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
During an attempted robbery in Wesel, a second offender threatened a 31-year-old man with a knife. The victim fell while fleeing and sustained minor injuries.
Following a dispute outside a venue in Aue-Bad Schlema, two men allegedly attacked a 36-year-old man with a bread knife and a pocketknife. The man and one of the attackers sustained minor injuries.
The Bavarian police union cited the knife attack in Aschaffenburg while calling for increased security measures in public spaces. It referred to the violent deaths of a child and a 41-year-old helper in a public park.
A man allegedly demanded cash from a service worker at a Ludwigshafen shisha bar while displaying a knife. After she refused, he took money from the till and was later arrested.
A 20-year-old man was treated for stab wounds allegedly caused by a knife after a dispute at Berlin's Marx-Engels-Forum. The unidentified attacker fled.
An unidentified elderly woman was allegedly threatened with a knife and ordered to hand over cash outside a shopping centre in Cologne-Merheim. A suspect was located shortly afterwards.
A 38-year-old man was allegedly attacked by two men and superficially injured with a knife in his flat in Hamm on 25 January. One suspect has been remanded in custody.
A man is suspected of threatening a security employee and another resident with a knife at accommodation in Stuttgart-Feuerbach. A court ordered him held in pre-trial detention.
A resident of a supported living facility is alleged to have seriously injured a wheelchair user with a kitchen knife in Weiding. He is being investigated in connection with attempted homicide.
A 52-year-old man is alleged to have injured three men at an automotive business in Trossingen, including one man in the forearm with a knife. Police are investigating.
An unknown person reportedly injured a 38-year-old man in the abdomen with a knife in Freiburg. The man was taken to hospital and was able to leave shortly afterwards.
Two masked men reportedly forced a 68-year-old man in Cologne-Porz to hand over valuables while displaying a firearm and a knife. The resident was injured and tied up.
