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From Brand in jüdischem Altenheim : Anschlag in München nach 56 Jahren offenbar aufgeklärt, tagesschau.de, 20 August 2026. Quoted for study. The words are the publisher's; the analysis is ours.
Meaning
The evidence, the authorities announced, clearly pointed to a meanwhile deceased man having started the fire. The building of the Israelite Religious Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria had been set alight with a petrol mixture on the evening of 13 February 1970.
Word for word: The indications spoke clearly therefor, that a meanwhile deceased man the fire laid have, shared the authority with. The building of-the Israelitic community-of Munich and Upper Bavaria was on-the evening of-the 13th February 1970 with a petrol-mixture ignited become.
Typical news-report register: the authority's claim is relayed grammatically as indirect speech rather than quoted directly, signalling distance from the claim. The pluperfect passive places the arson before the reporting event.
The first sentence is journalistic reported speech: the finite verbs 'sprächen' and 'habe' are Konjunktiv I, marking indirect speech attributed to 'die Behörde'. The dass-clause has verb-final word order ('gelegt habe'), and the reporting verb 'mitteilen' is separable, so its prefix 'mit' moves to the end of the main clause. The fronted reported material triggers verb-second order for 'teilte'. The second sentence is a Vorgangspassiv in the pluperfect: 'war ... angezündet worden' combines preterite 'sein' with the past participles of 'anzünden' and 'werden'. Genitive marks the date ('des 13. Februar') and the possessive attribute ('der ... Kultusgemeinde'); dative appears in the time phrase 'am Abend' and after 'mit'.
Rules at work(10)
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sprächen ... habe
Both finite verbs of the reported content stand in Konjunktiv I because the newspaper relays the authority's claim as indirect speech.
Reported speech in journalism and formal writing. It is built from the infinitive stem, and where its form would be identical to the ordinary present, Konjunktiv II is used instead to keep the reporting visible.
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dass ein mittlerweile verstorbener Mann das Feuer gelegt habe
After the subordinating conjunction dass, the finite verb habe plus participle gelegt move to the end of the clause.
In a subordinate clause the finite verb stands last. Where the clause also holds a participle or an infinitive, the finite verb goes after them, so the order at the end is participle then auxiliary.
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teilte die Behörde mit
The prefix mit of mitteilen detaches and closes the main clause.
Some verbs carry a prefix that detaches in a main clause and moves to the very end: aufstehen becomes Ich stehe um sieben auf. The prefix is stressed, which is what tells a separable prefix from an inseparable one. In a subordinate clause and in the infinitive the verb stays whole.
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war ... angezündet worden
Vorgangspassiv: the patient Das Gebäude is the subject and the doer is unmentioned.
Werden plus a past participle. The agent, when it is mentioned at all, follows von for a person and durch for a means. In the perfect passive the participle of werden appears as worden rather than geworden.
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teilte die Behörde mit
The long reported clause is fronted into first position, so the finite verb teilte must occupy second position.
In a German main clause the finite verb is always the second element. The first element can be the subject, but it can just as easily be a time expression, an object or a whole subordinate clause; whatever it is, it counts as one element and the verb follows it. This is why putting something other than the subject first pushes the subject after the verb.
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war ... angezündet worden
The arson happened before the past reference point of the report, so the passive is cast in the pluperfect.
The pluperfect describes what had already happened before some other past event. It is built like the perfect but with hatte or war instead of hat or ist, and it very often appears in a clause introduced by nachdem.
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dafür
The pronominal adverb dafür (da+für) stands in for the prepositional object and cataphorically points to the following dass-clause.
Where a preposition would be followed by a pronoun standing for a thing rather than a person, German fuses the two: damit, darauf, davon. An r appears between them when the preposition begins with a vowel.
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des 13. Februar 1970
German dates place the month phrase in the genitive after expressions like am Abend des ...
The genitive shows possession and follows a small set of prepositions. Masculine and neuter nouns add s or es. In speech it is often replaced by von plus the dative, but it is alive in writing and in fixed expressions.
