Germany: 930 Islamophobic Crimes in 9 Months
Germany has experienced a dramatic and accelerating rise in Islamophobic violence, discrimination, and far-right political mobilisation targeting its 5.5 million Muslim residents. From the emergence of PEGIDA in 2014 through the AfD's entry into parliament in 2017 and the deadly Hanau shooting in 2020, anti-Muslim hostility has become deeply embedded in German society — a 2023 government-commissioned study found that every second German agrees with anti-Muslim statements. Official police statistics show Islamophobic crimes more than doubling from 610 in 2022 to 1,464 in 2023, while civil society groups documented 3,080 anti-Muslim incidents in 2024 alone. Over 800 mosques have been attacked since 2014. The AfD — classified as a confirmed right-wing extremist organisation by German intelligence in 2025 — has normalised anti-Muslim rhetoric in mainstream politics, winning its first state election in Thuringia with 34% of the vote. Despite landmark reports and recommendations, the German government has been criticised by Human Rights Watch for falling short in addressing structural Islamophobia, with only 4% of affected Muslims reporting discrimination.
Timeline
September 30, 2025
930 Islamophobic Crimes in First 9 Months of 2025
The Federal Criminal Police Office recorded 930 Islamophobic crimes from January to September 2025, including 31 attacks on mosques in which 37 people were injured (one seriously). Crimes included public incitement, insults, threats, property damage, and physical assault. The vast majority were attributed to far-right extremists.
SourceMay 2, 2025
BfV Designates Entire AfD as 'Confirmed Extremist'
Germany's domestic intelligence agency officially classified the entire AfD party as a 'confirmed right-wing extremist endeavour' in a 1,100-page report. Central to the assessment was the party's anti-Muslim stance and its favouring of ethnic Germans over migrants. The classification enables full surveillance powers including wiretapping and use of undercover agents.
SourceDecember 31, 2024
2024: Record 3,080 Anti-Muslim Incidents Documented
CLAIM reported 3,080 cases of anti-Muslim discrimination or violence in 2024, a 60% increase from 1,926 in 2023. Official police figures recorded over 1,550 Islamophobic crimes with 54 mosques attacked and 53 people injured. The surge was attributed to the AfD's growing influence, the Solingen attack backlash, and the broader post-October 7 climate.
SourceSeptember 1, 2024
AfD Wins 34% in Thuringia — First Far-Right State Election Victory
The AfD won 32.8% of the vote in Thuringia's state election, becoming the largest party in a German state parliament for the first time since World War II. The party also won 30.6% in Saxony. Its anti-Islam, anti-immigration platform resonated particularly in eastern Germany, where Muslim populations are small but fear of 'Islamisation' runs high.
SourceAugust 23, 2024
Solingen Festival Knife Attack Triggers Anti-Muslim Backlash
Three people were killed and eight injured in a mass stabbing at Solingen's 'Festival of Diversity.' The attacker, a 26-year-old Syrian refugee, was linked to ISIS. The attack triggered a major anti-Muslim and anti-refugee backlash, with the AfD demanding mass deportations. The government responded by tightening asylum rules and weapons laws.
SourceMay 31, 2024
Mannheim Knife Attack at Anti-Islam Rally Kills Police Officer
At a rally by the Islamophobic group Pax Europa in Mannheim, a 25-year-old Afghan refugee stabbed anti-Islam activist Michael Stürzenberger and four others, and killed police officer Rouven Laur, 29. The attacker was convicted of murder with Islamist motives and sentenced to life imprisonment. The AfD exploited the attack to further its anti-immigration agenda.
SourceApril 30, 2024
Human Rights Watch: Germany 'Falling Short' on Anti-Muslim Racism
HRW published a report criticising Germany's failure to implement the recommendations of its own expert commission on Islamophobia. The Interior Ministry had neither engaged with the experts who produced the 2023 report nor carried out their recommendations. Only 4% of Muslims who experience discrimination actually report it.
SourceApril 14, 2024
2023 Final Tally: Islamophobic Crimes More Than Doubled
Official government figures revealed 1,464 Islamophobic crimes were recorded in Germany in 2023, more than doubling the 610 recorded in 2022. Civil society group CLAIM documented an even higher figure of 1,926 anti-Muslim incidents, including 178 physical assaults, 4 attempted murders, 5 arson attacks, and 93 cases of property damage.
SourceOctober 7, 2023
Post-October 7 Surge in Anti-Muslim Incidents
Following the outbreak of the Israel-Palestine conflict, anti-Muslim incidents in Germany surged dramatically. CLAIM documented at least 679 anti-Muslim incidents between October and December 2023 alone. Mosques received a sharp increase in threatening letters, some containing burned Quran pages, pork, and feces, signed with the neo-Nazi alias 'NSU 2.0.'
