German authorities are looking for a shooter who fired several shots into the door of a former rabbi’s residence in Essen, officials said on Friday.
The police were alerted to the incident by witnesses who found four bullet holes in the entryway.
The residence, which is not occupied by anyone and now hosts a German Jewish history institute, is right next to a historic synagogue that serves as Essen’s House of Jewish Culture.
Police have stated that no individuals were harmed, and there is no current threat to the public.
Investigators have obtained a video which they believe shows a man firing at the door. The suspect is still at large.
“I am horrified by this latest attack against the Jewish community in Germany,” Germany’s Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said.
“Antisemitism must have no place. It is our duty to protect Jewish life,” he added.
Members of the Jewish community worship at a new synagogue elsewhere in the city but occasionally meet at the old one for special occasions.
This includes commemorations of Kristallnacht, the 9 November 1938 Nazi pogrom in which Jews across Germany and Austria were terrorised.
The old synagogue and rabbi’s residence were set alight during Kristallnacht, and their interiors were destroyed.
Germany has experienced a spike in antisemitic attacks in recent years, including an attempted attack on a synagogue in the city of Halle in 2019.
