The newly elected mayor of a town in western Germany is in critical condition after being stabbed outside his home, local media reported on Tuesday.
Iris Stalzer, a 57-year-old mother of two teenagers, was found with life-threatening injuries in the Ruhr region of Herdecke around noon local time and was airlifted to hospital, police told CNN.
Hagen police said her life “remains in danger.”
Police said there was no indication the attack was politically motivated and there may have been family connections. “Based on current information, there is no indication that the attack was politically motivated. A family background is assumed,” the statement said.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the government had received word of a “heinous crime.”
“We fear for the life of Mayor-elect Iris Stalzer and wish her a full recovery. Our thoughts are with her family and loved ones,” Merz told X.
Stalzer, a member of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), was elected mayor of Herdecke in a run-off on September 28 and is scheduled to take office in November.
Herdecke city authorities, reported by German tabloid Bild and local public broadcaster WDR, did not provide details of the attack, calling it “shock and disbelief.” Authorities have not confirmed a motive.
In a subsequent update, police said the investigation was “examining all possibilities” and a family link to the crime had not been ruled out.
In recent years, there have been a number of attacks on German politicians. The country was rocked in 2019 by the murder of local civil servant Walter Lübke, who supported then-chancellor Angela Merkel’s pro-refugee policies. Mr. Lübke was shot dead by a neo-Nazi while smoking a cigarette on the terrace of his home. His attacker is currently serving a life sentence.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
