A newly elected German mayor is fighting for her life in hospital after she was left severely wounded in a stabbing attack Tuesday that Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned as a ‘heinous act’.

The attack on Iris Stalzer, 57, mayor-elect of Herdecke near the western city of Dortmund, took place at around noon near her own home, said public broadcaster WDR.

She was discovered inside her apartment with life-threatening injuries and several stabbing wounds on her stomach and back, where her adopted son, 15, and daughter, 17, were both present.

Police have reportedly arrested the boy, who told officers that Stalzer was attacked outside their home by ‘several men on the street’, reported German outlet Bild.

The siblings called 911, the newspaper added, alerting the police to the attack.

Stalzer is receiving emergency treatment in hospital and is understood to be in critical condition.

She was due to take office after being elected as the mayor of Herdecke, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, only a week ago.

Local police have issued a major alert and a manhunt is reportedly ongoing for the suspects, according to Bild.

A rescue helicopter was photographed at the scene in Herdecke, accompanied by emergency services.

Emergency services stand next to a rescue helicopter in Herdecke, Germany, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, after the newly elected mayor of Herdecke, Iris Stalzer, has been found critically injured in her apartment

The attack on Iris Stalzer, 57, mayor-elect of Herdecke near the western city of Dortmund, took place at around noon near her own home, said public broadcaster WDR

Stalzer is the newly elected mayor of Herdecke in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia

A homicide squad is expected to take over the investigation into the attack shortly. 

The police are urgently appealing to the public for information. 

It has not yet been determined whether there was a political motive behind the incident. 

Stalzer, of Germany’s centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the junior party in the country’s conservative-led national government, was elected on September 28 as mayor of Herdecke.

After securing just over 52.2 percent of the vote, she celebrated her success in a post on Instagram, writing: ‘Above all, I would like to thank the citizens of Herdecke for this fantastic result and the trust you have placed in me as the new mayor.

‘I will begin my term in November – full of joy, enthusiasm, and respect for this task. Together with you, I want to shape, develop, and keep our city vibrant.’

The comments to the post are now filled with ‘get well soon’ messages in the wake of the news of the attack. 

‘Disgusting act. A speedy recovery,’ one person wrote. 

‘I pray for your health,’ another added. 

Ambulance vehicles are seen near the site where Iris Stalzer, the newly elected mayor of Herdecke, was severely injured in a knife attack, in Herdecke, western Germany on October 7, 2025

Police officers work at the scene after Herdecke’s newly elected Mayor Iris Stalzer was found seriously injured in a stabbing incident, in Herdecke, Germany, October 7, 2025

The mayor is married with two teenage children and has lived in Herdecke, in the Ruhr region, for almost the entirety of her life.

She is a lawyer and a specialist in employment legislation. 

Merz wrote on social media that ‘we fear for the life of mayor-elect Iris Stalzer and hope for her full recovery’.

‘My thoughts are with her family and her relatives,’ he added. 

Police said only that there was a large operation under way in Herdecke. 

The leader of the Social Democrats’ parliamentary group in Berlin, Matthias Miersch, told reporters that ‘we heard a few minutes ago that newly elected mayor Iris Stalzer was stabbed in Herdecke’.

He said that ‘we hope that she survives this terrible act’. 

‘We can’t say anything at the moment about the background,’ he added.

Stalzer, who beat a candidate from Merz’s center-right Christian Democrats in a runoff vote to win election, is due to take office on November 1.

Herdecke is a town of about 23,000 people in western Germany’s Ruhr region, between the cities of Hagen and Dortmund.

This is a breaking news story. More to follow.