Police arrest 37-year-old suspect after attempted arson at Wuppertal synagogue

Attack at the Bergische Synagogue

On Thursday at 14:00, a man poured flammable liquid onto the steps at a side entrance of the Bergische Synagogue in the Barmen district of Wuppertal and set it on fire. According to reporting by the Jüdische Allgemeine cited across German media, the perpetrator threw multiple containers filled with the liquid against the entrance before attempting to flee the scene. Members of the Jewish community acted immediately and extinguished the flames before the fire could spread into the building. Police confirmed that nobody sustained injuries and that property damage to the structure remained minor. Investigators cordoned off the area around the house of worship while forensic teams gathered evidence at the entrance.

Arrest and investigation

Wuppertal police officers detained a 37-year-old Afghan national close to the scene shortly after the incident took place. Authorities stated that the man was already known to police and that initial findings indicate he acted alone during the incident. The state security division (Staatsschutz), which handles politically motivated offences, took over the investigation alongside the local criminal police. Law enforcement officials did not immediately provide further details regarding the suspect's motives. The Bergische Synagogue, which opened in 2002, serves the Jewish Community of Wuppertal, an organisation comprising more than 2,000 members.

Jewish leadership demands increased security

Josef Schuster, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, condemned the attack and addressed the timing ahead of the upcoming religious holidays. Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, begins on the evening of 20 September and concludes at nightfall on 21 September. Schuster noted that synagogues across the country will be fully attended during the holiday and called on security authorities to ensure protection for worship services. He also expressed disturbance at the calm demeanor of the perpetrator carrying out the attack in broad daylight.

What deeply disturbs me is the calm with which the perpetrator in Wuppertal carried out this attack in broad daylight. There is no trace of awareness of wrongdoing or shame. This conduct demonstrates the ongoing normalisation of hatred against Jews, to which our society has so far found no answer.

Community response and past incidents

The Orthodox Rabbinical Conference of Germany also released a statement following the incident, demanding comprehensive protection for Jewish institutions. The rabbinical body emphasized that the freedom to practice religion openly without intimidation remains an essential element of democratic society.

Whoever attacks Jewish life attacks our democracy. Jewish people in Germany must be able to live safely and practice their faith visibly, without fear and without feeling threatened.

Schuster noted that targeting religious holidays follows an established pattern of antisemitic violence aimed at pushing Jewish life out of public spaces. He pointed to previous attacks during Jewish observances, including Hanukkah 2025 in Sydney, Yom Kippur 2025 in Manchester, and the 2019 attack in Halle. The Bergische Synagogue itself was previously targeted in July 2014, when three men hurled six incendiary devices at the building. In 2015, the Wuppertal district court handed those three perpetrators suspended sentences after they claimed the arson was meant to draw attention to the Gaza conflict.