A commemorative event is planned in Lübeck to mark the 30th anniversary of the deadly Hafenstraße refugee housing arson attack that occurred in the night of January 18, 1996.

The 1996 attack killed ten people—seven children and three adults—and injured 38 others, all of them refugees seeking protection in Lübeck.

On Sunday at 12:00, a memorial vigil will be held at the Hafenstraße memorial on Konstanostraße, where attendees are invited to lay flowers, with candles not to be used per organizers.

Context notes emphasize that Lübeck’s case stood out from other attacks of the era because no suspects were ever brought to justice, despite various leads.

Investigators never identified or charged the perpetrators of the Lübeck arson attack, despite a series of refugee housing attacks in the 1990s and other anti-refugee incidents across Germany during that period.

A demonstration began at noon in Lübeck’s Market square, organized by the Hafenstraße 96 initiative, with potential traffic disruptions expected over the weekend.

The report references related incidents in Rostock-Lichtenhagen, Mölln, and Solingen from the 1990s, placing Lübeck within a broader pattern of anti-refugee violence in Germany at the time.