Prosecutors in Dessau-Roßlau have opened an investigation into cabaret performer Uwe Steimle over remarks made at an Alternative for Germany party event on Tuesday evening, accusing him of disturbing the public peace by threatening criminal offences under Section 126 of the German criminal code.
During the appearance, Steimle directed incendiary comments at Chancellor Friedrich Merz and former Chancellor Angela Merkel. Referring to Merkel, he said she would be "put against the wall", a phrase widely understood in German to imply execution by firing squad. Addressing Merz, he invoked Claus von Stauffenberg, the Wehrmacht officer who attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944, asking where Stauffenberg was "when you really need him," in what Turkish-language coverage described as an assassination allusion.
The case highlights tensions surrounding political rhetoric at far-right party events in Germany, where laws against incitement and threats of violence are actively enforced.