A newly-elected German town mayor was badly wounded in a stabbing attack that Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned as a "heinous act".
The attack on Iris Stalzer, 57, mayor-elect of Herdecke near the western city of Dortmund, took place shortly after noon near her home, said public broadcaster WDR.
"We fear for her life," Mr Merz said on X, demanding that the crime and its background "must now be swiftly clarified".
The details of the attack or its suspected motive were not immediately known as local police did not answer AFP's phone calls or issue a statement.
Ms Stalzer of the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) had just been elected mayor of the town in the industrial Ruhr area on 28 September.
In Berlin, the SPD parliamentary group leader Matthias Miersch said that "a few minutes ago, the newly elected mayor Iris Stalzer was stabbed in Herdecke".
"Our thoughts are with her and we hope she survives this terrible crime... We cannot comment on the background at this time, but we are more than deeply saddened," he said.
The town administration also voiced its "shock and dismay".
According to Bild daily, Ms Stalzer was found seriously injured - with stab wounds to her stomach and back - by her 15-year-old adoptive son in her apartment.
The boy had told police that his mother had been attacked by several men on the street, Bild reported, adding that police took the teenager away for questioning.
