Germany: Mosque Defaced with Anti-Islam and Neo-Nazi Slogans, 231 Incidents Reported in Six Months

BERLIN: A mosque in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, was targeted on September 6 with anti-Islam and far-right slogans and symbols. The Tughra Mosque’s walls were spray-painted with hostile messages along with numerical and alphabetical codes associated with white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups. Mosque officials strongly condemned the attack and confirmed the incident had been reported to authorities, who are now investigating. The mosque, serving the Turkish Muslim community, had also been vandalized with anti-Islam graffiti in 2020.
According to German government data, 231 crimes against Muslims were recorded nationwide in the first six months of 2026, including attacks on nine mosques.
This incident follows a series of recent attacks on mosques across Europe. On September 4, the Tevfik Mosque in Antwerp, Belgium, was also targeted — swastikas and hateful messages were scrawled on the building, and dog feces were dumped outside its entrance.
These incidents reflect a growing wave of far-right extremism and anti-Muslim sentiment across Europe.