On Tuesday, local time, shocking news erupted in the city of Heidelberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
elect Elise Starzer, who just won local elections last month,
In the vicinity of his home, he was attacked with a knife, and his situation was critical.
This violent incident against elected officials touched the nerves of Germany overnight,
The police have opened a case of attempted murder and are now making every effort to trace the murderer.
Details of the street attack.
According to the latest report of the Western German Broadcasting Corporation (WDR), 57-year-old Starzer did not contact his family on time as usual on the day of the attack.
The first to discover the unusual was her 15-year-old adopted child, when the child went to the mother's home to check out, in the apartment saw the blood Stalzer, and immediately called the police.
After the police arrived at the scene, the key evidence for the protection of the scene was found, and the 15-year-old boy was dressed in forensic protective clothes before being taken away from assisting in the investigation.
According to his adopted son, his mother told police that the attack occurred on a street near his residence,
The hand was taken by several men, each with a knife to her back and abdomen, handed out very hard.
When emergency personnel arrived, found that Stalzer had a severe bleeding loss, and consciousness was blurred, and immediately called a rescue helicopter to urgently send her to a nearby hospital with a serious care room.
So far, the hospital has only said that Stalzer is still in “life-threatening” condition, without revealing further details of the injury, and his 17-year-old daughter has witnessed the disaster and has been accompanied by psychological intervention personnel.
Police blocked three streets around Stalzer's home for the first time after the incident.
The forensic team extracted physical evidence such as knife marks and footprints at the scene, and at the same time retrieved surveillance videos of nearby shops and residential areas.
As of October 8, the identity, motive and specific number of the murderer have not yet been determined.
Police did not disclose whether witnesses provided clues, but only called on informed citizens to contact the case department as soon as possible.
Just won the election
According to public information, Starzer is a veteran of the local political arena in Heldek.
She belongs to Germany's centre-left Social Democratic Party. In her early years, she was a labor lawyer. She has accumulated a high reputation among citizens for her long-term safeguarding rights for employees of local small and medium-sized enterprises and promoting employment security policies.
In September this year, Heldeck held a mayoral election, and starzer stood for election on behalf of the Social Democratic Party. Finally, he defeated his conservative opponent with 52.2% of the votes and was successfully elected mayor-designate.
According to the original plan, she will officially take office in early November, beginning her five-year term as mayor.
In her public speech after the election, she also pledged to focus on addressing the two major issues of local elderly care and youth employment.
I didn't expect to encounter such a vicious attack just less than two weeks away from taking office.
With a population of only 20,000, Herdeck is a small town near Dortmund. In the past, there were few violent incidents against politicians.
Following the news of Stalzer’s murder, local citizens spontaneously placed flowers and candles outside her campaign office.
A lot of people carried the sign "Pray for Elise" in hopes that she would get through the difficulty.
The local Social Democratic Party department official said in an interview:
“She was a man who always thought of others, never heard of who she had vengeance with, and that shouldn’t happen to her.”
Two attacks on political figures in Germany in the past month
According to a report by Germany's "Der Spiegel" on October 1, on September 15, a federal congressman in the German state of Brandenburg was suddenly attacked by a man while giving a street speech in the local market square.
At that time, the congressman was explaining the housing policy of the federal government to the public. A man in a dark coat suddenly rushed out of the crowd, picked up a stone in a roadside flower bed and threw it at the congressman's head.
Members of parliament fell to the ground, with the head bleeding, and the attackers fled in the crowd.
The people at the scene quickly called the police and called first aid. The member of parliament was then taken to the hospital, diagnosed with a slight concussion, and was discharged from hospital for recuperation after 8 stitches.
Police later locked the attacker through surveillance, a 32-year-old local unemployed man.
The man told police he was “unhappy with the government’s housing policy and felt lawmakers were lying,” but denied other political motives.
At present, the man has been charged with "intentional assault" and the case is still under trial.
According to data from the German Federal Ministry of Interior, violence against dignitaries in Germany increased by 18% year-on-year in 2024.
Among them, local dignitaries have become the main targets. The attack methods include verbal threats, physical conflicts, throwing objects, etc., and knife attacks are relatively rare.
Following the Stalzer attack, the German Interior Minister convened an emergency meeting.
State police are required to strengthen security protection for elected officials, especially local leaders who are about to take office or participate in public activities.
German political collectivism
News of the attack on Starzer quickly spread throughout German politics, and officials at all levels expressed shock and condemnation through social media or public statements.
German Chancellor Merz issued a document saying that the violent attack on the mayor-elect was "a serious provocation to the democratic system and a shameless act."
Mertz said in the article that he had closely monitored the progress of the case and asked the police to use all resources to bring the murderer to justice as soon as possible.
At the same time, I wish Starzer a "survive the difficulties and fully recover".
The chairman of the German Social Democratic Party also issued a statement, saying that the attack on Starzer made the entire party feel "angry and saddened."
We call on all citizens to “jointly resist political violence and defend the bottom line of democracy.”
The governor of North Rhine-Westphalia personally goes to the hospital to visit Stalzer,
Outside the hospital, he told the media that the state government has provided additional human and technical support to the police to clarify the truth of the case.
The state's opposition has also temporarily suspended policy differences with the ruling party and jointly condemned the violence.
I hope to create a "safe treatment environment" for Starzer.
Summary
At present, Starzer is still fighting against death, and the police pursuit is also in intensive progress.
Whatever the motive of the murderer, such acts of violent undermining the democratic process will not be tolerated by society.
It is believed that with the in-depth investigation, the truth will eventually emerge, and the murderer will be severely punished by the law.