List of disasters in Germany by death toll

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The list of disasters in Germany by death toll includes major disasters and accidents – excluding warfare and other intentional acts – that took place on German soil, involved the German military, or the predominant number of victims were Germans or German citizens.

Over 100 confirmed deaths

Disaster	Type	Location	Deaths	Date	Ref.
North Sea flood of 1962	Flood	Areas bordering the North Sea	347	16–17 February 1962	[1]
Luisenthal mine disaster	Mining accident	Völklingen	299	7 February 1962	[2]
Genthin rail disaster	Train wreck	Genthin	278	22 December 1939	[3]
Eschede train disaster	Train wreck	Eschede	101	3 June 1998	[4]

40 to 99 confirmed deaths

Disaster	Type	Location	Deaths	Date	Ref.
Karlslust dance hall fire	Structure fire	Berlin	81	8 February 1947	[5]
Lübeck disaster	Medical malpractice	Lübeck	72	1929–1933	[6]
Aeroflot Flight 892	Aviation accident	Berlin Schönefeld Airport	72	12 December 1986	[7]
Hugstetten rail disaster	Train wreck	March, Breisgau	69	3 September 1882	[8]
Ramstein air show disaster	Aviation accident	Ramstein Air Base	67	28 August 1988	[9]
Erfurt latrine disaster	Building collapse	Erfurt	60	26 July 1184	[10]
Sinking of the MS Jan Heweliusz	Shipwrecking	Baltic Sea	55	14 January 1993	[11]
1960 Munich C-131 crash	Aviation accident	Near Munich-Riem Airport	52	17 December 1960	[12]
ČSA Flight 511 (March 1961)	Aviation accident	Igensdorf	52	28 March 1961	[13]
British Eagle Flight 802	Aviation accident	Near Langenbruck [de]	48	9 August 1968	[14]
Lufthansa Flight 005	Aviation accident	Bremen Airport	46	28 January 1966	[15]
KLM Flight 592	Aviation accident	Near Frankfurt International Airport	45	22 March 1952	[16]
1953 Sabena Convair CV-240 crash	Aviation accident	Near Frankfurt	44	14 October 1953	[17]

20 to 39 confirmed deaths

Disaster	Type	Location	Deaths	Date	Ref.
1940 Deutsche Lufthansa Ju 90 crash	Aviation accident	Near Schönteichen	29	8 November 1940	[18]
Munich air disaster	Aviation accident	Munich-Riem Airport	23	6 February 1958	[19]
Paninternational Flight 112	Aviation accident	Bundesautobahn 7 near Hamburg	22	6 September 1971	[20]
Lathen train collision	Train wreck	Near Lathen	23	22 September 2006	[21]
Langenbruck bus crash	Traffic collision	Langenbruck [de]	21	11 February 1985	[22]
Nürnberger Flugdienst Flight 108	Aviation accident	Near Essen	21	8 February 1988	[23]
Interflug Flight 102	Aviation accident	Berlin Schönefeld Airport	21	17 June 1989	[24]
Love Parade disaster	Crowd crush	Duisburg	21	24 July 2010	[25]

10 to 19 confirmed deaths

Disaster	Type	Location	Deaths	Date	Ref.
Düsseldorf Airport fire	Structure fire	Düsseldorf Airport	17	11 April 1996	[26]
1948 Gatow air disaster	Aviation accident	Near RAF Gatow in Berlin	15	5 April 1948	[27]
Bad Reichenhall Ice Rink	Building collapse	Bad Reichenhall	15	2 January 2006	[28]
1934 Swissair Tuttlingen accident	Aviation accident	Near Tuttlingen	12	27 July 1934	[29]
Bad Aibling rail accident	Train wreck	Bad Aibling	12	9 February 2016	[30]
Hordorf train collision	Train wreck	Near Oschersleben	10	29 January 2011	[31]

Fewer than 10 confirmed deaths

Disaster	Type	Location	Deaths	Date	Ref.
Brühl train derailment	Train wreck	Brühl	9	6 February 2000	[32]
2021 Leverkusen explosion	Explosion	Chempark in Leverkusen	7	27 July 2021	[33]
Mühldorf van crash	Traffic collision	Mühldorf	7	13 October 2023	[34]
1983 Rhein-Main Starfighter crash	Aviation accident	Rhein-Main Air Base	6	22 May 1983	[35]
Forst Zinna rail disaster	Train wreck	Forst Zinna [de]	6	19 January 1988	[36]
2024 Germany floods	Flood	Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg	6	30 May – 13 June 2024	[37]
English calamity	Mountaineering disaster	The Schauinsland (near Freiburg im Breisgau)	5	17 April 1936	[38]
1999 Wuppertal Schwebebahn accident	Train wreck	Wuppertal	5	12 April 1999	[39]
Burgrain train derailment	Train wreck	Burgrain [de]	5	3 June 2022	[40]

See also

• List of disasters in Antarctica by death toll
• List of disasters in Canada by death toll
• List of disasters in Croatia by death toll
• List of disasters in Great Britain and Ireland by death toll
• List of disasters in New Zealand by death toll
• List of disasters in Poland by death toll
• List of disasters in Ukraine by death toll
• List of disasters in Sweden by death toll
• List of disasters in the United States by death toll
• List of earthquakes in Germany
• List of German rail accidents

