Berlin, July 30th, 2026 (The Berlin Spectator) – Children and teenagers in Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland head back to class on August 10th, kicking off the 2026/27 school year. Germany has seven different start dates for the new school year this time around. Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria will be the last to send students back, in the third week of September.
Starting with the 2026/27 school year, first-graders across Germany gain a legal right to all-day care at school, according to German-language media. The entitlement will expand by one grade level per year in the years ahead. It kicks in on August 1st, though parents are not obliged to make use of it. The change is meant to ease the transition for families used to full-day kindergarten care, who often face gaps once children start primary school.
Deutsche Bahn is reworking its loyalty program, tying the number of points needed for a free domestic trip to route, booking time and demand. Currently, a one-way free ride within Germany requires 1,000 BahnBonus points in second class or 1,500 in first class. From August, that drops to 750 and 1,250 points respectively, though the rail operator has yet to disclose the maximum number of points that could apply for a free trip. A flexible second-class ticket, which allows travelers to pick their exact train on a booked route at short notice, will cost 2,500 points, 500 more than before.
Solar Feed-in Tariff Drops Again
Owners of newly installed solar panels will receive a smaller subsidy for the electricity they feed into the grid. The so-called feed-in tariff is reduced by one percent every six months, with the next cut taking effect on August 1st. Existing solar installations are not affected, since their feed-in rate stays fixed for 20 years.
A 76-kilometer stretch of the A3 highway, a major east-west route through Bavaria, reopens on August 3rd after six years of work to expand it to six lanes. The upgrade is timed to ease traffic between the Biebelried and Fürth/Erlangen interchanges just as peak summer travel season continues.
