MUNICH — 1980 · Major Tragedy
Oktoberfest Bombing
At 10:19 pm on 26 September 1980 a home-made bomb placed in a rubbish bin near the main entrance of Munich's Oktoberfest exploded. Thirteen people, including the perpetrator, were killed and more than 200 injured, making it one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in post-war West Germany. The perpetrator, who died in the blast, was a university student linked to the banned neo-Nazi paramilitary group Wehrsportgruppe Hoffmann. The first investigation was closed in 1982 with a lone-perpetrator conclusion, but doubts about possible accomplices persisted. A reopened federal investigation formally found in July 2020 that the attack was right-wing extremist in motive, but closed the case without proving the involvement of others.
- Date
- 1980
- Place
- Bavaria, Germany, Munich, DE
- Category
- Major Tragedy
- Case Status
- Closed
- Coordinates
- 48.1335, 11.5498 ↗
Timeline of Events
- 26 September 1980A bomb exploded at the Oktoberfest main entrance; 13 people died.
- 1982The first investigation closed with a lone-perpetrator finding.
- December 2014The Federal Prosecutor reopened the investigation.
- July 2020The attack was found to be right-wing extremist; the case was closed.
Sources
- bpb — 26.09.1980: Rechtsextremer Anschlag auf das Oktoberfest bpb.de ↗
- Historisches Lexikon Bayerns — Oktoberfest-Attentat historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de ↗
- Wikipedia — Oktoberfest bombing en.wikipedia.org ↗
- Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb)
- Historisches Lexikon Bayerns
- Wikipedia
Source grade A: several independent sources, at least one an official record or reference work. If you spot a mistake or something missing, report it with "Suggest a correction" in the app.
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🕯️ This record was prepared with respect, in memory of those who lost their lives.