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The Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has launched an interactive online tool tracking knife attacks across Berlin, as the party seeks to make rising violent crime a central issue in the city’s election campaign.
The so-called “knife app” provides a detailed overview of incidents reported by police over the past 30 days, including an interactive map showing where attacks occurred, the number of injuries, and comparisons with official police crime statistics (PKS).
AfD leader Kristin Brinker accused the ruling CDU-SPD coalition of failing to provide sufficient transparency on violent crime, arguing that public concern over safety has grown. Domestic policy spokesman Thorsten Weiß said the platform is intended to highlight discrepancies between reported incidents and official data, and called on the Senate to publish more detailed information, including the nationality of suspects.
According to police crime statistics, Berlin recorded 3,599 knife attacks in 2025, a 5.5% increase on the previous year—equivalent to around ten incidents per day. Roughly half involved threats rather than physical violence. Police identified 1,906 suspects, 86% of whom were male and 56% non-German nationals. Around one third of suspects were under the age of 21.
Authorities have responded by introducing three knife and weapons ban zones in Görlitzer Park, Kottbusser Tor in Kreuzberg, and Leopoldplatz in Wedding. CDU domestic policy spokesman Burkhard Dregger said these areas have seen knife crime fall by up to 45%, and suggested expanding or rotating the zones to cover other high-risk locations.
Knife violence has also been reported elsewhere in Germany. In the western city of Solingen, two men aged 48 and 52 were seriously injured in a stabbing incident in the city centre. A 46-year-old Turkish national was arrested at the scene.
According to initial reports, the attack may have followed a dispute between individuals who knew each other, although the exact circumstances remain unclear. A third person who attempted to intervene was also injured. Emergency services cordoned off the area, and police interviewed witnesses as part of the investigation.
