The attack on Iris Stalzer, who was recently elected as mayor of Herdecke near the western city of Dortmund, is understood to have taken place just outside her home at around noon, said public broadcaster WDR.
Stalzer, of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), was then found in her apartment with life-threatening injuries, according to several German news outlets. Reports said Stalzer suffered several stab wounds.
On social media site X, Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned the reported stabbing as a "heinous act", adding:Â "We fear for her life."
He demanded that the crime and background "must now be swiftly clarified".
In Berlin, the SPD parliamentary group leader Matthias Miersch said that "a few minutes ago, the newly elected mayor Iris Stalzer was stabbed in Herdecke".
"Our thoughts are with her and we hope she survives this terrible crime... We cannot comment on the background at this time, but we are more than deeply saddened."
The town administration also voiced its "shock and dismay".
A major police operation was underway in the town in the Ennepe-Ruhr district, said a police spokesman in Hagen on Tuesday afternoon, without giving further details.
The 57-year-old politician was elected mayor of the city of 22,500 inhabitants in a runoff election on September 28th, gaining 52.2 percent of the vote. According to her site, the lawyer is married and the mother of two teenage children.
German Bild newspaper said Stalzer was found seriously injured in her home, with stab wounds to her stomach and back, by her 15-year-old adopted son.
The boy had told police that his mother had been attacked by several men on the street, Bild reported, adding that police took the teenager away for questioning.
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With reporting by DPA and AFP
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