The weekend of 5–6 September 2026: Rosi the dachshund wins everyone’s hearts and Lilly the skateboarder claims the championship title; Rosenthal’s sports pledge; elections in Saxony-Anhalt

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Everyone loves Rosi! The 15-year-old senior dachshund was crowned the clear winner at the second Dachshund Parade at the “Bayerischer Bahnhof”. Skateboarder Lilly Stoephasius was also a winner. The two-time Olympian once again claimed the title in the Park category at the German Championships in Grünau. Leipzig’s Mayor for Sport, Rosenthal, described his city as the ‘jewel in the crown’ of Berlin’s Olympic bid – and made a promise at yesterday’s Olympic Ball. Saxony-Anhalt has also voted. The LZ summarises the key events from the weekend of 5–6 September 2026 in Leipzig and beyond.

Rosi the dachshund wins hearts

One senior citizen put the others to shame. Rosi the dachshund took the hearts of the large crowd by storm at the dachshund parade in the beer garden of the ‘Bayerischer Bahnhof’. Although she herself can no longer get about quite so energetically. At 15 years old, she was the oldest participant in the field of 24 on Saturday.
“We thought this time, as she’s a bit older and slower now, that the younger dogs should have priority,” said her owner, Hans-Peter Wittor, who was pleasantly surprised by the successful outcome of the competition. “But in her twilight years, she’s still savouring her triumph – the fact that she’s so popular and touches people so deeply with her nature.” And she did so impressively: Rosi’s name appeared on over 90 of the roughly 300 ballots cast. Unfortunately, she could no longer hear the applause for her victory, as the wire-haired miniature dachshund has been deaf for two years. “But she’s very alert with her eyes and responds to hand signals,” explains Hans-Peter Wittor.

The audience voted four-year-old Rüdiger – also a miniature wire-haired dachshund – into second place; he works as a therapy dog in a care home. Third place went to Gustav. At just two years old, the short-haired dachshund is still something of a greenhorn, though he was by no means the youngest participant in this dachshund parade. At just five months old, the youngest was little Anni, a cheeky spotted American Miniature Dachshund – a real “cuddly little thing”, according to her owner Milla.

“I think it’s always a very fair competition,” said organiser Lea Heinzel afterwards, delighted with the successful event. “Everyone has fun and, in a way, it’s not really about winning at all, but simply about the good atmosphere and everyone just enjoying themselves.” The 23-year-old booking coordinator at the restaurant had organised the dachshund parade for the second time. It was first held last year to mark the 25th anniversary of the “Bayerischer Bahnhof”.

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Olympia-Lilly triumphs in Grünau

It had been three years since the German Skateboarding Championships were first held at the Heizhaus in Leipzig-Grünau. At that time, the Park category had not been part of the Olympic programme for very long. The Berlin-born Lilly Stoephasius had competed both there – in Tokyo 2021 – and in Grünau in 2023. At the German Championships in Grünau, she comfortably secured the title and went on to make her second Olympic appearance in Paris the following year.

Finally, this Sunday, the now 19-year-old was back in Grünau competing for the German Championship once again. And she was successful. But this time, it was by no means a walk in the park. “Three years ago, it was still quite easy for me to become German champion here. This time – as you could see from the scores – the contest was more exciting because more girls are now skateboarding and I have more competition,” she says, seeing this as a positive development for her sport.

But the only female skateboarder to have ever gained Olympic experience for Team Germany has also developed further in recent years, particularly mentally: “I’ve become much more confident when skateboarding and can cope better with high-pressure situations,” she revealed to the LZ. “I had to do that here too: it all came down to my final run; I had to nail it. So I was under pressure, because I wanted to become German champion. I managed to do that in the end. The more often you face situations like that, the better you get at dealing with them. If I hadn’t had the experience of two Olympic Games under my belt, things might have been different.”

Lilly Stoephasius would love to build on her wealth of Olympic experience by competing in the Games on home soil. “The Olympic Games in Germany – no matter which city they’re held in – are incredibly important to me,” assures the German champion. This dream could possibly come true as early as 2040. By then, Lilly would be 33 years old. “I’d definitely still take part in the Olympic Games in Germany – no matter how old I am,” she adds with a laugh.

