List of school attacks in Germany

The following is a list of school attacks in Germany, including stabbings and shootings that took place in daycare centers, schools, universities and other educational centers.

List

German Empire

Main article: Bremen school shooting

3 incidents.

Date Location Perpetrator(s) Dead Injured Total Description
25 May 1871 Saarbrücken Gymnasium, inSaarbrücken, Saarland Julius Becker (18) 0 2 2 An 18-year-old student opened fire at Saarbrücken Gymnasium, wounding two people.[1]
17 July 1912 Secondary school inHeilbronn, Baden-Württemberg Unnamed 18-year-old male student 0 1 (the perpetrator) 1 An 18-year-old student, armed with a revolver and a knife, fired shots at his teacher, missing them, before shooting and stabbing himself.[2]
20 June 1913 St-Marien-Schule in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen Heinz Schmidt (29) 5 (4 directly) 21 26 Bremen school shooting: A 29-year-old unemployed teacher Heinz Schmidt, who was rejected from being employed by the school, opened fire in the school, killing five girls and wounding at least 21 people before being subdued by school staff.[3]

Weimar Repuplic

3 incidents.

Date Location Perpetrator(s) Dead Injured Total Description
December 1928 University of Marburg in Marburg, Hesse Unnamed perpetrator 0 1 1 A gunman opened fire and wounded a professor at a university in Hesse.[4]
December 1929 Secondary school in Altona, Hamburg, Hamburg Unnamed student 1 0 1 A student shot and killed a classmate inside a school.[5]
May 1932 Secondary school in Wittlich, Rhineland-Palatinate Unnamed student 0 0 0 A student fired shots at his teacher, missing him, before being detained.[6]

West Germany

Main articles: Cologne school massacre, Eppstein school shooting, and Hermann Greive

6 incidents.

Date Location Perpetrator(s) Dead Injured Description
11 June 1964 Catholic Elementary School in Cologne Walter Seifert (42) 11 (including the perpetrator) 22 33 Cologne school massacre: Walter Seifert attacked the people at the school with a home-made flamethrower and a spear, killing eleven people and wounding twenty-two others. When police arrived at the scene, Seifert fled from the school compound, poisoned himself, and died the same evening.[7]
17 July 1964 University of Bonn in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia Unnamed student 2 (including the perpetrator) 0 0 A 24-year-old student killed his 21-year-old classmate at the University of Bonn before killing himself with arsenic.[8]
16 January 1982 Secondary school in Giengen, Baden-Württemberg Unnamed 19-year-old male student 0 2 2 A 19-year-old student shot and wounded two teachers after receiving low grades.[9]
20 December 1972 University of Erlangen–Nuremberg inErlangen, Bavaria Robert Kausler 3 (including the perpetrator) 13 16 Robert Kausler initiated a shooting and arson attack at the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg, killing two people and injuring thirteen others. Kausler died in the fire.[10]
3 June 1983 Freiherr-vom-Stein Gesamtschule in Eppstein 6 (including the perpetrator) 14 20 Eppstein school shooting: 34-year-old Karel Charva fatally shot three students, a teacher and a police officer and injured another 14 people using two semi-automatic pistols, before committing suicide.[11]
25 January 1984 University of Cologne in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia Sabine S. Gehlhaar 1 1 2 Hermann Greive: Two teachers were shot by Sabine S. Gehlhaar, resulting in the death of Hermann Greive.

Germany

Main articles: Erfurt school massacre and Coburg shooting

25 incidents.

