Thomas Horeczko, leads the orchestra and reinterprets each artist's songs.

Zurich/Hamburg – November 03, 2026 -- Three Dallmayr coffees are now available for the CoffeeB system: Crema d'Oro, Crema d'Oro Intensa and Espresso d'Oro. Each pack holds nine Coffee Balls for nine cups and has a recommended retail price of 3.99 euros.

Munich – November 03, 2026 -- LOBERON's pop-up stores in Munich and Hamburg are open until the end of January 2027, and both launched with grand opening events featuring designer Guido Maria Kretschmer and his joint home collection with the brand.

Mainz – November 03, 2026 -- Hearing aids that go silent, fade, whistle or slip out of the ear often have simple causes, and some can be fixed at home, according to Eberhard Schmidt, president of the Bundesinnung der Hörakustiker (biha). Poor fit and disruptive noises are common reasons people stop wearing their devices, even though individually fitted systems enable social participation for people with hearing loss.

Munich – November 03, 2026 -- Germans are the most likely in Europe to say that "cute" no longer just means "cute-looking." A new Sanrio-commissioned study finds that 50.8% of German respondents see the word's meaning shifting, the highest share of any of the five countries surveyed.

Hamburg – November 03, 2026 -- Homeowners in Germany can get up to €2,000 off a Vattenfall solar system or heat pump through Tchibo. From November 3, 2026, the retailer's online shop lists photovoltaic systems and heat pumps from Vattenfall Next Energy GmbH.

Tchibo customers get €1,500 or €2,000 off

The discount is €1,500 if you pay in installments and €2,000 if you buy outright. It applies only once, even if you buy both a solar system and a heat pump.

Munich – November 03, 2026 -- German travelers planning for 2027 want to book by mood, drop the extras they won't use and, in some cases, hand their inbox to an AI agent while they are away, according to Booking.com's latest forecast.

It is the eleventh edition of the annual forecast. It draws on a survey of German travelers and on insights from the industry. For its 30th anniversary, the company also added input from its own travel and technology experts, who identified nine trends.