List of school attacks in Germany

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (February 2025)

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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

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Date  | Location  | Dead  | Injured  | Description

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20 June 1913  | St-Marien-Schule in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, German Empire | 5 (4 directly)  | 21  | 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.
11 June 1964  | Catholic Elementary School in Cologne, West Germany | 11 (including the perpetrator)  | 22  | 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
3 June 1983  | Freiherr-vom-Stein Gesamtschule in Eppstein, West Germany | 6 (including the perpetrator)  | 14  | 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.[1]
November 9 1999  | Franziskaneum Gymnasium in Meissen, Saxony | 1  | 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.[2][3]
March 16 2000  | Secondary school in Brannenburg, Bavaria | 1  | 1 (the perpetrator)  | 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.[4]
February 19 2002  | Landkreis Freising Wirtschaftsschule in Freising, Bavaria; an Eching company  | 4 (including the perpetrator)  | 1  | 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.[5]
26 April 2002  | Gutenberg-Gymnasium in Erfurt, Thuringia | 17 (including the perpetrator)  | 1  | Erfurt school massacre: 19-year-old expelled student Robert Steinhäuser shot and killed 16 people, including a police officer before killing himself.[6]
July 2 2003  | Coburger Realschule 2 in Coburg, Bavaria | 1 (the perpetrator)  | 1  | 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 | 1 (perpetrator)  | 37  | 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.[7][8]
July 6 2007  | Schüler der Kuseler Berufsschule in Kusel, Rhineland-Palatinate | 1 (the perpetrator)  | 1  | 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.[9][10]
11 March 2009  | Albertville-Realschule in Winnenden, Baden-Württemberg; a nearby car dealership in Wendlingen | 16 (including the perpetrator and 2 in Wendlingen)  | 9  | 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.[11]
May 11 2009  | Albert Einstein Gymnasium in Sankt Augustin, North Rhine-Westphalia | 0  | 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.[12]
17 September 2009  | Gymnasium Carolinum in Ansbach, Bavaria | 0  | 16 (including the perpetrator)  | 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.[13]
February 26 2013  | Hauptmann-Gymnasium in Wernigerode, Saxony-Anhalt | 0  | 2  | A 15-year-old student shot two classmates in the neck and face with a blank gun before being restrained.[14][15]
January 24 2022  | University of Heidelberg in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg | 2 (including the perpetrator)  | 3  | 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.
May 19 2022  | Lloyd-Gymnasium [de] in Bremerhaven, Bremen | 0  | 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.[16] 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.[17]
May 3 2023  | Evangelische Schule Neukölln in Berlin | 0  | 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.[18]
May 24 2023  | Vocational school in Wildeshausen, Lower Saxony | 0  | 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.[19][20]
June 10 2022  | Hochschule Hamm-Lippstadt (HSHL) in Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalia | 1  | 3  | 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.[21]
August 23 2023  | Primary school in Bischofswerda, Saxony | 0  | 2 (including the perpetrator)  | 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.[22][23]
November 9, 2023  | Secondary school in Offenburg, Baden-Württemberg | 1  | 0  | 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.[24]
22 February 2024  | Wilhelm Dörpfeld Gymnasium in Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia  | 0  | 4 (including the perpetrator)  | A 17-year-old student stabbed three other students during a break in lessons, before severely injuring himself also.[25]
February 28 2024  | Secondary school in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia | 0  | 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[26]
July 19 2024  | Secondary school in Wedel, Schleswig-Holstein | 0  | 1  | Four people have been arrested on suspicion of stabbing and seriously injuring a 67-year-old music teacher.[27]
December 2 2024  | Georg-Zacharias-Grundschule in Berlin | 0  | 44  | An unidentified man threw tear gas at children at a Berlin school, injuring 44 students, one of them seriously.[28]

