Murder of Walter Lübcke

The murder of Walter Lübcke occurred on 2 June 2019 in Wolfhagen-Istha, Germany, near the city of Kassel. Walter Lübcke, the head of the public administration of the Kassel region, was killed in front of his home by a shot to the head at close range. On 15 June 2019, right-wing extremist Stephan Ernst was arrested as the prime suspect. On 25 June 2019, he made a confession, which was recanted on 2 July 2019. Ernst was convicted of murder on 28 January 2021.

Lübcke had spoken out for the admittance of refugees and had opposed agitation against them by the local offshoot of the far-right political movement Pegida at a public meeting in October 2015. He subsequently received numerous death threats for many years.

Lübcke's murder and its background and consequences started a broad public debate in Germany, due to which right-wing terrorism, executed by Combat 18 and related fascist organizations and individuals, received more scrutiny. The debate concerns the German security authorities' knowledge of the suspects, the possible co-responsibility of the right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany (AfD) for the murder, the relationship of the major political party Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) with the AfD, increasingly frequent attacks on local politicians, and the lack of prosecution of hate crimes in social networking services and social media.