Over a dozen schools in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and Bavaria have recently been subjected to suspicious emails containing threats. According to reports citing the NRW Ministry of Education, on Monday evening, May 4th, and again on Tuesday morning, May 5th, both regions received identical threat emails affecting 56 schools in NRW and 63 schools in Bavaria, respectively. A spokesman noted that in all instances, the assessment by the police and school authorities determined that the threat posed no real danger, and consequently, no schools had to be closed.
Providing broader context, the NRW Ministry of Interior reported that an analysis of police criminal statistics revealed a total of 652 documented cases of “disturbances of public peace through threat of criminal acts” at schools throughout the year 2025. According to the Ministry, this broad category includes incidents such as bomb threats, threats of violence, or threats made by one student against another. If multiple schools were affected on a single day, they were counted separately.
Dorothee Feller, the Minister of Education for NRW (CDU), commented to the “Rheinische Post” about the ongoing efforts to secure schools. “We provide our schools with clear guidelines so that they can act calmly and safely during dangerous situations-our detailed emergency manual is particularly helpful for this” she stated. Feller expressed gratitude to all personnel involved, including the school-based crisis teams trained for such incidents, teachers, and school psychologists, who responded with composure in coordination with local police, citing recent positive responses in situations, such as those that occurred in Bochum.