## References

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1. ^ "Classroom Gun Rampage Leaves 6 Germans Dead". The New York Times. 1983-06-04. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-02-01.
2. ^ "15-jähriger Gymnasiast erstach in Meißen mit zwei Messern seine Lehrerin: Motiv: Hass". Berliner Zeitung (in German). 1999-11-09. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
3. ^ "Mord an Lehrerin: Lange Jugendstrafe für 15-Jährigen". Der Spiegel (in German). 2000-05-29. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
4. ^ "Bluttat von Brannenburg: Internatsleiter erlag seinen Schussverletzungen". Der Spiegel (in German). 2000-03-22. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
5. ^ "Freisinger Blutbad: Zwischen den Todes-Schüssen eine kalte Coca-Cola". Der Spiegel (in German). 2002-02-19. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
6. ^ "Eyewitness: Erfurt massacre". BBC News. 2002-04-26. Retrieved 2025-02-01.
7. ^ Connolly, Kate (2007-11-21). "School massacre plots hatched on internet". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-02-01.
8. ^ Jüttner, Julia (2006-11-21). "German School Shooting: Armed to the Teeth and Crying for Help". Der Spiegel. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2025-02-01.
9. ^ "Beziehungsdrama: Die letzte Stunde". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). ISSN 1865-2263. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
10. ^ "Rheinland-Pfalz: Selbstmord-Drama war eine Beziehungstat - WELT". DIE WELT (in German). Retrieved 2025-02-03.
11. ^ "German school gunman 'kills 15'". BBC News. 2009-03-11. Retrieved 2025-02-01.
12. ^ "Teen girl who stabbed student planned arson - The Local". 2011-07-23. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
13. ^ Höpcke, Hauke; Bayer, Gudrun (2009-09-17). "Ansbach: Amoklauf am Gymnasium Carolinum" [Ansbach: Shooting spree at Carolinum Secondary School]. Nürnberger Nachrichten (in German). Archived from the original on 2009-09-22. Retrieved 2025-02-01.
14. ^ Kugenbuch, Petra Korn und Ingo. "Schüsse in Wernigerode: 15-Jährige gilt als Einzelgängerin". www.mz.de (in German). Retrieved 2025-02-03.
15. ^ Bruns, Julia. "Eltern sprechen über Schüsse in der Raabe-Schule". www.volksstimme.de (in German). Retrieved 2025-02-03.
16. ^ dpa (2022-05-19). "Amokalarm: 21-Jähriger schoss in Bremerhavener Schule mit Armbrust". Die Zeit (in German). ISSN 0044-2070. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
17. ^ "Berkan S. (21) schoss an Schule um sich: 8 Jahre Psycho-Klinik für Armbrust-Attentäter". bild.de (in German). 2023-02-27. Retrieved 2025-04-16.
18. ^ "Berlin-Neuköln: Zwei Kinder an Schule von Mann niedergestochen". FAZ.NET (in German). 2023-05-04. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
19. ^ "17-Jähriger sticht mit Messer auf Mitschüler ein". OM online. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
20. ^ Maschke, Sabine; Stecher, Ludwig (2010), "Was man tun muss, um in der Klasse beliebt zu sein", In der Schule, Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, pp. 39–52, doi:10.1007/978-3-531-92377-2_3, ISBN 978-3-8100-3740-4, retrieved 2025-02-03
21. ^ dpa, Von. "Messerattacke an Hochschule Hamm: Täter muss in Psychiatrie". www.wn.de (in German). Retrieved 2025-02-03.
22. ^ "Messerangriff Bischofswerda: Angreifer wollte wohl Schule anzünden - Gisbo.de". www.gisbo.de (in German). 2023-08-29. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
23. ^ "Bischofswerda: Junge bei Messerangriff an Schule verletzt". ZDFheute (in German). 2023-08-23. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
24. ^ tagesschau.de. "Offenburg: Jugendlicher nach Schusswaffenangriff an Schule gestorben". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 2025-02-03.
25. ^ "Germany: 17-year-old charged in school knife attack". Deutsche Welle. 2024-04-25. Retrieved 2025-02-01.
26. ^ "Kinder mit Messer angegriffen: Prozess am Landgericht Duisburg gegen 21-Jährigen gestartet". www1.wdr.de (in German). 2024-08-14. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
27. ^ "Messerstiche an Schule in Wedel: Vier Syrer wegen Mordversuch in U-Haft". bild.de (in German). 2024-08-22. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
28. ^ "Pfefferspray an Grundschule in Weißensee versprüht - 22 Kinder im Krankenhaus". www.rbb24.de (in German). Retrieved 2025-02-03.