As far-right party AfD continues to strengthen its positions across Germany with its anti-migration rhetoric and populism, German far-left terrorism also seems to be reviving. The reason behind this phenomena may be that social tensions in Germany have been rising dramatically.
On 11 January, 2025, 15,000 people – supporters of the far left – travelled from across Germany to Saxony to protest the conference of the AfD which is considered fascist by the far left. The AfD employs more than 100 hardcore Nazis in the German parliament, including activists and organisers of street fighting groups, they claim. In one of the most serious incidents in February, on the eve of Germany’s general elections, a huge far-right march clashed with a larger group of antifa protesters in Berlin (antifa is a decentralised anti-fascist movement), challenging police to maintain order in the city. 1st June there was another Nazi march in Berlin which was organised by ’Deutsche Jugend Voran’ (German Youth Forward) while a counter-protest was organized by left groups and antifascists.
In order to fully and properly understand what left-wing extremism means and how it differs from that of the right wing, we should first provide a brief explanation.
According to German security experts, left-wing extremism is a collective term for all efforts directed against the free democratic basic order that are based on treating the values of freedom and (social) equality as absolutes, especially as they are found in anarchist and communist ideas. The left-wing extremist scene is characterised by its heterogeneity, experts say adding that, more than one in four of all left-wing extremists can be classed as violence-oriented. This mainly includes autonomists, anarchists and, at present, a small part of the strictly ideological spectrum.
In May 2024, the Tesla Gigafactory near Berlin was evacuated after a major power outage which left 2,000 German households without electricity. The terrorists had set fire at one of the high-voltage pylons which resulted in a power outage. Following the incident, a militant far-left cell, the Vulkangruppe (’Volcano Group’) claimed responsibility for the sabotage. ’We sabotaged Tesla today,’ a letter from the group said. ’These are either the dumbest eco-terrorists in the world or they are puppets of those who don’t have good environmental goals’, Tesla owner Elon Musk angrily wrote on X.
In July and August 2025, Germany suffered two arson attacks in two days on its rail lines. After the attacks, left-wing group, the ’Commando Angry Birds’ claimed responsibility for the train sabotage which caused travel chaos in the country as a key railway line between Düsseldorf and Duisburg was damaged. The group is well-known by the German authorities since it has carried out several acts of sabotage in the Dusseldorf area in recent years.
This September, five members of the direct action group ’Palestine Action’ broke into a weapons factory operated by a company which is known as a major supplier to Israel. ’This criminal corporation makes millions of dollars year after year, especially since 2014, out of the extermination of the indigenous people of Palestine and the occupation of their land. Most of the drones bombing the hell out of Gaza are being made by Elbit Systems. The surveillance systems of the walls that made Gaza an open-air prison and the humanitarian aid blockade possible are made by Elbit Systems.’, the perpetrators said in a video.
In early September, a large-scale power outage struck Berlin, leaving tens of thousands of residents without power for almost three days. The blackout began on 9 September and lasted until 12 September with about 42,000 households and 3,000 businesses or institutions leaving without power. The German police identified the cause of the blackout as an intentional arson attack on the power grid. In this case, fires were set at the base of two high-voltage electricity pylons which led to the widespread outage. The German authorities stated that a political motive could not be ruled out. On 11 September, a claim of responsibility surfaced on a far-left website where the perpetrators portrayed themselves as an anarchist anti-capitalist group.
‘The threat posed to the free democratic basic order by left-wing extremism remains high. Left-wing extremists commit criminal and violent offences in Germany almost every day. Left-wing extremist violence, especially as part of the ‘anti-fascist fight’, but also when targeting the police, is characterised by great brutality, accompanied by a very targeted and professional modus operandi. Various offences have shown that left-wing extremists accept the risk of inflicting potentially lethal injuries. Moreover, by committing acts of sabotage, damaging property and carrying out arson attacks, left-wing extremists cause damage amounting to tens or hundreds of millions each year, which is detrimental to Germany as a location of business and industry.’, the German domestic intelligence service (BfV) says in a report.
It should be noted that despite the Netherlands and Hungary, two EU Member States have already followed US President Donald Trump in calling for antifa mentioned above to be declared terrorists, Germany has not yet joined these efforts.
Speaking about the growing number of politically motivated violent acts in Germany it should also be emphasized that not only far-left groups are involved in it, but also organizations of the radical right.
While the ideological landscape of right-wing extremist violence is dominated by key drivers such as white supremacy, anti-semitism and neo-Nazi ideology, far-right extremist groups in Germany are increasingly directing their efforts against LGBTQ+ communities, experts say.
According to official data, neo-Nazis and far-right extremists committed 42,788 crimes in Germany last year which is the highest number in over a decade. They perpetrated 1,488 violent attacks against migrants, refugees, or political opponents, marking a 17% increase from the previous year.
In mid-September, the German police raided more than a dozen properties across three states as part of an operation targeting right-wing extremists suspected of forming an armed group and having military-grade weapons.
Also in September, the far-right ’Sӓchsische Separatisten’ (Saxonian Separatists’) were accused of preparing to violently take over a chunk of eastern Germany after what they referred to as ’day X’. After this day, the group planned to establish an independent state based on Nazi ideology.
Against this background, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s presence at the recent peace summit in Egypt ending Gaza war, is indeed very welcome, the question arises: how exactly has he been contributing to peace?
As the above examples indicate, Merz cannot stop violence even in his own country, including those linked to both the far left and the extreme right, which has begun during the terms of his predecessor, Olaf Scholz, but has gained new momentum under Chancellor Merz in the form of politically motivated violent acts.
Social tensions in Germany have undoubtedly increased, while Berlin, instead of tackling domestic violence, seems to be more interested to be involved in European and global politics.
Rather than supplying Ukraine with more weapons and accepting more migrants in the country, not to mention participating in the peace conference in Sharm El-Sheikh without merits, German citizens would surely want Chancellor Merz to focus on eliminating militant far-right groups in the country and preventing the far left from carrying out politically motivated acts of sabotage on critical infrastructure. Once this is done, Germany would have a chance to become the driving force of the EU again.
