Politically motivated crimes against German politicians surge 40% in 2025

German police recorded 5,140 politically motivated crimes against party representatives and members in 2025, a 40% increase from 3,690 such crimes in 2024, according to a government response to a parliamentary inquiry by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). In 2023, police had counted 2,790 attacks on party members.

The data, contained in the government's reply to an AfD parliamentary question and obtained by ARD's capital city studio, covers all parties represented in the Bundestag at the start of 2025. The rise is partly attributed to the heated climate during the early 2025 election campaign, though the government noted that an increase in crimes against party representatives had already been observed in prior years.

The AfD was the most targeted party, with 1,852 attacks in 2025. According to police, these attacks came predominantly from the left-wing spectrum. The center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) saw 1,171 attacks in 2025, up sharply from about 420 in 2024. The Christian Social Union (CSU) recorded 168 attacks in 2025.

The Greens, who had been the most frequently targeted party in previous years while part of the now-defunct traffic-light coalition, were the target of 1,005 attacks in 2025, down from about 1,200 in each of the two prior years. Most crimes targeting Greens could not be assigned to a specific political spectrum, the government response indicated.

Violent crimes clearly attributed by police to the right-wing spectrum mainly targeted representatives of the Left Party, the document showed.

Of the total, 193 violent crimes against party representatives were recorded in 2025. More numerous were so-called "Äußerungsdelikte" (speech offenses including incitement, defamation, and insult), which reached 1,289 cases against party representatives. Other recorded offenses include graffiti on residential buildings, disruptions at information stands, and property damage.