Overview

• DBK spokesman Matthias Kopp says attacks have grown more brutal since about 2015, citing desecrations such as excrement in holy water basins, beheaded statues and altars destroyed by arson.
• Official figures record a modest rise to 111 politically motivated offenses against churches in 2024 from 92 in 2023, while many incidents are recorded elsewhere as simple property damage.
• An observatory estimates at least 2,000 cases of damage at Christian sites in Germany in 2023, and regional tallies cite repeated incidents including roughly 70 cases in Saxony over twelve months and 19 in the Passau diocese.
• NRW police logged 374 cases of property damage at churches last year, dioceses report rising repair bills such as Paderborn’s increase from €28,000 a decade ago to €130,000 in 2022 and €104,000 from Aug. 2024 to July 2025.
• Parishes are adding volunteer patrols, surveillance and protective glazing, while politicians including Bodo Ramelow and Lamya Kaddor call for a nationwide registry and stronger safeguards for places of worship.