German police are investigating whether far-left extremists from Antifa were behind a massive fire that destroyed the historic Thurn und Taxis hunting lodge near Regensburg, Bavaria earlier this week.
The fire, which broke out in the early hours of Monday, reduced the 19th-century building to its outer walls and caused damage estimated at around €4 million.
Authorities confirmed that a statement claiming responsibility for the arson has been posted on the far-left online platform Indymedia.
The message, signed by an “Antifa Kommando,” described the fire as a “warning” to Gloria, Dowager Princess of Thurn und Taxis, accusing her of “reactionary” and “fascist” sympathies.
Police in Regensburg said the statement is being examined but stressed that they are “investigating in all directions.”
The lodge, located in the Fürstlicher Thiergarten near Donaustauf, was being used as a golf club and restaurant. Local mayor Jürgen Sommer lamented the “heartbreaking loss” for the community, while the restaurant’s operators wrote on social media: “Our shared place of enjoyment, passion, and encounter is destroyed. What remains is emptiness and pain.”
In its incendiary statement, Antifa justified the attack by citing the princess’s alleged connections to right-wing figures such as former Trump strategist Steve Bannon, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, and members of Germany’s AfD party.
The text accused Thurn und Taxis of representing “monarchy, contempt for humanity, and class privilege,” and threatened that “if you don’t stop your inhuman agitation, next time not only your golf club will burn.”
The manifesto also expressed solidarity with convicted left-wing extremist “Hanna S.,” recently sentenced to five years in prison for violent assaults carried out in Budapest. The authors declared that their arson attack was a “direct reaction” to “repression” against their movement.
The fire comes amid a wider debate across Europe and the United States over how to confront growing far-left extremism.
In Washington, President Donald Trump has ordered his administration to designate Antifa as a foreign terrorist organisation, saying that “left-wing violence and Antifa-inspired terror has been escalating for nearly a decade.”
Hungary and the Netherlands have announced plans to follow suit, arguing that Antifa uses violence to intimidate conservative figures.
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán cited the brutal attacks in Budapest in 2023. Italian MEP Ilaria Salis, accused of taking part in those assaults, recently avoided being extradited to Hungary after the European Parliament voted by a single vote to maintain her immunity.
Across the continent, Antifa-linked groups have been involved in acts of intimidation and vandalism, targeting conservative think tanks, politicians, and public events. In Brussels, activists have repeatedly attacked venues hosting conferences by the conservative MCC Brussels think tank, daubing graffiti and attempting to shut down debates through threats and violence.
The attack in Bavaria marks one of the most severe Antifa-linked incidents in Germany in recent years.
