Oktoberfest bombing
| Oktoberfest bombing | |
|---|---|
| Part of Terrorism in Germany | |
Monument at the site (2008) | |
| Location | Munich, West Germany |
| Date | 26 September 1980 |
| Target | Oktoberfest participants |
Attack type | Bombing, mass murder, neo-Nazi terrorism |
| Weapons | Pipe bomb |
| Deaths | 13 (including the perpetrator) |
| Injured | 213 |
| Perpetrator | Gundolf Köhler Other unknown accomplices (alleged) |
The Oktoberfest bombing (German: Oktoberfest-Attentat) was a far-right terrorist attack. On 26 September 1980, 13 people were killed (including the perpetrator) and more than 200 injured by the explosion of an improvised explosive device (IED) at the main entrance of the Oktoberfest festival in Munich, West Germany. The bombing was attributed to the right-wing extremist and geology student Gundolf Köhler, who was instantly killed in the attack as the bomb exploded prematurely.
Prior to the bombing, Köhler had been involved with the banned neo-Nazi militia Wehrsportgruppe Hoffmann, and doubts remain as to whether he acted alone. A federal investigation concluded in 2020 that the participation of accomplices or backers in the bombing could not be proven beyond reasonable doubt, although it still could not be precluded.
Excluding the perpetrators, the attack was one of the deadliest in Germany since World War II after the 2016 Berlin truck attack, and along with the 1972 Munich massacre, and the deadliest perpetrated by a follower of Nazism in the country since 1945.