Friday, 23 October 2026: Suspected e-bike thief in custody, roadworks on Dittrichring, RB Frauen stand no chance against FC Bayern

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He broke into company premises and stole an e-bike at gunpoint. The 45-year-old suspect is now in pre-trial detention. The tarmac on Dittrichring is due to be resurfaced soon, resulting in diversions for motor traffic. And: RB Leipzig stand no chance against the FC Bayern women’s team. The LZ summarises the key events in Leipzig and beyond on Friday, 23 October 2026.

Suspected e-bike thief in pre-trial detention

Following several thefts of high-end bicycles from company premises in the Plaußig-Portitz district, a 45-year-old suspect is now in pre-trial detention. The Leipzig Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Leipzig Police Headquarters announced this in the afternoon. The man is accused of five counts of commercial theft and one count of robbery. The total value of the pedelecs and e-bikes stolen between the end of March and the end of August 2026 amounts to more than 30,000 euros. According to the investigations so far, the accused’s 46-year-old brother is also believed to have been involved in several of the offences.

During a theft on 24 August, the 45-year-old is alleged to have driven onto the company premises on BMW-Allee in a car that had been reported stolen. Number plates stolen from another vehicle had previously been fitted to the car. He apparently did not have a driving licence either. The man is then said to have forcibly broken into the secure cycle parking area on several occasions and initially stolen a bicycle.

When he broke the lock on another bicycle, he was startled by staff members. He is then said to have attempted to take this bicycle as well, threatening them with a weapon. He subsequently fled in the car despite the staff’s attempts to stop him.

Analysis of evidence, CCTV footage and further police findings eventually led the investigators to a man with a history of multiple previous convictions, particularly for property offences. During a search, two bicycles believed to have been stolen were recovered, including the e-bike stolen on 24 August. Both bicycles were returned to their owners and the car used in the offence was seized.

On 16 September, the Leipzig Public Prosecutor’s Office obtained an arrest warrant for the 45-year-old. Police officers subsequently arrested him on 9 October, and an investigating judge then ordered his remand in custody. The brother has been in prison since 3 August. An arrest warrant had been issued against him following the revocation of his parole.

Dittrichring to be resurfaced – closure from 2 November

Due to recurring road damage, the City of Leipzig will be resurfacing Dittrichring from 2 November 2026. The city administration announced this today. The section affected is the outbound stretch between Käthe-Kollwitz-Straße and the Thomaskirche tram stop. Over a length of around 270 metres, a total of 1,200 square metres of road surface will be resurfaced with a new asphalt surface and binder course. The works are due to be completed by 6 November.

The road had already to be closed on several occasions in February and May of this year due to sudden damage. During the construction works, the road will be closed to motor vehicle traffic. The diversion runs via Käthe-Kollwitz-Straße, Friedrich-Ebert-Straße and Karl-Tauchnitz-Straße. Pedestrians and cyclists can pass directly through the construction site.

According to the city, the works will not affect the regular services operated by Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe (LVB). The roadworks have been co-ordinated with the LVB’s parallel track works at Augustusplatz and Willy-Brandt-Platz. The cost of resurfacing the road amounts to around 65,000 euros.

RB Women stand no chance in 1–5 defeat to Bayern

The odds were not looking particularly good for RB Leipzig’s Bundesliga women’s football team even before kick-off. That evening, they were hosting the German serial champions, FC Bayern Munich, at Cottaweg. In the six previous encounters between the two teams, the Bayern women had always emerged victorious, scoring 21 goals to concede just two.

The RB women, however, went into the match buoyed by the confidence gained from their two recent clean-sheet victories against Mainz and Freiburg. But their hopes were short-lived. After just 14 minutes, the score was 0–2 from the hosts’ perspective. Yet Bayern weren’t done there. By the final whistle, they had extended their lead to 5–1. Klara Bühl scored twice, meaning she has now registered points in seven consecutive league matches.

It was also a minor milestone for the double winners, who, with this victory in Leipzig, have now gone 50 (!) Bundesliga matches without defeat. Their last defeat came on 12 October 2024, when they lost 0–2 away to VfL Wolfsburg. So far this season, the Munich side have won all eight of their matches. Consequently, they sit top of the table, whilst RBL currently find themselves in 7th place. However, they are likely to slip a few places further down the table as the matchday progresses.

Alongside the Bundesliga match, the teams also raised awareness of early detection and prevention as part of the international Breast Cancer Awareness Month, ‘Pink October’. Under the slogan “As One Against Cancer”, the players took to the pitch alongside breast cancer patients, wore special warm-up shirts and posed for a group photo behind a themed banner.

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What the LZ reported on today:

New motion by the SPD city council group to sell the municipal swimming pool: funding foundation objects, city rejects it

Hello Leipzig: This is how Friday 23 October 2026 kicks off the weekend

A fresh start: The Scientists for Future federal podcast is now a Leipzig project.

Mei Harz needs songs: Winterstein Theatre’s Anton Günther evening now on DVD.

Klaus Tschira Foundation’s KlarText Prize for Science Communication: A Leipzig chemist is also honoured.

What else was important:

Construction has been underway in south-west Finland since 2004, and the planned nuclear waste repository on the island of Olkiluoto has now also received its operating licence. Among other things, it is intended to house the spent fuel assemblies from the nuclear power station of the same name. The underground bedrock has a capacity for 6,500 tonnes of uranium. However, there is no official start date as yet.

Shortly before the start of the Christmas tree harvest, growers have already announced a slight price rise. Accordingly, a Nordmann fir would cost around 25 to 33 euros per running metre. This is two to three euros more than last year. A metre of blue spruce will be available for 17 to 22 euros. The reasons cited for the price rise include rising production costs, increasing extreme weather events, labour shortages and a lack of successors to take over the businesses.

According to an analysis by British scientists, there have never been as many heat-related deaths in Europe since records began as there were last summer. The intense heat in 2026 is said to have claimed around 50,000 lives in European cities. The researchers attribute just under two-thirds of these deaths directly to man-made climate change.