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am Abend ... mit einem Benzingemisch
The temporal phrase with an and the instrumental phrase with mit both require the dative.
The dative marks the indirect object, usually the person something is given, said or shown to. A number of common verbs take a dative object where English would use a direct one, and several prepositions always take it.
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gelegt ... angezündet
Weak verbs form the participle with ge- + stem + -t; in angezündet the ge- merges with the stressed separable prefix an-.
A weak verb forms its participle as ge plus stem plus t, a strong verb as ge plus a often changed stem plus en. Verbs with an inseparable prefix and verbs ending in ieren take no ge at all.
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Words(29)
- der
the
determinerA1definite
Appears twice: dative feminine 'der Wirtschaft' and nominative plural 'die Beschlüsse'.
- das Indiz
piece of evidence, indication
nounC1pl. Indiziengen. Indizesmixed declension
- sprechen
to speak, to talk
verbA1sprechen, sprach, hat gesprochenmit habenstrongsprechen für/gegen + accusative
Here only as part of the fixed expression 'sich für etwas aussprechen'.
- deutlich
clearly, distinctly, significantly
adverbB1modal
- dafür
for that, for it
adverbB1causal
Da-compound standing in for 'for this purpose'; English uses plain 'for it/that'.
- dass
that
conjunctionA2subordinating
Always sends the finite verb to the end of the clause.
- ein
a, an, one
determinerA1indefinite
The form einer here is dative feminine singular, not the pronoun meaning 'one'.
- mittlerweile
by now, in the meantime
adverbB2temporal
- verstorben
deceased, late
adjectiveB2
Polite/formal word for dead, from versterben; used attributively here.
- der Mann
man
nounA1pl. Männergen. Mannesstrong declension
Irregular plural with umlaut: Männer.
- das Feuer
fire
nounA1pl. Feuergen. Feuersstrong declension
- legen
to lay, to put
verbA2legen, legte, hat gelegtmit habenweakgoverns accusative
Transitive, contrast with liegen (to lie); fixed phrase 'ein Feuer legen' = to start a fire.
- haben
to have
verbA1haben, hatte, hat gehabtmit habenirregular
As an auxiliary it forms the perfect tenses of most verbs.
- mitteilen
announce, report, communicate
verbB2mitteilen, teilte mit, hat mitgeteiltmit habenseparableweakgoverns dative
Separable; common in news style as 'teilte X mit' = 'X announced'.
- die Behörde
authority, authority office
nounB1pl. Behördengen. Behördestrong declension
- das Gebäude
building
nounA2pl. Gebäudegen. Gebäudesstrong declension
- israelitisch
Israelite
adjectiveC1
- die Kultusgemeinde
religious community, worship community
nounC2pl. Kultusgemeindengen. Kultusgemeindestrong declension
- das München
Munich
nounA1gen. Münchensstrong declension
- und
and
conjunctionA1coordinating
- das Oberbayern
Upper Bavaria
nounB1pl. —gen. Oberbayernsinvariable declension
- sein
to be
verbA1sein, war, ist gewesenmit seinirregular
Copula here linking subject to predicate noun.
- an
on, at, by
prepositionA1governs accusative or dative
Dative for points in time and location (am Montag), accusative for direction.
- der Abend
evening
nounA1pl. Abendegen. Abendsstrong declension
- der Februar
February
nounA1pl. Februar(e)gen. Februarsstrong declension
- mit
with, by (means of transport)
prepositionA1governs dative
Always dative, including travel: 'mit dem Bus, mit dem Rad'.
- das Benzingemisch
petrol mixture, gasoline blend
nounC1pl. Benzingemischegen. Benzingemischsstrong declension
- anzünden
to ignite, to set alight
verbB2anzünden, zündete an, hat angezündetmit habenseparableweak
- werden
become, will (future auxiliary)
verbA2werden, wurde, ist gewordenmit habenirregular
Also the passive auxiliary; do not confuse with bekommen (= receive).