Terrorism in Germany


YearIncidentsDeathsInjuries
202418205
202031112
201912314
20182208
201727110
20164427117
201566138
20141300
2013000
2012500
2011822
2010100
2009400
2008302
2007311
2006420
2005320
20043125
2003200
2002302
2001836
20008128
199913347
1998600
199712027
19965215
19951471026
199479285
199337758
199215617217
1991651035
19901314
19892258
198818114
198720233
19864910276
1985579114
19842203
19836225
198230544
198131231
19802017218
197917010
19782004
19774162
197650436
197535112
197429210
19732711
1972242345
19711700
19703289
Total1,3082131,838

Germany has experienced significant terrorism in its history, particularly during the Weimar Republic and during the Cold War, carried out by far-left and far-right German groups as well as by foreign terrorist organisations.
In recent years, far-left, far-right and Islamist extremist violence have resurged, and groups have been suspected of terrorism or terrorist plans. The country has experienced several attacks and plots linked to Islamist extremists, prompting increased security measures and counterterrorism efforts. High-profile incidents, such as the 2016 Berlin Christmas market attack, point to the persistent danger of radicalization and violent extremism within Germany's borders.
Since the 2000s, jihadism in Germany has emerged as one of Europe's most dynamic scenes. This phenomenon is characterized by strong anti-American sentiment and extensive international networks. German-born jihadists, often radicalized in German cities, frequently travel to regions such as Turkey, Chechnya, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Middle east. In these locations, they exchange ideologies and form alliances with various extremist organizations.

Weimar Republic

Germany's loss in the First World War resulted in a chaotic situation, with multiple far-left and far-right organisations attempting to seize power. Both the far left and the far right organised their own militias, and carried out assassinations. For example, the Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau was assassinated in 1922 by a far-right group. Members of the Communist Party of Germany assassinated police captains Paul Anlauf and Franz Lenck in Berlin in 1931.

Terrorism in Germany

Turkish and Kurdish Islamist groups are also active in Germany. Political scientist Guido Steinberg stated that many top leaders of Islamist organizations in Turkey fled to Germany in the 2000s, and that the Kurdish Hezbollah has also "left an imprint on Turkish Kurds in Germany." Also many Kurds from Iraq financially supported Kurdish-Islamist groups like Ansar al-Islam. Many Islamists in Germany are ethnic Kurds or Turks. Before 2006, the German Islamist scene was dominated by Iraqi Kurds and Palestinians, but since 2006 Kurds from Turkey and Turks are dominant.
In 2015, 11 verdicts concerning jihadist terrorism related offences were issued by German courts. In 2016, 28 verdicts for jihadist terrorism related offences were delivered. In 2017 there were 27 verdicts.
Almost all known terrorist networks and individuals in Germany have links to Salafism, an ultra-conservative Islamic ideology.

Terrorism in (or involving) West Germany and reunified Germany

During the Cold War, especially in the 1970s, West Germany experienced severe terrorism, mostly perpetrated by far-left terrorist groups and culminating in the German Autumn of 1977, the country's most serious national crisis in postwar history. Terrorist incidents also took place in the 1980s and 1990s. Some of the terrorist groups had connections to international terrorism, notably Palestinian militant groups, and were aided and abetted by the communist regime of East Germany.
Right Wing ExtremistsAnarchists and Left Wing ExtremistsIslamists and SalafistsSeparatists and foreign Nationalists
Atomwaffen Division since 2018Red Army Faction 1970–1998Al-Qaeda since 2006Provisional Irish Republican Army 1980–1989
Freikorps Havelland 2003–2005Popular Front for the Liberation of PalestineIslamic State since 2015Black September 1972
Gruppe Freital 2015–2018Revolutionary Cells 1973–1993Ansar al-IslamGrey Wolves since 1968
National Socialist Underground 1999–2011Anti-Imperialist Cell 1992 – 1995--
Deutsche Aktionsgruppen 1980Movement 2 June 1972–1980--
Wehrsportsgruppe Hoffman 1973–1980Tupamaros West-Berlin 1969–1970--
Combat 18 since 1992Revolutionäre Aktionszellen 2009–2011--
Action Front of National Socialists/National Activists 1977–1983Rote Zora 1974–1995--
Revolution Chemnitz 2018–2019Militante gruppe 2001–2009--
Nationale Bewegung 2000–20011992–2003--
Hepp-Kexel-Group 1982Feministische Autonome Zelle since 2019--

Islamic terrorism

In the 2015–2020 time span, there were 9 Islamic terrorist attacks and thwarted terrorist plots where at least one of the perpetrators had entered Germany as an asylum seeker during the European migrant crisis. The Islamic terrorists entered Germany either without identity documents or with falsified documents. The number of discovered plots began to decline in 2017. In 2020 German authorities noted that the majority of the asylum seekers entered Germany without identification papers during the crisis and security agencies considered unregulated immigration as problematic from a security aspect. Between 2020 and May 2025, 9 terrorist attacks classified as Islamist took place, including the 2020 Dresden stabbing and the 2024 Solingen stabbings. These attacks typically used knives and vehicles; attackers were increasingly young and radicalized online, especially as a result of the Gaza war, and typically acted alone without formal membership of terrorist groups such as Islamic State.

Thwarted islamist terror attacks

In December 2019, German authorities reported to have thwarted ten Islamic terrorist plots since the 2016 Berlin truck attack, including one in Cologne in 2018. Between 2020 and 2025, 20 Islamic terrorist attacks were publicly reported as being prevented by German authorities.

2025 Christmas market arrests

In December 2025, five men were arrested in Germany on suspicion of plotting a vehicle attack on a Christmas market in southern Bavarian state, with authorities suspecting an"Islamist motive". The suspects included three Moroccans, an Egyptian, and a Syrian, who were detained over the plan. Prosecutors stated that the 56 year old Egyptian, reportedly an imam, had called for a vehicle attack "with the aim of killing or injuring as many people as possible," while the Moroccan men, aged 30, 28, and 22, allegedly agreed to carry out the attack. The 37-year-old Syrian was accused of encouraging the others in their planned actions. Officials did not disclose the intended date or exact target but believed the planned attack was in the Dingolfing-Landau area, northeast of Munich. Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann praised the "excellent cooperation between our security services" for preventing a potentially Islamist-motivated attack.

List of international terrorist incidents (outside Germany) with significant German casualties

Response to terrorism

The terrorism of the 1970s has formed Germany's political culture and its policy of not negotiating with terrorists. It also led to the formation of the GSG9 counter-terrorism unit. In 1972, a law was passed, the Extremist Act, which banned radicals or those with a 'questionable' political persuasion from public sector jobs.
In 2019 the Federal Criminal Police Office created a department dedicated towards Islamic terrorism and extremism.
Traditionally counter-terrorist organisations in Germany have been slower to respond to extreme right-wing groups than extreme left-wing ones. It has been suggested that this is due to the extreme right being seen as corrigible while the extreme left are regarded as incorrigible. Thus because the extreme left are seen as targeting the heart of the German political system while the extreme right is not, this tends to result in a reduced response to extreme right-wing terrorism. In addition, far-right terrorism was at times dubiously regarded as a form of terrorism by the security services, as it did not seem to have self-explanatory political statements nor were any official announcements made by far-right groups explaining the act; for example, a house burning of Turkish immigrants was initially blamed on organised crime and was only later determined to have been perpetrated by extreme right-wing groups, leading officials to doubt it was a form of terrorism as it did not seem to have any broader political goals beyond the killing itself.

In popular culture

A number of books and films address this topic.

Films