In the other three competition categories, the following German champions were crowned today in Grünau: Florence Ulrich Adocks (16) in the women’s event and Justin Sommer (27) in the men’s event won the Street category. As in 2023, Viktor Solmunde (19) once again claimed victory in the men’s Park category. He also competed at the Olympics in Paris, albeit for Denmark. As a result, the German Championship title went to the runner-up, Vinzenz Hoffmann (14).

Rosenthal’s sporting promises at the Leipzig Olympic Ball

A celebration of outstanding sporting achievements, Olympic ambitions and grand speeches – all this was on display at the 32nd Leipzig Olympic Ball on Saturday evening in the Kongresshalle. A total of 28 “Leipzig sporting heroes” were honoured, 15 of whom were able to accept their awards in person. These top athletes and up-and-coming talents from the city had won a total of 36 medals at the European and World Youth Championships, as well as the 2025 European and World Championships and the 2026 Winter Olympics. That comprised 16 gold, 14 silver and 6 bronze medals.

Speaking of the Olympics – that was, of course, the dominant theme of the evening. As is well known, Leipzig aims to become an Olympic city alongside Berlin. To achieve this, however, “BERLIN” must first prevail against the other German candidate cities within its own country. Whether this will succeed will be revealed at the DOSB General Assembly on 26 September. “Berlin was delighted from the outset that Leipzig is on board. The strength of the bid lies in the fact that it is the only authentic ‘One Village’ concept. And Leipzig is the jewel in the crown of the bid,” said Saxony’s Minister for the Interior, Armin Schuster, with great enthusiasm.

Leipzig’s Mayor for Sport, Heiko Rosenthal (Die Linke) even described his city as the “shining gem in Berlin’s bid” and welcomed the 60 million euros pledged by the Saxon cabinet for the refurbishment of the Quarterback Immobilien Arena and the construction of a new ball sports hall. This prompted him to make an enthusiastic announcement: “I promise you today that the Sportforum will shine in new splendour by 2035,” Rosenthal declared.

What the LZ reported over the weekend:

The City Council met: A new sponsorship scheme for sea rescue in the Mediterranean

The City Council met: Can bathrooms, windows and heating be modernised in the heritage conservation area?

The City Council met: A majority of councillors voted against preserving the maple tree on Wilhelm-Leuschner-Platz.

The Leipzig City Council met: 32 minutes of discussion on the ‘Radefelder Allee-West’ land-use plan amendment were a waste of time.

The City Council met: A follow-up to the action fund for Eisenbahnstraße, which had already been approved in 2023

The City Council met: The whole drama surrounding Leipzig’s next dual-year budget

Markkleeberg during the Battle of the Nations: What happened around 16 October 1813 near the Markkleeberg gatehouse

Sunday Church No. 168: Featuring the resounding Silbermann organ – the town church in Oederan

Other important news:

Over half a million people in Saxony-Anhalt voted for the AfD – a party classified by the state’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution as definitively far-right – in today’s state election. According to the ARD projection at 9.08 pm, this corresponds to 44 per cent of the vote. That is over 23 per cent more than in the last election in 2021.

The CDU, by contrast, saw its support plummet by more than half. As things stand, it would be the second-largest party with just 17.8 per cent. The other projected results: SPD 9.1 per cent; The Left 8.8 per cent; the Greens 8.7 per cent; BSW 5.1 per cent. The FDP would secure 2.4 per cent and is therefore unlikely to be represented in the new state parliament.

Of the total 83 seats in the state parliament, 39 would go to the AfD (previously 23). The CDU would retain 16 seats (-24), whilst The Left (-4), the SPD (-1) and the Greens (2) would each have 8 seats. The BSW would hold 4 seats.

In response to the election result in Saxony-Anhalt, demonstrations have taken place in several major German cities. In Frankfurt am Main, around 2,500 people took to the streets, and in Berlin several hundred. They called for proceedings to ban the AfD. Further protest rallies have been announced for the coming days, including in Leipzig. Under the slogan ‘Time to act: Stop the AfD!’, people are being called to gather at the Marktplatz on Saturday 12 September at 12 noon. “Come out onto the streets on 12 September to show solidarity with the people and civil society in Saxony-Anhalt and to prevent the AfD from securing further election victories!” reads the call to action from Leipzig nimmt Platz.