Crime: How dangerous is it in Germany? DW 09/16/2025

""The new Germany" is "a shame, a travesty," says Kurt Caz. In a video, the South African-German travel blogger presents Frankfurt's notorious Bahnhofsviertel neighborhood near the city's main train station as the new normal, which has been "completely taken over by crime, illegal migrants and drugs." Drug addicts lie around on the footpath, a suspected dealer threatens him, a woman throws a bottle: the video has more than 6 million views, paired with many xenophobic comments, on YouTube, and more than 10 million on TikTok."

"Frankfurt's Bahnhofviertel has long been a red light district, criminologist Susanne Karstedt told DW in a video interview. "That attracts violence, that attracts also drug crime," she said. There are certain isolated districts across Germany with very high crime rates. Like in many other countries, there is more crime in cities than rural areas. Crime rates are high in big cities like Bremen, Berlin and Frankfurt, for example, partly because social inequality is higher there than in rural areas."

"Generally, Germany can be considered a "very safe country," said Karstedt, adding that like in other Western countries "crime has gone down since the 1980s, 1990s." Technological advancement has driven some of this reduction in crime: a modern car is more difficult to break into than an older vehicle."

Frankfurt's Bahnhofsviertel has long been a red-light district and attracts violence and drug-related crime. Viral videos portray the neighborhood as being taken over by crime, illegal migrants and drugs and have amassed millions of views alongside xenophobic comments. Certain isolated districts across Germany show very high crime rates, and overall crime is higher in cities than in rural areas, partly because social inequality is greater in urban centers. Overall crime in Germany has declined since the 1980s and 1990s. Technological advances, such as more secure modern cars, have reduced some types of crime. The murder rate offers a robust basis for international comparison because of long UN data series.

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