MesserMonitor statistics place published knife attacks, knife threats, robbery and extortion involving a knife in their regional and temporal context. The federal-state comparison shows case counts and cases per 100,000 residents. Further analysis shows absolute case numbers by period, case type, level of use and reported injury outcome.
Comparison year2025
Federal states compared · 2025
Cases through December 31, 2025
Comparison of published cases by federal state with population, immigration history and people seeking protection.
Population Immigration history People seeking protectionMesserMonitor cases
Baden-Württemberg
11,245,909 Population
13.47 %32.06 %3.40 %
491 Cases · 4.37 Cases per 100,000 residents
Bavaria
13,260,815 Population
15.88 %26.18 %2.98 %
382 Cases · 2.88 Cases per 100,000 residents
Berlin
3,701,307 Population
4.43 %35.45 %5.21 %
196 Cases · 5.30 Cases per 100,000 residents
Brandenburg
2,552,851 Population
3.06 %10.07 %2.96 %
72 Cases · 2.82 Cases per 100,000 residents
Bremen
706,901 Population
0.85 %40.03 %6.62 %
80 Cases · 11.32 Cases per 100,000 residents
Hamburg
1,869,801 Population
2.24 %35.51 %4.12 %
53 Cases · 2.83 Cases per 100,000 residents
Hesse
6,281,600 Population
7.52 %33.51 %4.42 %
352 Cases · 5.60 Cases per 100,000 residents
Lower Saxony
8,002,922 Population
9.58 %22.62 %4.24 %
314 Cases · 3.92 Cases per 100,000 residents
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
1,567,290 Population
1.88 %8.61 %3.34 %
69 Cases · 4.40 Cases per 100,000 residents
North Rhine-Westphalia
17,999,392 Population
21.55 %30.14 %4.40 %
847 Cases · 4.71 Cases per 100,000 residents
Rhineland-Palatinate
4,124,910 Population
4.94 %25.87 %3.51 %
172 Cases · 4.17 Cases per 100,000 residents
Saarland
1,008,047 Population
1.21 %24.11 %5.35 %
18 Cases · 1.79 Cases per 100,000 residents
Saxony
4,024,188 Population
4.82 %10.49 %3.41 %
141 Cases · 3.50 Cases per 100,000 residents
Saxony-Anhalt
2,121,638 Population
2.54 %9.95 %3.69 %
79 Cases · 3.72 Cases per 100,000 residents
Schleswig-Holstein
2,959,859 Population
3.54 %19.29 %4.03 %
121 Cases · 4.09 Cases per 100,000 residents
Thuringia
2,081,288 Population
2.49 %10.19 %3.49 %
100 Cases · 4.80 Cases per 100,000 residents
Analysis and result
The figures are based on publicly reported cases found through the evaluated sources.
Social context
Each point represents a federal state. Its position connects the selected social indicator with published cases per 100,000 residents.
Area statesCity states
Result for the selected indicatorData table and sources
Following an argument, a minor allegedly attacked a man in Unna with a knife and a hatchet-like object. The attack was thwarted and the suspect was remanded in custody.
Three people allegedly threatened and robbed a man in his Gnarrenburg apartment using a knife, scissors and a hammer. Two suspects were provisionally detained.
Following an argument in a car park in Eggenfelden, a man is alleged to have seriously injured a 41-year-old man with a knife. The suspect is in pre-trial detention.
A 41-year-old man suffered stab wounds to his face and neck after an altercation at Nettelbeckplatz in Berlin. The suspected attacker allegedly used scissors and fled.
A 22-year-old man is alleged to have forced a taxi driver in Bannewitz to continue the journey by threatening him with a knife. Police later provisionally detained him.
A 38-year-old man was threatened with a knife and ordered to hand over cash after leaving a venue on Johannisstraße in Jena. Police found three suspects nearby and provisionally detained the alleged main offender.
Two men are suspected of demanding customers' wallets with a knife at a supermarket in Brandenburg an der Havel. The customers handed over no money, and police provisionally detained two suspects.
Two masked people are alleged to have used a stabbing implement to force a 26-year-old pedestrian in Eisenhüttenstadt to empty his bag and took a smartphone.
During a robbery targeting two cash-in-transit employees in Berlin-Charlottenburg, a masked man threatened one of them with a machete. A second suspect sprayed the other employee in the face with pepper spray.
An unidentified man allegedly threatened two teenagers with a knife in Duisburg to obtain valuables. When they refused, he used irritant spray and slightly injured one of them.
A man approached police officers with a knife in Bremen and was arrested by specialist officers after irritant spray was used. Police said he had previously triggered the deployment with a fabricated emergency call.
