Weapon seizures and crime perpetrated by those considered to be right-wing extremists have risen in Germany, according to newly released figures from the Interior Ministry. 

German public broadcaster ARD reported on figures released by the German government, which revealed police had seized over 1,000 weapons from neo-Nazi sympathizers in 2018. That's an increase of 415 from the previous year. 

The weapons seized included handguns, rifles, explosives, detonators and knives.

The German security services estimate that there are 13,000 'violence-driven' far-right extremists in the nation today, with approximately the same number considered extremist but not likely to commit violence. 

Matthias Quent, an expert on right-wing extremism at the Institute for Democracy and Civil Society, told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle the increase in seizures was "frightening" as it indicated a "a massive armament and rearmament of Germany's right-wing radical scene."

The German police and security services are on alert, following the murder of politician Walter Lübcke in June. Lübcke was a member of Chancellor Merkel's CDU party, and was shot outside his home by a man suspected of far-right activity. 

Another Interior Ministry report showed that in the first half of 2019 there were 8,605 so-called "right-wing offences" registered by law enforcement, an increase of nearly a thousand on the year before.