Berlin: Reichelt's car torched, police assume arson and name no suspects

The fire in Charlottenburg

The car of Julian Reichelt, editor-in-chief of the Nius portal, caught fire during the night of 12 to 13 November 2026 in Berlin-Charlottenburg and was largely destroyed. A passerby reported the blaze to police at 2.07 am, and police said the fire brigade had been called shortly after two. The fire brigade extinguished the fire. Police said they assume arson and described the fire as deliberate, but they named no suspects. They did not disclose who holds the vehicle, and they made no statement on possible perpetrators or a motive, saying only that investigations are ongoing.

Reichelt's account

Reichelt reported the attack himself on the Nius portal, which published photos of the wrecked car, and repeated his account in a live broadcast on Friday morning. He said:

“It is completely clear that this was a targeted attack.”

Reichelt described the fire as an attempt at intimidation against new free media that stand up to left-wing extremism. He believes the attackers first established which car was his. Police have named no suspects, so the motive he describes has not been confirmed by investigators.

Earlier attacks on a columnist's cars

Similar arson attacks hit cars belonging to a columnist of the B.Z. newspaper several years ago. In one of those cases, a claim of responsibility with left-extremist content was published later. The reports do not link those earlier cases to the current fire, and it is not yet clear who is behind this one.