Friday, 28 August 2026: Charges brought against reckless driver, tram accident in Neulindenau, thousands attend Leipzig Cycle Night

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The shock of May still lingers deeply in the minds of Leipzig’s residents. A driver on a rampage killed two people and injured eight others in the Grimmaische Straße pedestrian zone. Charges have now been brought against the 33-year-old. In Neulindenau today, a tram collided with a car. And: Leipzig’s ‘Radnacht’ kicks off this year’s ‘Stadtradeln’ cycling campaign. The LZ summarises the key events in Leipzig and beyond on Friday, 28 August 2026.

Charges brought against Leipzig hit-and-run driver

Charges have now been brought against the 33-year-old German man who, in May, killed two people and injured eight others with his car in Leipzig city centre. The Leipzig Public Prosecutor’s Office announced this today. The list of charges is long and serious: “Murder in two concurrent counts, in conjunction with attempted murder in 85 concurrent counts, with causing serious danger to road traffic in 91 concurrent counts, and with causing grievous bodily harm in eight concurrent counts”.

Following his arrest on the day of the rampage, the man had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital. However, a report now available from the forensic psychiatric expert was unable to confirm the assumption of lack of criminal responsibility or diminished criminal responsibility. There are reportedly no indications to suggest this. Consequently, the Public Prosecutor’s Office has revoked the previous detention order and has instead applied for an arrest warrant, on which the Leipzig Regional Court has yet to rule.

The 33-year-old has so far made no statement to the investigators regarding the allegations. The Regional Court must now decide whether to admit the charges and open the main hearing. Further information and background on the charges brought can be found in the latest article by our LZ colleague Lucas Böhme.

Tram accident in Neulindenau

A tram collided with a car this morning in Leipzig-Neulindenau. According to reports, a 58-year-old man had been driving his Fiat 500 along Lützner Straße towards the city centre. At around 10.25 am, he attempted to turn left at the Lindenau bus station at the junction with Saalfelder Straße. As he moved into the left-turn lane to do so, he failed to notice a tram on line 15 approaching from behind on its way to Meusdorf.

The tram driver was taken by surprise by the Fiat changing lanes and applied the emergency brakes. However, the sudden jolt caused a 96-year-old woman on board the tram to fall to the floor. She had to be taken to hospital with injuries. The police are now investigating on suspicion of causing bodily harm through negligence. The damage caused by the accident is reported to amount to around 10,000 euros.

Thousands attend Leipzig’s ‘Radnacht’

Leipzig officially kicked off this year’s ‘Stadtradeln’ competition this evening with the now traditional ‘Radnacht’. The opening event once again attracted several thousand cyclists to Clara Zetkin Park. Skadi Jennicke, Councillor for Culture (Die Linke), and ‘Stadtradeln’ coordinator Matthias Uhlig (Ökolöwe e.V.) addressed the participants with a few introductory words on the Sachsenbrücke; a few minutes ago, the group of nearly 3,500 set off on the roughly eleven-kilometre circuit through Leipzig.

Passing the horse racing track, the route now heads south initially, then back up ‘Karli’ to Wilhelm-Leuschner-Platz. There, it briefly touches the south-western ring road before continuing along Friedrich-Ebert-Straße to pay a visit to the Sportforum. Via Marschnerstraße, the cyclists’ strong legs will finally pedal their way back to Clara-Park. The best bit is that this evening, these roads belong entirely to the cyclists.

Today also marks the start of ‘Stadtradeln’, which, according to Ökolöwen, is the world’s largest cycling competition. The aim is to cover as many everyday journeys as possible by bike in a climate-friendly way over 21 days, thereby racking up plenty of kilometres for your cycling team and your own city. Last year, Leipzig set a new personal best with over 20,000 participants and a total distance covered of 3.7 million kilometres. How will it turn out this time?

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What the LZ reported on today:

Leipzig hit-and-run: Public Prosecutor’s Office brings charges against a 33-year-old man

Guest column: Between forest and reality – the Capa Forest

Hello Leipzig: This is how Friday 28 August 2026 kicks off the

weekend “Inside the Outdoors”: Exhibition showcases life on the road as a way of life

In Year Zero: A panorama of an entire historical era to explore

Unique traffic trial in Saxony: A cycle lane on the road between Merkwitz and Seegeritz

What else was important:

The AfD’s attempt to oust Thuringia’s Minister-President Mario Voigt (CDU) via a constructive vote of no confidence has failed. Björn Höcke had sought to position himself as the new Minister-President, but was rejected by the majority of the state parliament. Forty-nine members of parliament voted against the AfD parliamentary group leader, whilst 33 voted in his favour.

King Harald of Norway has died in Oslo at the age of 89. Harald was regarded as down-to-earth and tolerant, which also earned him great popularity amongst the country’s young people. The throne will now be taken over by his 53-year-old son Haakon, who is married to Mette-Marit.

The death toll from the devastating flash floods in Nepal has now risen to 552. In addition, nearly 1,000 people are still missing, about half of whom are foreign nationals. According to the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin, this also includes a low double-digit number of German nationals.