SourceAugust 10, 2023
258 Anti-Islam Crimes Recorded in First Half of 2023
German government data revealed 258 anti-Islam crimes in the first six months of 2023, including verbal insults, threatening letters, physical assaults, and property damage targeting mosques and Muslim individuals. The figure was already on pace to exceed the 610 total from all of 2022.
SourceJune 29, 2023
Government Report: Every Second German Holds Anti-Muslim Views
The Independent Expert Circle on Anti-Muslim Hostility (UEM) published a landmark 400-page report commissioned by Germany's Interior Ministry. The three-year study found that one in two Germans agrees with anti-Muslim statements and that anti-Muslim sentiments are deeply embedded in institutional structures including policing, education, and media.
SourceApril 26, 2023
BfV Classifies AfD Youth Wing as Extremist
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution officially classified the Junge Alternative (Young Alternative), the AfD's youth wing, as a confirmed extremist group. The BfV determined that the youth wing rejects the integration of non-European immigrants based on 'biological assumptions' and promotes Islamophobic ideology.
SourceJune 16, 2022
Report: Over 800 Mosque Attacks Since 2014
Rights group TAG (Türkische Gemeinde in Deutschland) reported that over 800 attacks on mosques had been recorded in Germany since 2014, including arson, vandalism, graffiti, broken windows, and the leaving of pig heads or animal carcasses. Police registered 610 Islamophobic hate crimes in 2022, with 62 mosques attacked and 39 people injured.
SourceMarch 4, 2021
BfV Classifies AfD as Extremism 'Suspect Case'
Germany's domestic intelligence agency (BfV) upgraded the entire AfD party to a 'suspected case' of right-wing extremism, allowing authorities to use surveillance tools including informants. The BfV cited the party's xenophobic, anti-minority, and Islamophobic statements by leading officials as key evidence for the classification.
SourceFebruary 19, 2020
Hanau Terrorist Attack Kills 9 at Shisha Bars
Far-right extremist Tobias Rathjen, 43, shot and killed nine people at two shisha bars in Hanau, near Frankfurt, before killing his mother and himself. The victims, aged 21 to 44, included five Turkish nationals. Rathjen left a manifesto expressing deep-seated racism, anti-Muslim hatred, and belief in the 'Great Replacement' conspiracy theory. It was Germany's deadliest far-right attack in decades.
SourceAugust 26, 2018
Chemnitz Anti-Immigrant Riots After Fatal Stabbing
After a German man was fatally stabbed by two asylum seekers in Chemnitz, Saxony, thousands of far-right demonstrators including neo-Nazis and AfD supporters took to the streets over several days. Mobs chased and assaulted people of foreign appearance, performed Hitler salutes, and attacked a Jewish restaurant. The riots exposed the scale of far-right mobilisation in eastern Germany.
SourceSeptember 24, 2017
AfD Enters Bundestag as Third-Largest Party
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) won 12.6% of the vote and 94 seats in federal elections, entering the Bundestag for the first time. The party campaigned on an explicitly anti-Islam platform declaring Islam 'incompatible with German values' and calling for bans on minarets, burqas, and muezzin calls. Its entry marked the first far-right party in the German parliament since the 1950s.
SourceSeptember 26, 2016
Dresden Mosque Bombed by PEGIDA Supporter
Two homemade pipe bombs exploded at the Fatih Camii mosque in Dresden and at a nearby congress centre. No one was injured. Police arrested Nino K., a 29-year-old who had been a speaker at PEGIDA rallies. He was later convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison.
SourceDecember 31, 2015
Cologne New Year's Eve Assaults Fuel Anti-Muslim Backlash
Mass sexual assaults and robberies in Cologne on New Year's Eve, attributed largely to men of North African and Middle Eastern origin, triggered a massive anti-refugee and anti-Muslim backlash across Germany. The events were exploited by PEGIDA and the AfD to argue against refugee intake, and racist violence against asylum seekers surged in subsequent months.
SourceJanuary 12, 2015
PEGIDA Peaks at 25,000 Marchers
PEGIDA drew a record 25,000 protesters to its weekly rally in Dresden, its largest ever attendance. Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the movement, warning Germans not to follow organisers with 'prejudice, coldness, even hatred in their hearts.' Counter-demonstrations in Berlin, Cologne, and Stuttgart drew even larger crowds.
SourceOctober 20, 2014
PEGIDA Movement Founded in Dresden
Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West (PEGIDA) launched its first weekly march in Dresden with several hundred participants. By January 2015, weekly rallies in the city drew up to 25,000 supporters, making it Europe's largest anti-Islam street movement. PEGIDA's rise normalised anti-Muslim rhetoric in mainstream German discourse.
SourceQuick Stats