In Thuringia, 19 threat letters bearing the label "NSU 2.0" surfaced in May, 18 of them in the Eisenach area. The Thuringian State Police Directorate is investigating on suspicion of incitement to hatred. The name of Education Minister Christian Tischner was listed as the sender; the ministry filed a criminal complaint.
Erfurt, 12 June 2026
In Thuringia, 19 threat letters bearing the label "NSU 2.0" surfaced in May, sent to, among others, educational institutions, police stations, sports clubs, and private individuals; the Thuringian State Police Directorate is investigating all cases on suspicion of incitement to hatred.
The Thuringian Left faction said it had received a threat letter with the abbreviation "NSU 2.0" and handed it over to the police. The Thuringian Ministry of Education also confirmed that it had forwarded the letters that had come to its attention directly to the investigating authorities. According to the Left, one letter was personally addressed to the faction's chair in the state parliament, Christian Schaft.
According to information from the "taz," at least 19 racist letters are involved, some of them bearing the label "NSU 2.0." Eighteen letters were reportedly discovered in the Eisenach area, one in the Erfurt area. The mailings were sent to educational institutions, police stations, sports clubs, municipal administrations, political institutions, and private individuals. The State Police Directorate confirmed a corresponding report by the newspaper on Friday.
The Ministry of Education stated that the letters had listed the name and official address of the CDU state minister for education, science, and culture, Christian Tischner, as the sender. The ministry made clear: "selbstverständlich sei das Schreiben nicht von Minister Tischner geschrieben oder versendet worden." No information will be provided on the content, scope, and further details of the letters out of consideration for the ongoing investigation.
Left member of parliament Katharina König-Preuss stated in a release that the letter contained "nationalsozialistische Vernaltungsfantasien und Mordaufrufe, antisemitische und antimuslimische Hetze sowie rassistische Entmenschlichung, Symboliken aus der Neonazi-Szene und das Kürzel 'AFD' neben der Androhung des Einsatzes von chemischen Mordmitteln." The faction emphasized that the letter "Menschen die Würde abgesprochen, um Gewalt gegen sie denkbar und letztlich umsetzbar zu machen."
The unknown senders used the name and official address of the CDU politician as the sender. According to information from the "taz," Tischner is not suspected of having written the letters. The ministry explained that recipients had apparently turned to the ministry after receiving the letters; all letters that came to light were passed on to the police.
The abbreviation "NSU" refers to the right-wing extremist terror cell "Nationalsozialistischer Untergrund," which from the year 2000 carried out ten murders across Germany undetected for years. The victims included nine business owners of Turkish and Greek origin as well as a German police officer. The trio of Uwe Mundlos, Uwe Böhnhardt, and Beate Zschäpe is considered the core of the cell.
That the authors label their letters "NSU 2.0" is not an isolated case. There was once before a series of threat letters with the abbreviation "NSU 2.0," sent from 2018 onwards. In connection with this earlier series, the Frankfurt am Main Regional Court sentenced a man in November 2022 to five years and ten months in prison for, among other things, incitement to hatred, disturbing the public peace by threatening criminal offenses, using unconstitutional symbols, insult, attempted coercion, and threats.
The Thuringian State Police Directorate is conducting investigation proceedings in all current cases on suspicion of incitement to hatred. The police initially provided no information on possible suspects, the exact content of the letters, or any political background, citing the ongoing investigations. The question of whether the letters can be attributed to a single author or a group also initially remained open.
The Left faction announced that it would continue to monitor the matter and contact the security authorities. The Ministry of Education said it would inform its own staff and affected institutions about the current status to the extent permitted by the investigation. The authorities also called for any further possible letters to be reported directly to the police so that evidence can be secured.
