German mayor fighting for life after being found in apartment with stab wounds

Chancellor Friedrich Merz said she was the victim of “an abhorrent act”

Tue, 07 Oct, 2025 - 14:27

Associated Press reporters

The newly elected mayor of a town in western Germany was found at her apartment on Tuesday with serious stab wounds, German media reported.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz said she was the victim of “an abhorrent act”.

Iris Stalzer was elected as mayor of Herdecke on September 28.

An ambulance stands in front of police cars on a street in Herdecke, Germany, after the town’s mayor was found critically injured in her apartment (Alex Talash/dpa via AP)

She is a member of the centre-left Social Democrats, the junior party in Germany’s conservative-led national government.

German news agency dpa, citing unidentified security sources, reported that she was found with life-threatening injuries and had several stab wounds.

Police said there was a large operation under way in Herdecke.

Mr Merz wrote on social media that “we fear for the life of mayor-elect Iris Stalzer and hope for her full recovery”.

The leader of the Social Democrats’ parliamentary group in Berlin, Matthias Miersch, told reporters that “we heard a few minutes ago that newly elected mayor Iris Stalzer was stabbed in Herdecke” and “we hope that she survives this terrible act”.

Police and emergency services stand on a street in Herdecke, Germany (Bernd Thissen/dpa via AP)

“We can’t say anything at the moment about the background,” he added.

Ms Stalzer, who beat a candidate from Mr Merz’s centre-right Christian Democrats in a runoff vote to win election, is due to take office on November 1.

Herdecke is a town of about 23,000 people in western Germany’s Ruhr region, between the cities of Hagen and Dortmund.

Ms Stalzer’s website says she is 57 and married with two teenage children.

It says she has spent almost her whole life in Herdecke and has worked as a lawyer specialising in labour law.