In Bavaria’s wealthy capital, the night of Friday to Saturday, January 25, was anything but ordinary. Munich’s mayor, Dieter Reiter, who has seen it all from the perch where he administers his subjects, even issued an official statement declaring himself “horrified”. Does his statement refer to a war in the Middle East, or to the techno-industrial civilization poisoning the planet? Not in the least. But the sleeping members of good society were shaken by a nightmare: a nocturnal fire made its way to their doorstep. Then it greedily ravaged the tools of the minions charged with protecting them.
It was at around 2.40 a.m., in the outlying district of Allach-Untermenzing, that zealous citizens began alerting the fire department to a gigantic blaze in progress near the dog brigade. By the time they arrived, the 23 police vans parked there were already completely engulfed in flames, while the (empty) brigade building was losing its windows to the heat. It took the Munich fire department almost an hour to extinguish the fire, while some 50 cops combed the area in vain for suspects.
No one will be surprised, but the authorities didn’t take too kindly to the late-night barbecue, and were quick to issue martial declarations at the drop of a hat. The city’s SPD (left-wing) mayor pointed out that “suspicions point to a politically-motivated attack from the far-left camp”, before denouncing “an attack on our democracy”, while the CSU (right-wing) regional interior minister let out an unapologetic rant: “From my point of view, [this fire] already has all the hallmarks of a terrorist act”, because it “specifically targets those who work day and night to ensure the safety of our citizens”. Close the bench.
The investigation has been entrusted to the city’s criminal police, in collaboration with department no. 4 of the judicial police, the one in charge of crimes against State Security (Staatsschutz). And of course, this being Bavaria, the major regional daily added that “for the past six years, construction machinery and electrical cables, cell phone masts and railway installations have been burning in Munich”, wondering if there was any connection with this attack on the police…
[German regional press summary (BR24 & Süddeutsche Zeitung), January 25, 2025]
