Friday, 31 July 2026: Fridays for Future criticises ‘completely misplaced outrage’, tennis gets underway at the Leipzig Open, flat burglaries

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The climate activists from Fridays for Future wanted to counter this feeling of powerlessness. That is why they had spontaneously called for a demonstration today. The Leipzig Open, on the other hand, had been planned for some time. The biggest women’s tennis tournament in eastern Germany has also risen even further in prestige. It kicked off today. Meanwhile, a spate of flat burglaries is causing concern. The LZ summarises the key events in Leipzig and beyond on Friday, 31 July 2026.

Fridays for Future criticises “completely misplaced outrage”

With just two days’ notice, the Leipzig branch of Fridays for Future (FFF) had called for a spontaneous demonstration today. Under the slogan “burn capitalism not the planet”, the protest began with a kick-off rally on the Sachsenbrücke. Around 50 participants then set off on their bikes through Clara Zetkin Park, round the city centre ring road, and on to the New Town Hall for the finale. In an interview with the LZ, FFF press spokesperson Alexander Hilse explains the background:

What exactly was the reason for organising this spontaneous demonstration?

It was a spontaneous decision born out of a desire not to feel powerless in the face of what is currently happening. On the one hand, this concerns the consequences of the climate crisis all over the world, as extreme weather has already reached staggering proportions. And on the other hand, it concerns how – or rather, how not – politicians are responding to it.

Right now, as the cabinet is being reshuffled, criticism of Merz is being voiced that has absolutely nothing to do with his climate policy. So we ask ourselves: how can that be? That is the completely misplaced outrage. Where is the outrage over the government’s inaction? Why, for example, is surrogacy now a reason why Jens Spahn had to resign, yet climate policy has absolutely no consequences for Katherina Reiche?

What do you hope to achieve with this demonstration?

Above all, we want to show the people coming here today once again: we have the power to make a difference; we can do something! We don’t just have to scroll through social media all the time, seeing these disasters and simply accepting them; we have the opportunity to act at any time. Perhaps for some, this can be a starting point to become more active again. We don’t expect Friedrich Merz to change course just because a few people are demonstrating in Leipzig. Nor do we expect huge crowds to turn up today – we’ve registered 100 people.

But we want to show that all is not lost! Although we feel that the demonstrations in recent years seem to have had hardly any direct impact, if you look closely, things have in fact changed since 2019. And it would be great if – especially in light of all the disasters – such a moment could be created once again.

In your view, how aware and receptive are young people to these issues at the moment? After all, there used to be far more people taking part in FFF actions…

There used to be far more, but in my opinion things have levelled off a bit. It’s no longer just young people. A few years ago, we had the slogan: ‘Everyone for the climate!’ And that’s how, in my view, Fridays for Future has become established across society as a whole – no longer in terms of sheer numbers, but as a lobby that can be relatively strong. Maintaining these structures at a local level is very important to us.

The demonstration ends at the town hall – what messages do you want to send there?

There’ll be a short address to local politicians there, because we’re also lagging behind in Leipzig when it comes to climate protection. For example, the reports on the city’s CO₂ emissions for 2023/2024 still haven’t been published. This means there’s no proper basis for taking climate action in Leipzig further. That’s simply not acceptable.

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Tennis kicks off at the Leipzig Open

For over a week now, the little yellow felt ball has once again been flying over the net in Leipzig at a high international level. Today, the Leipzig Open got underway for the 14th time at the Leipzig Tennis Club 1990 (LTV) grounds. Alongside the International Saxon Championships (ISM) and the Steffi Graf Junior Cup, the ITF World Ranking tournament is the main sporting attraction.

And this year, it has really pulled out all the stops: For the first time in its history, the Leipzig Open has been promoted to ITF Category W75. This came as a surprise even to the organisers, as it was only last year that the tournament was upgraded to Category W50. This year, therefore, the total prize money already stands at 60,000 US dollars. In addition, the winner will now be awarded an impressive 75 world ranking points.

The participants in the ITF competition are also ranked higher as a result. However, one player currently in the top 100 will not be appearing in Leipzig. Tournament director Birgit Bach is fine with that. She revealed at today’s press conference that she would only have been disappointed if no player had taken to the court who had not at least once been ranked in the top 100. And, as Bach pointed out, if the British favourite Francesca Jones were to emerge victorious in the end, the high number of ranking points she would earn would see her return to that very elite group.

The German participants, such as Tessa Johanna Brockmann and Ida Wobker, are unlikely to feature in these rankings. From a Saxon perspective, there is excitement about the participation in the qualifiers of top talents Lola Giza (19, Espenhain) and Clara-Marie Schön (20, Dresden). Both have been awarded a wildcard and have already gained some experience at the Leipzig Open. In 2023, they even took to the court together as a doubles pair. Incidentally, Giza is also coming to Leipzig as the defending ISM champion.

The ITF qualifiers begin on Sunday, 2 August. The main draw then gets underway on Tuesday, 4 August. The big final day is finally the following Sunday, 9 August. The women’s ISM final gets underway at 9 am. This is followed by the men’s final at 11 am. The grand final of the ITF competition will bring the event to a close at 1 pm. Incidentally, admission will only be charged from 5 August onwards (€15 standard, €5 concessions); before then, entry to the Am Sportforum 7 complex is free of charge.

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Burglaries in Leipzig and Taucha

Brazen thieves are currently on the prowl and show no sign of hesitation: they are breaking into flats in the middle of the night whilst the residents are asleep. This is exactly what happened in the early hours of Friday morning. At around 2.50 am, a burglar broke into a ground-floor flat on Mariannenstraße in the east of Leipzig. However, the noise of the door being forced open woke the tenant, who went to check that everything was all right and managed to scare the burglar off just in time. The burglar did not make off with any loot, but caused damage to property amounting to around 2,000 euros.

Just two days earlier, there had been a very similar incident in Taucha, as the police headquarters reported today. This time, however, the incident took place in broad daylight. At around 1.45 pm, two burglars had sneaked into a detached house on Idastraße. Just as they were searching the home of an elderly woman, the 84-year-old returned home from shopping. Here too, the burglars fled, but slightly injured the woman when she tried to stop them. The thieves managed to steal jewellery worth several thousand euros and also took the landline telephone with them.

The Criminal Investigation Department is appealing for information in both cases: Dimitroffstraße 1, 04107 Leipzig, telephone: 0341-96646666.

What the LZ reported on today:

Chihuahua Bella lost her sight: this was the district court’s verdict on an alleged animal abuser from Leipzig

A statement from Geiseltalsee: Do the East German CDU minister-presidents have the guts to reject Merz’s reform package?

Hello Leipzig: This is how Friday 31 July 2026 kicks off the weekend.

LVB’s annual report for 2025: Record passenger numbers and a postponed procurement package for the XXL-Plus trams.

I’m so afraid of people’s words: “Where do I belong?” – the new Rilke biography by Alois Prinz

What else was important:

Around 60,000 migrants have now reached the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco – most of them by swimming. At least 34 people have lost their lives on the journey.

Due to the situation in Ceuta, Federal Minister of the Interior Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) intends to extend border controls at Germany’s borders beyond September.

Over three million people in Germany were unemployed in July. This was announced today by the Federal Employment Agency. Compared with June, this represents an increase of 71,000 unemployed people; compared with July last year, the figure is 28,000 higher. The summer break regularly leads to a rise in the figures at the mid-year point.