Date Location Perpetrator(s) Dead Injured Total Description
9 November 1999 Franziskaneum Gymnasium in Meissen, Saxony Andreas S. 1 0 0 A 44-year-old teacher identified as Sigrun L. was stabbed 22 times by 15-year-old Andreas S., who used a knife in the crime. The teacher managed to escape, crawled close to the stairs, but ended up dying. The student was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.[12][13]
16 March 2000 Secondary school in Brannenburg, Bavaria Unnamed 16-year-old male student 1 1 (the perpetrator) 2 The 57-year-old director was shot by a 16-year-old student and later died in hospital. The student attempted suicide by shooting himself and is in a coma in the hospital.[14]
19 February 2002 Landkreis Freising Wirtschaftsschule in Freising, Bavaria; an Eching company Adam Labus (22) 4 (including the perpetrator) 1 5 Adam Labus, 22 years old, a Polish man who lives in Germany, armed himself with a pistol and homemade bombs, Lubus went to his company where he previously worked in a taxi and shot two employees, the manager died at the scene and the foreman succumbed to his injuries later. Labus took the taxi again to go to a business school, where he killed the director and shot a teacher, before shooting himself in the head and dying.[15]
26 April 2002 Gutenberg-Gymnasium in Erfurt, Thuringia Robert Steinhäuser (19) 17 (including the perpetrator) 1 17 Erfurt school massacre: 19-year-old expelled student Robert Steinhäuser shot and killed 16 people, including a police officer before killing himself.[16]
2 July 2003 Coburger Realschule 2 in Coburg, Bavaria Florian Klein (16) 1 (the perpetrator) 1 2 Coburg shooting: 16-year-old Florian Klein shot a school psychologist after trying to take away his gun while showing it to his classmates. After the shots, Klein died from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head.
20 November 2006 Geschwister-Scholl-Schule in Emsdetten, North Rhine-Westphalia Sebastian Bosse 1 (the perpetrator) 37 38 Emsdetten school shooting: Former student Sebastian Bosse shot and wounded 8 people and set off several smoke bombs before committing suicide. A teacher was injured when a smoke bomb hit her face. 28 others were injured as a result of smoke inhalation.[17][18]
6 July 2007 Schüler der Kuseler Berufsschule in Kusel, Rhineland-Palatinate Michael B. (24) 1 (the perpetrator) 1 2 Michael B., a 24-year-old man suffering from cancer, met at the bus stop with his ex-girlfriend, a 16-year-old student who didn't want to talk to him and ran away to school. Michael chased the student and shot her in the thigh while she was at the entrance to the institution. The teachers who realized what happened chased Michael and, when Michael realized this, he shot himself in the head with his pistol and died in the hospital.[19][20]
11 March 2009 Albertville-Realschule in Winnenden, Baden-Württemberg Tim Kretschmer 16 (including the perpetrator and 2 in Wendlingen) 9 25 Winnenden school shooting: A former student opened fire in the school and fled in a stolen car. He killed himself in a shootout near a car dealership.[21]
11 May 2009 Albert Einstein Gymnasium in Sankt Augustin, North Rhine-Westphalia Tanja Otto (16) 0 1 1 Tanja Otto, 16 years old, a student at the Albert Einstein gymnasium, armed with a pistol, flamethrower, Molotov cocktails and five kilos of gunpowder, cut a classmate. Otto escaped from school and went home, where she was later detained.[22]
17 September 2009 Gymnasium Carolinum in Ansbach, Bavaria Georg R. (18) 0 16 (including the perpetrator) 16 Ansbach school attack: A school student attacked the school, armed with knives, Molotov cocktails, and an axe, he injured 15 before being shot and arrested by police.[23]
26 February 2013 Hauptmann-Gymnasium in Wernigerode, Saxony-Anhalt Unnamed 15-year-old male student 0 2 2 A 15-year-old student shot two classmates in the neck and face with a blank gun before being restrained.[24][25]
24 January 2022 University of Heidelberg in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg Nikolai G. (18) 2 (including the perpetrator) 3 5 Heidelberg University shooting: Nikolai G., an 18-year-old student at Heidelberg University, fired shotgun blasts into the freshmen's hall, where there were 30 students participating in chemistry classes. Four people were hit, one woman died in hospital and the other three were injured and survived. Nikolai killed himself after the shots.[26]
