The 40-year-old suspect was arrested on Monday (July 1), a week after a fire in a home for asylum seekers in the Bavarian city of Krumbach. He has been charged with attempted arson endangering life.

Investigators believe the man had a racist motive after they found several images of a swastika – the bent cross adopted by the Nazis – in the man’s apartment.

Police also say they confiscated a baseball bat and the suspect’s phone. The man is now in custody.

No one was injured in the fire in the asylum seeker accommodation on June 23. But according to German public media, investigators are said to be examining a possible connection with another case of a fire at an asylum seeker home, also in Krumbach.

Three men were injured in that incident, which happened in October 2022. An investigation was launched into possible attempted murder, but the case remains unsolved.

Also read: Fire in refugee accommodation: Suspected arson attack

Arson and damage to accommodation common

There have been many incidents of fire and criminal damage to asylum-seeker accommodation in Germany.

In April, a fire in an apartment in Solingen killed a Bulgarian family of four. Racism was not believed to have been a factor in the arson attack.

Police are still investigating a major blaze which destroyed a camp for asylum seekers at Berlin's former Tegel airport in March.

The number of deliberate attacks on asylum seeker accommodation in Germany, including arson, rose sharply in 2023. In the first quarter of 2024, the number was slightly lower, according to police statistics, but the figure was expected to rise as incidents were reported after the fact.

A rise in hate crimes linked to Islamaphobia in Germany was also reported recently, although the findings related to 2023 and previous years.

Also read: Germany: Attacks on refugees and refugee accommodation soar