BERLIN (Reuters) – A clothing company popular among neo-Nazis has provoked protests in Germany by calling one of its shops “Brevik,” similar to the name of Norwegian mass murderer and anti-immigration militant Anders Behring Breivik.

Mediatex apologized on Wednesday for causing offence, saying the shop was named after a Norwegian town and had nothing to do with Breivik who has admitted responsibility for a bomb and gun massacre in Norway in July.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s former presidents have dealt a humiliating blow to their disgraced successor Christian Wulff, who resigned last month over a political favours scandal, by shunning a torchlit military parade in his honour.

Nearly three weeks after quitting, Wulff continues to make headlines for accepting an annual pension of 199,000 euros (165,000 pounds) for the rest of his life despite spending just 20 months in office.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Yitshak Ehrenberg has witnessed a transformation in Germany’s Jewish community during his 15 years as an Orthodox rabbi in Berlin and he is determined to harness a new generation to ensure the religion thrives here.

“After the war, most of the community were refugees, survivors, broken souls who had lost their family and sometimes even their faith,” the 62-year-old told Reuters from a luxurious living room filled with modern art and family photographs.

BERLIN (Reuters) – The severity of conditions attached to Greece’s 130-billion-euro bailout deal looked set to head off a parliamentary backlash over the package in Berlin but Germans are still concerned about Athens’ long-term ability to meet the demands and repay loans.

Germany, the biggest euro zone contributor to the bailout, has taken a hard line in the tortuous negotiations with Greece, making Chancellor Angel Merkel a hate figure with some Greeks, with newspapers even printing montages of her in a Nazi uniform.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday she would consult the centre-left opposition about a consensus candidate to replace Christian Wulff, who quit over a series of allegations about favours and his private finances.

Merkel hand-picked Wulff, a politician from her Christian Democratic Union (CDU), for the largely ceremonial post of head of state in 2010 after the former International Monetary Fund head Horst Koehler resigned as German president.

BERLIN, Feb 17 (Reuters) – Germany’s conservative
Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday she would consult the
centre-left opposition about a consensus candidate to replace
Christian Wulff, who quit over a series of allegations about
favours and his private finances.

Merkel hand-picked Wulff, a politician from her Christian
Democratic Union (CDU), for the largely ceremonial post of head
of state in 2010 after the former International Monetary Fund
head Horst Koehler resigned as German president.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Angela Merkel’s hand-picked choice for the ceremonial post of president was expected to resign Friday in a scandal over political favors, dealing a blow to the German chancellor in the midst of the euro zone crisis.

Christian Wulff, who has been under fire for months, was to give a statement at 1000 GMT. Merkel abruptly postponed a trip to Rome where she was to hold talks with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, and scheduled a news conference for after Wulff speaks.

BERLIN, Feb 17 (Reuters) – Angela Merkel’s hand-picked
choice for the ceremonial post of president was expected to
resign on Friday in a scandal over political favours, dealing a
blow to the German chancellor in the midst of the euro zone
crisis.

Christian Wulff, who has been under fire for months, was to
give a statement at 1000 GMT. Merkel abruptly postponed a trip
to Rome where she was to hold talks with Italian Prime Minister
Mario Monti, and scheduled a news conference for after Wulff
speaks.

POTSDAM, Germany (Reuters) – Portraits of Frederick the Great line the streets, bookshops are bursting with new biographies, talk shows debate his legacy and toymaker Steiff has made a limited edition teddy bear of the Prussian ruler in his blue uniform coat and tricorn hat.

Germans gearing up for a year of celebrations to mark Frederick’s 300th birthday are showing a new, relaxed pride in the much-disputed figure and in Prussia itself, long considered a byword for the militarism glorified by the Nazis.