German mayor left fighting for life in frenzied stabbing refuses to name her attacker – as her 17-year-old adopted daughter becomes suspect

A newly elected German mayor, fighting for his life after a frenzied stabbing, has refused to name his attacker amid reports that his 17-year-old adopted daughter is suspected by police.

Iris Stalzer, 57, who was elected mayor of the town of Herdecke, near the western city of Dortmund, was found with life-threatening injuries in her home at around 12.40 local time on Tuesday.

According to Germany’s Westfalenpost newspaper, the police were quoted as saying ‘the scene of the crime was at the politician’s house’, and it was stated that the woman received 13 stab wounds in her back and abdomen.

She was discovered there with her adopted children (daughter and 15-year-old son), Bild reported.

He added that the couple called 911 and the boy told police that his mother had been attacked by “some guys on the street.”

The young people were questioned by the police; Bild said the boy was arrested and handcuffed and photographed entering the police car wearing an evidence protective jumpsuit.

But according to a report in Blick, investigators are now pursuing the politician’s teenage daughter as a suspect.

Stalzer was said to regain consciousness later in the day to give police brief details of the stabbing; He reportedly said he knew the attacker but refused to give his name.

Iris Stalzer, 57, who was elected mayor of the town of Herdecke, near the western city of Dortmund, was found with life-threatening injuries in her home at around 12.40 local time on Tuesday.

After the newly elected mayor was found seriously injured in his home, forensic officers examined the scene on a street in Herdecke.

Stalzer was quickly taken to the hospital by helicopter and treated in intensive care, and his condition was stated to be critical.

According to Der Spiegel, the young girl was previously involved in a domestic violence incident at Stalzer’s home in the summer of this year. He used a knife on his mother.

Prosecutors and police later said in a statement that there was “no sign that this was a politically motivated act… On the contrary, we suspect it was a family dispute.”

Investigators added that the politician’s children were at the police station while they were ‘trying to clarify the circumstances’ of the attack.

‘Close family involvement cannot be ignored at this time,’ they said in a statement yesterday.

Stalzer was due to take office after being elected mayor of Herdecke in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia just a week ago.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned the attack as a “disgusting act” and demanded that the crime and its background be “rapidly clarified.”

Following the attack, German police issued a major alert.

Stalzer is the newly elected mayor of Herdecke in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia

Emergency services stand next to a rescue helicopter in Herdecke

Ambulance vehicles are seen near where Iris Stalzer was attacked

Forensic investigators were filmed searching for evidence and blocked the road around the Stalzer home, where police said a major operation was ongoing.

The homicide team is expected to take over the investigation into the attack in a short time.

‘The cause of the crime is completely unclear; “We are investigating all avenues,” police spokesman Tino Schäfer said on Tuesday.

Stalzer, from the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the second party in Germany’s conservative-led national government, was elected mayor of Herdecke on September 28.

After receiving just over 52.2 per cent of the vote, he celebrated his success in a post on Instagram: ‘First of all, I want to thank the citizens of Herdecke for this amazing result and for the trust you have placed in me as the new mayor.

‘I will start my duty in November with joy, enthusiasm and respect for this duty. I want to shape, develop and keep our city alive together with you.’

Following the news of the attack, the comments of the post were now filled with ‘get well soon’ messages.

‘It’s a disgusting move. ‘Speedy recovery,’ one person wrote.

“Praying for your health,” another added.

The mayor is married with two teenage children and has lived almost all of his life in Herdecke.

A lawyer and employment legislation expert, he served on the Herdecke city council before the local elections.

“We fear for the life of Mayor-elect Iris Stalzer and hope for her full recovery,” Merz wrote on social media.

‘My thoughts are with his family and relatives,’ he added.

After the attack, police teams started working at the scene.

‘We heard a few minutes ago that the newly elected mayor, Iris Stalzer, was stabbed in Herdecke,’ Matthias Miersch, leader of the Social Democrats’ parliamentary group in Berlin, told reporters on Tuesday.

‘We hope he survives this terrible incident,’ he said.

“We can’t say anything about his background right now,” he added.

Stalzer, who won the election by defeating a candidate from Merz’s center-right Christian Democrats in the second round of voting, is expected to take office on November 1.

Herdecke is a town of approximately 23,000 inhabitants in the Ruhr region of West Germany, between the cities of Hagen and Dortmund.

After the attack, Herdecke city administration made a statement.

First Deputy Mayor Dennis Osberg said: ‘Media reports of the police operation on Iris Stalzer’s home have caused shock and dismay among the city government.

‘I sincerely wish Ms. Stalzer a speedy recovery. My thoughts are with him and his family.

‘The city administration is unable to provide any information regarding the condition of Iris Stalzer.’

The politician’s rival in the second round of elections, Fabian Haas, expressed his condolences following the attack ‘on our elected mayor Iris Stalzer’.

“My thoughts are with him and his family,” he said, wishing him a recovery.

The case first brought back memories of the 2019 murder of conservative local government chairman Walter Luebcke, who supported then-Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policy, by a far-right activist while smoking a cigarette late at night on the terrace of his house.

The attack followed a region-wide campaign that politicians in Germany’s largest state, North Rhine-Westphalia, said was distinguished by its brutality and crudeness in tone.

A recent survey found that 60 percent of politicians in Germany had experienced violence at least once, and a fifth said it had made them more reluctant to appear in public.

In 2015, Henriette Reker was stabbed by a far-right person the day before she was elected mayor of Cologne. He has fully recovered and is expected to leave office later this year.

While campaigning in a street market, he was stabbed in the neck by a 44-year-old man armed with two knives who wanted to attack him for his opposition to mass immigration.

Four people who tried to save him were also injured in the attack.

Frank S. was convicted of attempted murder in 2016 and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

He told the High Court in Duesseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, that he stabbed her in the neck with a hunting knife because she ‘welcomed’ the refugees, and claimed he only intended to injure her, not kill her.