The car of Julian Reichelt, editor-in-chief of the conservative online outlet Nius and former editor-in-chief of Bild, has been set on fire in Berlin-Charlottenburg in the early hours of November 13 and largely destroyed.
Police confirmed the blaze was the result of deliberate arson after a passer-by reported it at 2.07am; firefighters extinguished the fire, with no other vehicles damaged.
No suspects have been named and no claim of responsibility has been publicly confirmed.
Reichelt described the incident as a targeted political attack and an attempt to intimidate independent media that challenge left-wing extremism.
“It is completely clear that this was a targeted attack,” he said in a Nius broadcast.
He stated that the perpetrators had apparently reconnoitred which vehicle belonged to him and waited for the right moment, and he attributed the method (accelerant applied to the tyres) to what he called a classic Antifa tactic.
According to Nius, a child seat on the front seat had not deterred the attackers.
“This is the face of left-wing extremism, which will soon sit in this city, in Berlin, in the Red City Hall,” Reichelt noted.
The Red City Hall (Rotes Rathaus) is the seat of Berlin’s governing mayor. The left-wing party Die Linke won the city’s September 20 election with 25.7 per cent of the vote and its lead candidate, Elif Eralp, is negotiating a coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens.
Reichelt reported that a firefighter was lightly injured during the response when struck by a passing car whose driver later fled and was stopped.
Reichelt also addressed Christian Democrat Daniel Günther, Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein, who in January called Nius “enemies of democracy” on the ZDF talk show Markus Lanz. Nius has since taken legal action against him. He said: “If anything happens to our people or our property — it’s on you. Then you were complicit.”
+++BREAKING NIUS+++
Nach dem Brandanschlag auf sein Auto wendet sich NIUS-Chefredakteur Julian Reichelt @jreichelt an Daniel Günther (CDU), der NIUS bei Lanz „Feinde von Demokratie“ nannte: „Wenn unseren Leuten oder unserem Eigentum etwas zustößt – it's on you. Dann warst du… pic.twitter.com/Kiw4Krl4Bo
— NIUS (@niusde_) November 13, 2026
Similar arson attacks on vehicles belonging to journalists critical of left-wing activism have occurred in Berlin in previous years; in at least one earlier case involving B.Z. columnist Gunnar Schupelius, a claim of responsibility with left-wing extremist content later appeared on Indymedia.
German authorities routinely investigate such incidents as potential politically motivated crime; in this case, a police spokesman said the State Protection division (Staatsschutz), which handles political offences, had taken over the investigation because a political motive could not be ruled out.
Reichelt has vowed that the attack will not deter Nius’s reporting.
The incident comes amid ongoing debate in Germany over violence against journalists and political figures, with conservative media and politicians frequently highlighting attacks or threats linked to left-wing groups while left-leaning outlets often emphasise risks from right-wing extremists.
No official assessment of motive has yet been released.
In July, Indymedia, a known left-wing extremist platform, published a call for violence against conservative journalists from Apollo News and Nius, together with politicians from Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Kreuzberg. The anonymous post named Reichelt as a “perpetrator”. Flyers were also distributed in the region.
“It is time for us to join forces with everyone in the neighbourhood and make it impossible for the Nazis to do their job. Here we collect where exactly they move in and call for a variety of actions against the new Nazis in the neighbourhood.”
They shared addresses of the offices of both outlets and the planned federal headquarters of the AfD.
“Now it is up to all anti-fascists in Kreuzberg to make life hell for the fascists here.”
Members of German left-wing group Antifa have apparently claimed responsibility for an arson attack on the car of right-wing politician Bernd Baumann in Hamburg, Germany. https://t.co/72USnrw2Bd
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) November 4, 2025
