Over the past decade, Germany has experienced a series of Islamist attacks that have exposed the deficiencies of both the country’s and the European Union’s immigration policies, at a high human cost. According to reports from the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV), the number of individuals classified as dangerous Islamists has increased drastically, rising from 550 in 2015 to over 2,000 in 2025, representing an almost fourfold increase in just ten years.
This sharp growth has led to a tightening of security policies, with increased surveillance and preventive detentions of terrorism suspects. However, some of these measures have sparked criticism, as they have involved restrictions on individual freedoms, including home raids for social media posts deemed “offensive,” a trend that has also been observed in the United Kingdom, especially for non-Islamists posting.
Between 2015 and 2025, Germany has been the scene of numerous Islamist attacks. According to reports from the BfV and the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), these follow a recurring pattern: radicalized individuals, mostly linked to ISIS, targeting public and symbolic places to inflict the highest number of casualties. The deadliest attack occurred at the Berlin Christmas market in 2016, with 12 fatalities. That same year, the country suffered three attacks in total, making it the most violent year of the decade.
The methods used by attackers included knives, vehicles, and explosives to maximize impact. Authorities dismantled cells and foiled attacks in 2017, 2022, and 2023. In 2017, an ISIS sympathizer was arrested in Berlin before he could detonate explosives in Alexanderplatz. In 2022, police prevented an attack planned against a Christmas market in Essen, arresting the suspects before they could act. In 2023, an intelligence operation successfully thwarted an attack on a synagogue in Düsseldorf, leading to the arrest of those responsible.
The first significant violence occurred in February 2015 when a man attacked a police officer with a knife while shouting “Allahu Akbar.” He was shot dead by security forces, and his actions, initially classified as an “isolated case” and attributed to mental health issues, were later linked to Islamist extremism.
In 2016, three high-impact attacks were recorded. On July 18th, a 17-year-old Afghan refugee attacked train passengers in Würzburg with an axe and a knife, injuring five before being shot dead. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. On July 24th, a 27-year-old Syrian refugee detonated a bomb at the entrance of a music festival in Ansbach, injuring 15 people and killing himself, confirming his loyalty to ISIS. On December 19th, a 24-year-old Tunisian rammed a truck into a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 and injuring dozens. ISIS claimed responsibility, and the attacker was later shot dead in Italy.
Terrorism remained a persistent threat in the following years. In April 2017, an asylum seeker who had lived in Germany carried out a truck attack in Stockholm, Sweden, killing five people. Again, ISIS claimed responsibility. In June, an ISIS sympathizer planned a bombing in Alexanderplatz, Berlin, but was arrested before he could execute the attack.
In 2020, more attacks with foreign links were identified. Notably, the November 2nd attack in Vienna was carried out by an individual with a criminal record in Germany, leading to close cooperation between German and Austrian authorities to dismantle transnational radicalization networks. The attacker killed four people before being shot dead and had declared allegiance to ISIS. Overall, this prompted Germany to increase surveillance of suspects and expand intelligence-sharing with other European countries.
In 2021, the Islamist threat persisted. On June 25th, a 24-year-old Somali man killed three people and injured several others in a knife attack in Würzburg. Although this deadly assault had Islamist elements, authorities again cited possible mental health issues as a factor.
In 2022, authorities fared better and successfully foiled attacks. For instance, on December 19, police dismantled a cell planning an ISIS-inspired attack on a Christmas market in Essen.
In 2023, new targets were in the sights of terrorists. In April, several suspects were arrested for planning an attack on a synagogue in Düsseldorf, highlighting the ongoing presence of active Islamist networks in the country. In June, a man injured several people in a knife attack in Berlin, with authorities investigating potential Islamist extremist links.
On May 31st, 2024, an Afghan resident in Mannheim fatally wounded police officer Rouven Laur and seriously injured five others. The attack targeted Michael Stürzenberger, president of the anti-Islamization group Pax Europa, and sparked heated debates across the country just days before the European elections on how to address Islamist threats and deport serious offenders to Afghanistan.
In Magdeburg, on December 20th, a Saudi national drove into a crowd at a Christmas market. According to the federal government, it was a deliberate attack. More than 200 people were injured, and at least five were killed, including a child. Other attacks are listed here.
The recurring violence and thwarted plots confirm that the Islamist terrorism threat remains present in Germany. Although security forces have successfully prevented numerous attacks, domestic radicalization and the infiltration of extremists through migration flows continue to pose a critical challenge to national security.
Despite the clear link between immigration policy and attacks, major political parties—except for Alternative für Deutschland (AfD)—insist that there is no direct connection between the two, even though many of the attackers had or previously held refugee status. Recently, CDU chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz approached Alice Weidel (AfD) to push for an initiative to restrict immigration to Germany. This proposal sparked mass protests across the country, warning of the supposed dangers of the “far right” and aiming to prevent any immigration restrictions. Former CDU chancellor Angela Merkel, one of the main architects of the last decade’s migration policy, appeared in the media to criticize Merz’s stance.
Immigration has become one of the central topics of the election campaign, and AfD is the only party openly advocating for a radical shift in this policy. Current polls place AfD at 20% in voter intentions, and rising. Each attack, each innocent victim, reinforces the perception that Germany and Europe face a security problem that many prefer to ignore.
