What happened. At about 1:10 p.m. on Thursday, September 10, 2026, a passer-by noticed white lettering on a park bench and a rubbish bin in the southern part of Munich's Englischer Garten, near Lerchenfeldstraße, Seeaustraße and the Hirschanger sports ground, and called the police. The Munich police headquarters (Polizeipräsidium München) said in its press report of September 11 that "a so far unknown perpetrator had applied a personal threat against a member of the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde in white lettering", and that Kriminalfachdezernat 4, the unit responsible for state-security offences, had taken over the investigation for threats (Bedrohung) and criminal damage (Sachbeschädigung). The Israelitische Kultusgemeinde München und Oberbayern confirmed that the person named was its president, Charlotte Knobloch, who is 93 and a Holocaust survivor. According to the Abendzeitung, the sentence read: "Die AfD hat gewonnen, morgen hängen wir die Knobloch" ("The AfD has won, tomorrow we hang Knobloch"), accompanied by a Star of David. A police spokesperson said the threat stood in explicit connection with the AfD's election result in Saxony-Anhalt. The message was painted, not carved, as some English-language summaries have put it.
Who is investigating. Beyond the police unit, the Generalstaatsanwaltschaft München has opened proceedings. Its antisemitism officer, senior prosecutor Andreas Franck, said the investigation covers incitement to hatred (Volksverhetzung), threats and criminal damage, and confirmed the Star of David in the graffiti. Police have asked anyone who saw something in that part of the park on September 10 to contact Kriminalfachdezernat 4 on 089 2910-0. No suspect had been named as of September 13, 2026.
Context. The Saxony-Anhalt state election on September 6, 2026 gave the AfD 43.8 percent, its highest result in any state election and just short of an absolute majority of seats; the party's state branch is classified by the state's constitutional-protection office as confirmed right-wing extremist. Knobloch said afterwards: "An diesem Tag fällt es mir schwer, meine Heimat noch wiederzuerkennen" and "Das macht mir Angst". In an interview with Stern published on August 19, 2026, she had said she sees "in vielen Bereichen keinen Unterschied mehr zur NSDAP, bevor diese an die Macht gekommen ist", and argued that Germany should at least examine a ban procedure against the AfD: she constantly hears why it should not be possible, she said, but "at least as important would be why it might be necessary".
Reactions. Bavaria's antisemitism commissioner Ludwig Spaenle said the threat "überschreitet jede Grenze", called it "mehr als ein Tabubruch" and said Germany stands at a crossroads. Knobloch cancelled her participation in an evening event on September 10 for security reasons. She said she would keep her Rosh Hashanah engagements, including the public shofar blowing on St.-Jakobs-Platz on Sunday, September 13, at which she was quoted in a community statement: "Der Klang des Widderhorns soll die Menschen wachrütteln." This desk could not confirm from the reports available whether she appeared in person. This desk found no statement from the Central Council of Jews in Germany specific to the threat as of September 13.
The same week in Berlin. In the early hours of Friday, September 11, 2026, at about 2:30 a.m., two unknown men accosted a 43-year-old woman on Torstraße in Berlin-Mitte over the Star of David pendant she was wearing, shouted antisemitic insults, and one of them attacked her with a broken glass bottle; she suffered several cuts to her hand while defending herself and was taken to hospital. The attackers fled. The Berlin police published the case as press release Nr. 1171 on September 12 and the state-security division of the Landeskriminalamt is investigating. (One English report dates the attack to Friday, September 12; the police release places it in the night to Friday, September 11.)
The trend. The Federal Association of RIAS reporting offices recorded 8,725 antisemitic incidents in Germany in 2025, a record, including 178 assaults and 257 threats; RIAS classified 68 percent as Israel-related. The Central Council's 2026 situation report says the permanent threat is pushing Jewish life out of public space and behind security measures. Both German incidents this week fall into categories RIAS counts separately: a threat against a named community leader, and a physical assault on a visibly Jewish person.
Resources. Munich police witness line 089 2910-0 (Kriminalfachdezernat 4). Incidents anywhere in Germany can be reported to RIAS at report-antisemitism.de, including anonymously and below the criminal threshold. The IKG München und Oberbayern (ikg-m.de) publishes its public events and security guidance.
Still open / watch next: identification of the Munich perpetrator; whether the Berlin attackers are identified; any Central Council or federal-government statement; whether the AfD state branch comments; and the RIAS Bavaria and RIAS Berlin quarterly tallies.
Last checked: September 13, 2026.