Germany news: Germany marks Constitution Day

More than 300,000 people obtained German passports in 2025, a 6% increase over the previous year, a newspaper has reported.

A new boom in naturalizations is expected next year when the many Ukrainian refugees in the country are likely to seek citizenship as they lose some of their protected status.

You can read more in this article: Germany: Record numbers take German passport in 2025

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called on people in Germany to work to uphold democracy in comments to mark the anniversary of the country’s constitution or Basic Law (Grundgesetz).

“Democracy needs active citizens. It needs energy,” he told the dpa news agency in Berlin.

“Our free democratic order lives from the contributions of every individual and from commitment in our society,” he said.

He said that the Basic Law was a real achievement for the country and its social cohesion.

“But democracy is not just something intellectual. It needs arms and legs — people who get involved, who join in,” he added.

Steinmeier has also called on people in Germany to become engaged in voluntary social work as part of their commitment to a democratic society, calling this year’s anniversary an Ehrentag (“Day of Honor”). Ehrenamtlich is also a German word for “voluntary.”

“By becoming involved, we can have a kind of basic democratic experience as a society and become aware that every one of us can do something, change something,” he said.

The president plans to give an example himself on Saturday by doing gardening work at a public cemetery and taking part in activities at an aged-care home.

“It is a heartfelt wish of mine to anchor the birthday of our constitution much more strongly in the general awareness, beyond politics,” he told dpa.

The DW newsroom welcomes all users of Germany’s international broadcaster with a warm guten Tag in keeping with the current summer-like temperatures.

Saturday is “Grundgesetztag” in Germany — the day on which the country marks the anniversary of the day the constitution (“Grundgesetz” or “Basic Law”) went into effect: May 23, 1949.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is using the occasion to call on people to take part in voluntary work, while himself giving a good example by reading to children, doing gardening work in a park and helping out in an elderly care home.

He has also urged Germans to be proactive in their defense of democratic ideals.

This comes as a newspaper report says that a record number of people took German citizenship in 2025, the year after the country made it legal for non-German nationals to hold two passports.

You can learn more about these and other stories from Europe’s biggest economy in this blog. We wish you enjoyable reading!