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Cologne is country's stalker capital

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Cologne is country's stalker capital
Photo: DPA

Those who could not sleep after watching "Fatal Attraction" might want to avoid Cologne, where there are more reports of stalking than any other major German city, according to an analysis of police crime data.

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With 142.7 reports of stalking per 100,000 people, Cologne was well ahead of the neighbouring city of Leverkusen, which had 112.1 reports per 100,000, according to a report in the German version of "Men's Health" magazine.

Among the country’s 49 most populous cities, Nuremberg had the fewest stalking reports at just 15.7 per 100,000 people, the magazine reported.

Hans-Georg Voß, a stalking expert at Darmstadt’s Technical University, said levels of stalking were largely dependent on social structures. Divorce levels and average income levels can also have an influence on statistics, he added.

“In Nuremberg, for example, there is a small-town atmosphere: The feeling that everyone knows everyone else,” Voß said.

“There is usually less stalking where there is less divorce,” he added.

While Frankfurt am Main has consistently had Germany’s highest crime rate, it ranks just 38th on the list of stalking reports. Hamburg and Munich are also well down the list at 25th and 44th, respectively.

The Local/mdm

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