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Berlin Central Station and schools among targets of Germany-wide bomb threats

The Local Germany
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Berlin Central Station and schools among targets of Germany-wide bomb threats
A school in Bayreuth, Bavaria remained closed on Tuesday due to a threat. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Pia Bayer

Facilities and schools in several states received emailed terror threats on Monday and Tuesday, according to Germany’s Federal Police, who continue to investigate the motive behind the incidents.

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Berlin’s Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) was also affected by a bomb threat early Tuesday morning. 

Deutsche Bahn received an email making the threat at around 3 am, a spokeswoman for the Berlin Federal Police Directorate said in response to an inquiry from the Berliner Morgenpost.

The police then beefed up their forces until it was deemed that no passengers were in danger.

According to Berlin police, the RTL television station, the Willy Brandt House, and the headquarters of the federal Social Democrats (SPD) were also affected by emailed threats.

The State Criminal Police Office (LKA) is currently investigating the incidents in the capital. 

Wave of threats around Germany

Nationwide, there were emailed threats against several schools and radio stations on Monday and Tuesday, many which triggered major police operations and led to shut down schools and services - several which remain closed.

Schools in Augsburg, Regensburg and Cham in Bavaria, Karlsruhe and Mannheim in Baden-Württemberg, Solingen and Wuppertal in North Rhine-Westphalia, and Chemnitz in Saxony and the Thuringian capital Erfurt were affected. 

For hundreds of students, classes were cancelled as they were asked to evacuate school grounds. Almost all schools were searched with sniffer dogs. 

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German public broadcaster ZDF in Mainz was also briefly evacuated because of a bomb threat on Monday.

It remains unclear whether there was a connection between the threats among the states, according to police.

Federal investigators are currently looking into the threats around Germany, including who is behind them.

According to the police, all of the threats were received by email. In some cases, the letters made references to the Islamist Hamas, in one to the Ukraine conflict.

The first all-clears were gradually given where the investigating authorities deemed that that there was no longer a danger. However, it still remains unclear who is posing the threats.

It is possible that the aim is to weaken the population's sense of security and to stir up resentment against Israel, security sources told the German Press Agency (DPA).

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In recent months, bomb threats against schools and public institutions have been reported numerous times. In neighbouring France, bomb threats have also kept the population on tenterhooks in recent days. 

The tourist magnet Versailles Palace alone was evacuated seven times in eight days. Airports and the Louvre in Paris have also recently been the target of threats.

READ ALSO: Dozens of French airports evacuated after emailed bomb threats

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