Hammer Gang Trial Opens in Dresden After Years of Far-Left Violence
20th November 2025
A major trial of alleged members of the far-left extremist group known as the ‘Hammer Gang’ (Hammerbande) is set to begin Tuesday at the Higher Regional Court in Dresden.
Among the defendants are the group’s leaders, Johann Guntermann and Paul M., who face charges of membership in or support of a far-left criminal organization as well as attempted murder. The trial had been postponed several times, with the latest delay due to the unavailability of the defense.
Guntermann, long identified as a key figure in the gang alongside Lina Engel, is accused of carrying out violent attacks in Germany and Budapest. Several left-wing extremists allegedly attacked innocent passers-by in Budapest, targeting people they assumed had taken part in a right-wing memorial march. Victims were bludgeoned with hammers and telescopic batons, with some sustaining life-threatening injuries.
The gang has a documented history of violence, including a series of hammer attacks between 2018 and 2020 in Leipzig, Wurzen, and Eisenach. In May 2023, Lina Engel and three other members were convicted by the Dresden Higher Regional Court for violent assaults and sentenced to more than five years in prison.