Number of ATMs blown up at a high level

Crime - Number of ATMs blown up at a high level

The number of ATMs blown up in Germany remains at a high level. Although several state criminal investigation offices (LKA) spoke of a slight decrease, there were more cases in other federal states. This was the result of a survey conducted by Deutsche Presse-Agentur. Nationwide data for 2023 is not yet available.

More than 470 attacks have been reported so far. As the investigators in the federal states have different cut-off dates as the basis for their figures, it is not yet possible to say whether the previous year's figure will be reached. In 2022, police across Germany registered a new high of 496 cases of ATM explosions.

Investigators in Lower Saxony spoke of a significant decrease compared to previous years. By the beginning of December, there had been 36 attacks on ATMs. In comparison, there were a total of 68 attacks in 2022. The Bavarian State Office of Criminal Investigation registered 21 ATM explosions by the end of the year, compared to 37 attacks in the previous year. The LKA in Saxony also reported a slight decrease in the number of cases.

Growth in the north

There are also signs of a decline in North Rhine-Westphalia. According to the LKA, the number of attacks was 153 shortly before the end of the year. If this remains the case, this would be a decrease of 16 percent compared to the record year of 2022, when 182 ATMs were attacked.

In contrast, there was an increase in the north. In Schleswig-Holstein, the LKA recorded a slight increase, but at the same time referred to fluctuations in the number of ATMs blown up in previous years. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, twelve explosions had been counted by December 5, an LKA spokeswoman said. In 2022, the investigators did not record a single crime. There were five in 2021.

According to the LKA, at least 40 devices have been destroyed in Baden-Württemberg since the turn of the year, in some cases with brute force. Last year, the robbers, who often come from the Netherlands, struck 34 times, according to the LKA. According to the authorities there, there were 60 attacks in Hesse up until shortly before the turn of the year - a record high.

Millions in damage from blasts

According to the German Insurance Association, last year's cases resulted in damage amounting to a good 110 million euros. The damage to equipment and buildings is usually more serious than the damage caused by the theft of money. There are around 55,000 ATMs nationwide.

More than a year ago, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) convened a "Round Table on ATM Explosions". In June, she spoke out in favor of greater use of color adhesive cartridges in ATMs. She referred to experiences in the Netherlands, where the problem had been successfully tackled by coloring and gluing the money.

In November, the police in Osnabrück reported several arrests and many searches in Germany and the Netherlands. There had already been several arrests of suspects from the Netherlands in the previous months.

There was a particularly spectacular case in Thuringia at the end of September: while fleeing from the police, four suspected ATM blasters crashed their car into a river in the district of Sömmerda. One of the men was recovered dead from the car. The three other suspects were caught.