Crime hotspots: how to tackle knife attacks and other violence at German railway stations?
Politicians from the SPD and CDU say many people do not feel safe at Germany’s railway stations, including staff. A criminologist explains why violence is more frequent there than elsewhere.
By Kirsten Ripper & Euronews
Published on 31/05/2026 - 14:36 GMT+2•Updated 16:00
At Frankfurt’s main railway station, Deutsche Bahn warns passengers about pickpockets even on board the trains. Travellers leaving the station are confronted with the misery of drug addicts who gather in Kaiserstrasse and the surrounding streets - whether they want to see it or not. The police are usually on site, but from the outside little seems to have changed in recent years.
And the figures on violence at Germany’s railway stations are causing headaches for many officials. Since this weekend, the federal police have stepped up their presence at stations in ten major German cities. When it comes to crime at stations, however, Frankfurt does not top the list.
In 2025, the main station in Leipzig was particularly hard hit by crime, with 859 violent offences, followed by Dortmund’s main station with 735 and the main station in Berlin with 654.
Most recently, the fatal attack on a train conductor on a regional service in Rhineland-Palatinate last February caused widespread shock. It was followed by a debate about the scale of attacks on Deutsche Bahn employees.
Expert: "No railway station in Germany is a no-go area"
According to police statistics, a total of 27,800 violent offences were committed at railway stations last year. These included 980 recorded knife attacks and more than 2,200 reported sexual offences. There were 5,660 acts of violence directed against federal police officers. Police say the proportion of non-German suspects was significantly higher than that of German suspects.
Criminologist Dirk Baier describes stations as "hotspots of crime". But speaking to the newspaper WELT, he also explains that violence at stations is particularly visible precisely because there is a stronger police presence there and it receives more media coverage. "From my point of view there is no major station in Germany that is a no-go area."
Indeed, directly opposite Frankfurt’s main station many people - including families and women - shop quite normally in the chemists and the supermarket.
Police at stations instead of at border controls
The deputy leader of the CDU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Günter Krings, wants to improve public safety at stations through technical measures such as more cameras, while at the same time easing the burden on police officers. Talks on this are currently under way within the coalition parties.
The far-right AfD describes German railway stations as "places of fear" and is calling for tougher penalties, more consistent deportations and a stronger police presence.
However, the Greens’ domestic policy spokesman, Marcel Emmerich, argues that although video surveillance can be useful, it cannot replace officers on the ground. The government, he says, is deploying thousands of federal police officers for "expensive, useless and unlawful border controls" instead of boosting the presence at stations.
Weapons and alcohol bans at stations
According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, weapons bans now apply from Friday to Sunday at Munich’s main station and its Ostbahnhof, as well as at the main stations in Nuremberg, Regensburg and Rosenheim. At weekends, people are not allowed to carry knives or dangerous tools there. According to SZ, officers can also stop, question and search individuals without any specific reason.
An alcohol ban has been in force at Cologne’s main station (Hbf) since April and now also applies to the stations in Bonn, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Essen, Dortmund and Münster.
Deutsche Bahn has domiciliary rights at its stations and can therefore enforce its own rules there, such as a ban on alcohol.
Violence at railway stations is by no means a purely German phenomenon, as the recent knife attack in Winterthur in Switzerland also shows.
