Politically motivated violence in Germany at record level

Pictures can often explain a complex topic in a concise manner, better than long speeches. That's why German Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrint (CSU) likes to use graphs during public appearances. This Tuesday (June 9) was one such occasion: together with Holger Münch, President of the Federal Criminal Police (BKA), he presented statistics on politically motivated crime (PMK) for the year 2025.

Left-wing extremism violence has almost doubled

And the press conference had barely begun, and Dobrint brought out a graph showing two curves. Even from a distance, it was clear that the pink line was rising at a much steeper angle than the brown line. The pink line represented cases of left-wing extremist violence, and the brown line represented right-wing extremist violence.

In this way, the minister responsible for security in Germany illustrated a trend that he considers dangerous: "With a 42 percent increase in violent incidents, the left-wing scene represents a clearly growing threat and this is evident here." In absolute terms, the figure for 2025 was - almost 1.100 cases of left-wing extremist violence.

Right-wing extremism remains the biggest threat

However, a significantly higher number of cases of violence can still be attributed to the right-wing scene: just under 1.600. The minister therefore emphasized: “This clearly shows that the greatest danger naturally arises from right-wing extremism.” This conclusion holds even when other offenses are taken into account – these include, in addition to violent incidents, primarily damage to property, the use of prohibited propaganda, insults and incitement to hatred.

In total, just under 86.000 politically motivated crimes were recorded – the highest number since statistics were first compiled in 2001. That works out to an average of 235 cases per day – or ten per hour. In half of all cases, the suspects came from a right-wing extremist background. A large proportion involved hate crimes – including a large number of cases of hostility that was anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim or anti-Gypsy.

Anti-Semitism continues to grow

As for anti-Semitism, the number of attacks has increased by five percent, to over 6.500. Interior Minister Dobrint therefore believes that Germany and its political establishment have a greater obligation than ever to confront it: "I want to make it clear, therefore, that we will not relent in our efforts to protect Jewish life."

BKA President Minh attributes the rising numbers in almost all categories of offenses to increasing social polarization: “This can lead to radicalization that ultimately manifests itself as violence against those with different views or against the political system.” He also identifies propaganda – some of which originates from abroad – as a driving force behind politically motivated crime.

Crises in the world are also reflected in Germany

Then there are international conflicts. “They intensify processes of radicalization and violence committed in the name of ideological goals,” says Minh. With this broad formulation, he encompasses practically all the crises that are being reflected in Germany in various ways: Russia’s war against Ukraine, the unstable situation in Iran, and the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Millions of people from these countries and regions live in Germany – the vast majority of them peacefully. Relative to their total number, only a small proportion resort to violence – for example, at demonstrations calling for a Palestinian state or the overthrow of the Iranian Islamist regime – or carry out attacks on synagogues. “The foundations of our democracy are under attack”

The head of the Federal Criminal Police (BKA) makes it clear: “All these crimes are a blow to the very essence of our democracy” – a form of society in which everyone can live freely, safely and with dignity, he adds. He is well aware that this ideal faces daily threats; the number of politically motivated crime cases serves as a barometer of this.

And on this scale, the temperature is rising almost everywhere. This is also evident in the increase in crimes hostile to women and the queer community. “The social climate is getting hotter,” Minh concludes. “The foundations of our democracy are under attack.”