A group of young people attacked and seriously injured a trans woman on a tram in Bremen.
The young people fled after the crime on Saturday evening, as a police spokeswoman said on Monday.
State security is investigating hate crime and dangerous bodily harm.
Trans people are people who do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth.
The 57-year-old from Bremen was on the tram at around 7.35 p.m. when a group of ten to 15 young people got on at a stop in the city centre.
They insulted the woman and tore off her wig.
A perpetrator, who was estimated by witnesses to be 14 to 16 years old, punched the woman in the face with both fists.
The others in the group cheered on the attacker, the police spokeswoman said.
Only when other passengers intervened did the group let go of the woman and get off the train.
The youth fled.
The victim was taken to a hospital with serious facial injuries.
The police are now evaluating the videos from the surveillance camera on the train, said the police spokeswoman.