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Solingen Marks One Year Since Festival Stabbings as Leaders Call for Stronger Security Tools

NRW leader Hendrik Wüst renews a push for three‑month data retention to bolster terror investigations.

Hendrik Wüst
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Overview

  • City and church memorials drew crowds to the Fronhof and Stadtkirche, with candles and three bell tolls at 21:37 to honor the three people killed and eight injured on 23 August 2024.
  • At the midday ceremony, Wüst pledged a resilient, rights‑based response and thanked first responders, while Mayor Tim Kurzbach urged residents to keep public life vibrant under reinforced safety measures.
  • Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt warned of the threat posed by Islamist extremism and backed stronger security agencies, echoing a national hardening on migration and policing since the attack.
  • North Rhine‑Westphalia highlighted an approximately €100 million package expanding police and intelligence staffing and powers, including covert online collection by the Verfassungsschutz and prevention initiatives.
  • The defendant, Syrian national Issa al H., remains on trial in a high‑security chamber in Düsseldorf after confessing to the stabbings; prosecutors allege IS ties and the group claimed responsibility a day after the attack.