Hamburg court sentences seven young members of far-right 'Last Defense Wave' to prison for arson and attempted murder

Verdict and sentences

The Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in Hamburg convicted eight young men on 5 August 2026 for membership in a terrorist organisation, attempted murder, arson, and aggravated assault. Seven received custodial sentences under juvenile criminal law, ranging from two years and four months to five years. The eighth defendant, a 15-year-old from near Haiger in Hesse, was given a suspended sentence of one and a half years. Three of the convicted were additionally found guilty of acting as ringleaders of the group. The defendants were between 14 and 21 years old at the time of the offences, and the court applied juvenile law throughout. The verdict can still be appealed.

The attacks

The group carried out an arson attack on a cultural centre in Altdöbern, Brandenburg, in October 2024. The building burned down completely; the operator couple and their young daughter, who were sleeping in an adjacent building, escaped injury only by chance. In January 2025, two members attempted to set fire to a refugee shelter in Schmölln, Thuringia, using pyrotechnics. They also scrawled swastikas and slogans such as "foreigners out" on the facade. A further planned arson attack on a shelter in Senftenberg, Brandenburg, using so-called "ball bombs", was prevented after tips from a reporting team of Stern and RTL.

Group ideology and recruitment

According to the federal prosecutor, the "Last Defense Wave" (Letzte Verteidigungswelle) saw itself as the last instance defending the "German nation" and aimed to overthrow the democratic order through violent acts against migrants and political opponents. The group formed from right-wing extremist chat groups that included around 200 participants. Members recruited via social media platforms like TikTok, Telegram, and WhatsApp, and communicated in chat groups, adopting titles such as "Gauleiter" and "Propaganda Minister". They glorified the Third Reich and discussed waging a "race war". Beyond the arson attacks, members engaged in so-called "pedo-hunting", luring and beating people they believed to be pedophiles.

Trial and aftermath

Because several defendants were minors, the trial was held largely behind closed doors after the indictment was read in March 2026. Only the verdict announcement was public. Many defendants had their parents in the courtroom. The presiding judge said the term "brown children's rooms" was "quite fitting" for the group.

The acts were an attempt to bring about chaos.

The defendants were arrested in May 2025 during raids in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, and Hesse; some were already in custody. In June 2026, two more teenagers were detained in Thuringia for alleged membership in the group. Investigations into further members are ongoing.