Berlin’s former mayor and current senator, Franziska Giffey, was attacked by a man at a local library, marking the latest in a series of violent assaults on German politicians. Giffey, a prominent member of Germany’s center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), was briefly hospitalized after being struck on the head and neck with a bag “filled with hard contents,” according to police reports. The attack adds to a growing list of violent incidents targeting political figures and campaign workers, particularly in eastern Germany.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned the attacks, calling them “outrageous and cowardly,” and emphasized that “violence does not belong in a democratic debate.” Just days earlier, an SPD candidate in the upcoming European elections was seriously injured while putting up campaign posters in Dresden. Matthias Ecke, 41, had to undergo surgery after being assaulted by four people. Police are investigating four teenagers, with at least one linked to the far-right. In a separate incident, a campaign worker for the Greens in Dresden was beaten and kicked, while another Greens politician was spat on and shoved.
In response to these attacks, Berlin’s senator for the economy, Franziska Giffey, expressed shock and noted that political figures have increasingly become “fair game” for violence. She stated on Instagram that she had visited the Alt-Rudow library in the Neukölln district of Berlin because it held personal significance, adding, “I would have never thought it possible that I might come under attack there.” Giffey served as the mayor of Berlin in 2021 and previously as the federal minister for women and families in Angela Merkel’s last government.
The suspect in Giffey’s attack, a 74-year-old man, was already known to police for “state security and hate crimes.” Prosecutors are considering whether the man, who shows signs of mental illness, should be admitted to psychiatric care. Berlin’s center-left senator Iris Spranger condemned the recent surge in violence against politicians and campaign workers, stressing the importance of a “robust democracy.”
Germany’s interior ministers convened to discuss strategies to address the increasing violence. Brandenburg minister Michael Stübgen, who leads the conference of interior ministers, stated that existing criminal laws may no longer provide sufficient protection for politicians and campaigners. He warned that a “violent spiral” of physical attacks on both male and female politicians had developed, which is cause for great concern.
These attacks occur amid the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which is challenging for second place in the upcoming European Parliament elections and aspires to become the leading political force in eastern Germany’s state elections. However, the party has recently faced accusations of espionage, with an aide to its top EU candidate currently in custody.
