16 objects from Germany tell story of Holocaust in new ways

When Kurt and Anna-Maria Spennesberger heard the news about former pope Benedict XVI's death, they immediately got into their car and drove 200 kilometres to the former pontiff's southern German birth town Marktl.They had to be at the small town bordering Austria for a special church service saying farewell to Benedict because "we knew Ratzinger personally," said Kurt, 71, using the ex-pope's birth name. 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz paid tribute to former pope Benedict XVI, who died Saturday aged 95, as a "special church leader" who helped shape the Catholic church."As a 'German' pope, Benedict XVI was a special church leader for many, not only this country," Scholz wrote on Twitter.

World loses 'formative figure' of Catholic Church with Benedict's death: Scholz hmn/imm

The declining health of former pontiff Benedict XVI has sparked a wave of emotion in the region of Bavaria where he was born, while the controversies that marked his time in office remain vivid for many.- Controversy - The sympathy felt for one of Bavaria's most famous sons does not however disguise the bitterness over the scandals which dogged Benedict's time in office, notably over paedophilia and the Catholic church.

People in Pope Benedict XVI’s Bavarian homeland are praying for the retired pontiff, a favorite son of the region even 40 years after he left Germany for the Vatican and nearly a decade after his resignation stunned the world

A senior German security official says investigators have found no evidence of a religious or political motive for a knife attack on two girls that left one dead and the other with serious injuries