19 May 2022 Lloyd-Gymnasium in Bremerhaven, Bremen Berkan S. 0 1 1 A teacher was seriously injured by 21-year-old former student Berkan S., who used a crossbow, two knives and two bladed weapons in the attack.[27] The perpetrator then ran outside, fired several more bolts, and then laid down on the floor as police arrived. He was arrested and later sentenced to 8 years' imprisonment with psychiatric care for attempted murder. During his trial, he was diagnosed with depression and a psychiatric disorder, and had reportedly been hoping responding police would shoot him dead.[28]
10 June 2022 Hochschule Hamm-Lippstadt (HSHL) in Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalia Unnamed 34-year-old man 1 3 4 An unidentified 34-year-old man attacked a teacher and three students with a knife on the Hochschule Hamm-Lippstadt (HSHL) campus, one teacher died days after the attack, and the other victims recovered. The man was arrested and later convicted.[29]
3 May 2023 Evangelische Schule Neukölln in Berlin Unnamed 38-year-old man 0 2 2 A 38-year-old man broke into the courtyard of Evangelische Schule Neukölln and stabbed two students aged 7 and 8, causing minor injuries to the two victims and the suspect was arrested.[30]
24 May 2023 Vocational school in Wildeshausen, Lower Saxony Unnamed 17-year-old male student 0 1 1 A 17-year-old student stabbed another 16-year-old student in the institution's bathroom, the student was rescued and is doing well. The student was detained after the attack.[31][32]
23 August 2023 Primary school in Bischofswerda, Saxony Unnamed 16-year-old male student 0 2 (including the perpetrator) 2 A 16-year-old former student at a primary school in Bischofswerda surprised an 8-year-old student, stabbing him and seriously injuring him. Before that, the former student set himself on fire and was rescued and taken to the hospital, where he remained in a coma.[33][34]
9 November 2023 Secondary school in Offenburg, Baden-Württemberg Mateja Z. (15) 1 0 1 Mateja Z., a 15-year-old student, shot twice at a classmate of the same age who died in the hospital. The student was talked into dropping the weapon by an adult, upon arrival of the authorities he was arrested.[35]
22 February 2024 Wilhelm Dörpfeld Gymnasium in Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia Unnamed 17-year-old male student 0 4 (including the perpetrator) 4 A 17-year-old student stabbed three other students during a break in lessons, before severely injuring himself also.[36]
28 February 2024 Secondary school in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia Unnamed 21-year-old man 0 2 2 A 21-year-old man, armed with a knife, hammer and flashlight, attacked a 9-year-old girl with a hammer and stabbed a 10-year-old boy with a knife, injuring them both slightly. The suspect was detained and will be hospitalized indefinitely because he has schizophrenia.[37]
19 July 2024 Secondary school in Wedel, Schleswig-Holstein Unnamed perpetrators 0 1 6 Four people have been arrested on suspicion of stabbing and seriously injuring a 67-year-old music teacher.[38]
2 December 2024 Georg-Zacharias-Grundschule in Berlin Unnamed 0 44 44 An unidentified man sprayed animal repellent at children at a Berlin school, injuring 44 students, one of them seriously.[39]
7 January 2025 Unamed school bus Unnamed 14-year-old male student 0 1 1 An undentified 13-year old stabbed a 14-year old as he was entering a school bus. The attack happened around 07:00 AM on 7 January 2025 at a bus stop on Rothenburger Straße in Schnelldorf, as students waited for their school bus.[40][41][42][43][44]
5 September 2025· Bildungspark vocational college in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia Unnamed 17-year-old male student 0 2 (1 outside the school) 2 A 17-year-old male from Kosovo stabbed a man on a bus, then attacked a teacher and injured them at a vocational college.[45]
8 October 2025 Westfalenkolleg in Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia Unnamed 0 1 1 A 25-year-old stabbed a woman at a vocational school.[46]

See also

References

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