German cities unite in grief six years after deadly Hanau far-right attack
Six Years After the Hanau Attack: North Rhine-Westphalia Remembers the Victims
Six years ago—on February 19, 2020—a far-right extremist shot and killed nine people in Hanau for racist motives before murdering his mother and taking his own life. In January of this year, another victim died after battling the long-term health consequences of the attack. Commemorations were held in Aachen and other cities across North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW).
The Hanau attack was one of the worst far-right terrorist acts in Germany in decades. On its anniversary, memorial events in cities nationwide—including in NRW—ensured that the victims and the suffering of their families would not be forgotten.
In Aachen, various left-wing and anti-fascist groups organized a rally and march through the city center to the town hall on Thursday evening. According to police, around 300 people attended.
The event began with emotional audio messages from the victims' relatives. Demonstrators repeatedly called out the names of those killed. Speeches addressed unanswered questions, failures in the response on the night of the attack, and demands for accountability.
Organizers said they aimed to show solidarity with survivors and the victims' families while warning against a global shift to the right. Racist and fascist ideologies are becoming increasingly normalized, they cautioned.
Selin Eroglu, a student, attended to take a stand against racism. "We're young—we can still make a difference," she said. "These young people were brutally murdered in a shisha bar in cold blood. We won't let them be forgotten."
Other cities in NRW also held commemorations. In Bochum, the city's integration office chose the Bermudadreieck—a nightlife district usually associated with celebration—as the site for a memorial, symbolizing the contrast between joy and tragedy.
In Cologne, a Hanau remembrance event initially expected 500 attendees, but police reported nearly twice that number joining a march through the city.
Elsewhere, the attack was remembered through a reading at Essen's Grillo-Theater, an exhibition and discussions in Düsseldorf, and other events. More commemorations are planned across Germany in the coming days, including in Münster and Dortmund.
Read also:
- American teenagers taking up farming roles previously filled by immigrants, a concept revisited from 1965's labor market shift.
- Weekly affairs in the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag)
- Landslide claims seven lives, injures six individuals while they work to restore a water channel in the northern region of Pakistan
- Escalating conflict in Sudan has prompted the United Nations to announce a critical gender crisis, highlighting the disproportionate impact of the ongoing violence on women and girls.
