Germany is experiencing a significant escalation in politically motivated crime (PMK). Research conducted by “Welt am Sonntag” indicates that German federal states recorded at least 85,000 politically motivated offenses in 2025. This figure surpasses the previous record of 84,172 incidents logged in 2024, and within just a decade, the number of such crimes has more than doubled from 38,981 cases reported in 2015.
While data was provided by 15 federal states to the publication, the total figures could potentially rise as Rhineland-Palatinate is still compiling its findings following local elections and a change in its Interior Minister.
Security authorities are particularly concerned about the sustained high level of violence alongside this trend. Nationwide, politically motivated acts of violence increased by 1.2 percent, moving from 4,107 to 4,156 incidents. These violent offenses include assault (body injury), arson and explosive crimes, and breaches of public peace. Investigators attributed these violent acts in the data pool to right-extremists in 1,598 cases and the left wing in 1,087 cases; the remainder were categorized as foreign, religious, or other.
The rise is primarily linked by investigators to the deeply polarized atmosphere created by the 2025 federal election campaign, combined with international crises such as the conflict in the Middle East, as well as shifts in reporting behavior regarding online hate comments and political insults.
Right-extremists remain the main force driving politically motivated criminality, responsible for roughly half of all recorded offenses. A significant portion of these crimes-over 42,000 incidents overall-relates to propaganda infractions. Experts view right extremism as continuing to pose the greatest threat to democracy. Conversely, left-extremist crimes registered the strongest growth, rising by approximately 35 percent to exceed 13,000 cases. Left-wing violence saw an even steeper increase of 42.6 percent, reaching 1,087 incidents.
Many state politicians have issued stern warnings about this development. The Interior Minister of Hesse, Roman Poseck (CDU), noted the disturbing trend that political disagreements are increasingly being settled through threats, hatred, and violence rather than reasoned debate. Similarly, the NRW Interior Minister, Herbert Reul (CDU), stressed that these statistics serve as a “call to action,” declaring that PMK is no longer marginal but a severe test for democracy, marked by more crime, more violence, and an unseen rise in anti-constitutional elements.
The new Minister of Baden-Württemberg, Manuel Hagel (CDU), pledged a decisive state response against all forms of attacks on the constitution. SPD political spokesperson Sebastian Fiedler echoed these concerns, stating that politically motivated violence undermines the rule of law and must be strictly pursued.