References

1. "Historical storm surge events" (PDF). Munich Re. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
2. Kühn, Oliver (7 February 2012). "Tödlicher Sternhimmel im Schacht" [Deadly Starry Sky in the Shaft]. Frankfurter Allgemeine (in German). Retrieved 25 January 2025.
3. Schneider-Solis, Annette (21 December 2009). "Das schwerste Zugunglück in Deutschland" [The Worst Train Accident in Germany]. Welt (in German). Retrieved 25 January 2025.
4. "ICE-Unglück von Eschede: Ein Superzug rast in die Katastrophe". Norddeutscher Rundfunk (in German). 4 June 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
5. van Lessen, Christian (8 February 2007). "Kostümfest endete in einer Katastrophe" [Costume party ended in a disaster]. Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 26 January 2025.
6. Fox, Gregory J.; Orlova, Marianna; Schurr, Erwin (21 January 2016). "Tuberculosis in Newborns: The Lessons of the 'Lübeck Disaster' (1929–1933)". PLOS Pathogens. 12 (1): e1005271. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1005271. ISSN 1553-7374. PMC 4721647. PMID 26794678.
7. "Accident Tupolev Tu-134A CCCP-65795, Friday 12 December 1986". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
8. Stark, Florian (7 December 2020). "An Waggons fanden sich verschiedenste Menschenreste" [Various human remains were found in wagons]. Welt (in German). Retrieved 26 January 2025.
9. Dougherty, Kevin (27 August 2008). "1988 Ramstein air crash stirs memories". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
10. Dohnal, Radomír (29 September 2022). "Naštěstí se propadli do latríny. Incident urovnal spor šlechty s církví" [Fortunately, they fell into the latrine. The incident settled the dispute of the nobility within the Church]. iDNES.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 26 January 2025.
11. "25. rocznica zatonięcia promu "Jan Heweliusz"" [25th anniversary of the sinking of the ferry "Jan Heweliusz"]. Interia (in Polish). 14 January 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
12. "Crash of a Convair C-131D Samaritan in Munich: 53 killed". Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
13. "Crash of a Convair CV-440-0 Metropolitan in Bremen: 46 killed". Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
14. "Crash of a Vickers 739A Viscount in Langenbruck: 48 killed". Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
15. "Crash of a Convair CV-440-0 Metropolitan in Bremen: 46 killed". Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
16. "Crash of a Douglas DC-6 in Frankfurt: 45 killed". Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
17. "Crash of a Convair CV-240-12 in Frankfurt: 44 killed". Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
18. "Accident Junkers Ju-90A D-AVMF, Friday 8 November 1940". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
19. "Accident Airspeed AS.57 Ambassador 2 G-ALZU, Thursday 6 February 1958". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
20. "Accident BAC One-Eleven 515FB D-ALAR, Monday 6 September 1971". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
21. "Transrapid-Unglück: Ermittler geben Leitstand und Fahrer die Schuld" [Transrapid-Accident: Investigators blame the control center and the driver]. Rheinische Post (in German). 4 October 2006. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
22. "RAF Commemorates 1985 Traffic Collision Victims In Online Ceremony". British Forces Broadcasting Service. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
23. "Accident Swearingen SA227-AC Metro III D-CABB, Monday 8 February 1988". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
24. "Accident Ilyushin Il-62M DDR-SEW, Saturday 17 June 1989". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
25. "Love Parade disaster: German court ends trial over 2010 stampede deaths". BBC News. 4 May 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
26. Kleikamp, Antonia (11 April 2021). "In der VIP-Lounge erstickten acht Passagiere" [Eight passengers suffocated in the VIP Lounge]. Welt (in German). Retrieved 26 January 2025.
27. "Accident Vickers 610 Viking 1B G-AIVP, Monday 5 April 1948". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
28. "'Final body' found at German rink". BBC News. 5 January 2006. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
29. "Accident Curtiss AT-32C Condor II CH-170, Friday 27 July 1934". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
30. Berlinger, Joshua; Halasz, Stephanie; Hume, Tim (13 April 2016). "German train dispatcher accused of playing game before deadly crash". CNN. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
31. "10 killed in German train crash, toll could rise". The San Diego Union-Tribune. 2 September 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
32. "Zugunglück: Lokführer hätte nicht eingestellt werden dürfen" [Train accident: Train driver should not have been hired]. Rheinische Post (in German). 19 June 2001. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
33. "Entwarnung in Leverkusen" [All-Clear in Leverkusen]. Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). 5 August 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
34. "Germany: 7 dead in suspected migrant smuggling car crash". Deutsche Welle. 13 October 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
35. Michels, Claudia (18 May 2013). "Als ein Jet eine Familie tötete" [When a Jet Killed a Family]. Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). Archived from the original on 8 June 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
36. Dassler, Sandra (1 March 2018). "Und dann stand der Panzer auf dem Gleis" [And then the tank stood on the track]. Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 24 January 2025.
37. "Death toll from floods across southern Germany rises to 6". Associated Press. 5 June 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
38. Connolly, Kate (6 July 2016). "The fatal hike that became a Nazi propaganda coup". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
39. Meinke, Ulf (24 August 2000). "Schwebebahn-Unglück: Jeder hat eine Entschuldigung" [Schwebebahn-Tragedy: Everyone has an Apology]. Welt (in German). Retrieved 24 January 2025.
40. "Polizei korrigiert Zahl der Verletzten auf fast 70" [Police corrected the number of injuries to almost 70]. Der Spiegel (in German). 13 June 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2025.