An armed man was holding several hostages in the southern German city of Ingolstadt, near Munich, on Monday, police said, dpa report.
The man went to the city's old town hall at about 9 am (0700 GMT), where he rounded up several people on the second floor. He has not issued any demands, an Ingolstadt police spokesman said.
It is unclear what kind of weapon the man has or how many hostages there are. Police told the local Donau Kurier newspaper the number of hostages was in the single digits.
A deputy mayor, Sepp Misslbeck, is believed to be one of the hostages. Mayor Alfred Lehmann was not in the building, town hall sources told the newspaper.
Chancellor Angela Merkel planned to hold a campaign rally in Ingolstadt later Monday. It is unclear whether the hostage-taking was connected to her visit.
Police are in contact with the hostage-taker and have sealed off the area.
Ingolstadt, in Upper Bavaria, is a city of 125,000 best known as the headquarters of luxury carmaker Audi and as the place where the secret society the Illuminati was founded in 1776.