The number of knife-related incidents at train stations in Germany has seen a significant rise, more than doubling since 2019. The statistics, disclosed by the German Federal Police, reveal a concerning trend of increasing violence in these public spaces.
As of August 31 this year, there have been 527 recorded violent crimes involving the use of a knife at German train stations. This averages out to over two knife attacks per day. The figures, obtained by Martin Hess, a Member of Parliament for the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, highlight a growing security concern.
In the most recent data available, 788 knife-related crimes have been reported in the current year alone, marking a nearly 40 percent increase from the previous year. This figure is double that of 2019, which serves as a pre-lockdown benchmark.
Of the 788 reported offenses this year, the federal police detained 589 suspects, with 209 identified as foreign nationals. This means that foreign nationals constitute 35 percent of suspects in knife-related incidents at German train stations, a disproportionate representation considering they make up 16 percent of the total population.
The primary nationalities among foreign suspects include Syrians, Poles, Moroccans, and Turks.
In addition to the surge in knife-related attacks, Germany has witnessed an increase in violent incidents at train stations. Notably, foreign nationals are prominently overrepresented among the suspects.
One method used involves pushing victims onto train tracks, with 49 such cases recorded in 2021—a notable increase from the 29 cases reported in the previous year.
A report by Deutsche Welle highlighted that out of 65 known suspects involved in such attacks in recent years, 38 were not German nationals, underscoring a notable correlation with migrant-related crime.
Similar trends are being observed in neighboring France. Annual figures from the French Ministry of the Interior’s statistics bureau indicate that 69 percent of violent robberies and sexual assaults on public transport in the Île-de-France region, which encompasses Paris, were perpetrated by foreign nationals.
