In a number of German federal states, the number of incidents related to far-right extremism in schools is increasing. This is reported by Welt am Sonntag with reference to data from education authorities.
These are so-called “special incidents” that school administrations report to the authorities. These include manifestations of political or religious extremism, as well as racist or anti-Semitic incidents.
The Minister of Education of the federal state of Saxony, Konrad Clemens, stated that right-wing extremism is one of the biggest social problems today. According to him, 149 such incidents were recorded in schools in this state in 2023, 155 in 2024, and in 2025 their number increased to 245.
A similar trend is observed in other regions of the country. In schools in Thuringia, the number of such cases increased from 113 in 2023 to 198 in 2025. In Hesse, the figure increased from 39 to 159 over the same period, in Berlin from 74 to 126, and in Rhineland-Palatinate from 25 to 78.
In the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 235 reports of extremism or the use of anti-constitutional symbols were recorded during the 2024/2025 school year. In comparison, there were 195 such incidents in the previous school year. In the current school year, 98 cases have been registered so far.
In Saxony-Anhalt, the number of crimes related to right-wing extremism in schools recorded by the police increased from 74 in 2023 to 192 in 2024.
The state’s Interior Minister, Tamara Zissang, said that incidents in primary schools were of particular concern. According to her, this indicates the need to form democratic values from an early age – both in schools and in families.
It was also previously reported that the far-right Alternative for Germany party is harboring more and more right-wing extremists. At the end of 2025, discussions about the possibility of banning it after the creation of a new youth wing were reactivated in the country.
As of early March 2026, the results of the Insa poll showed that the ruling CDU/CSU bloc was ahead of the Alternative for Germany in the ratings for the first time since September.
