A German newspaper that reprinted cartoons of Islamic prophet Mohammed from the French satirical paper Charlie Hebdo has been the target of an arson attack.

The newspaper, Hamburger Morgenpost, in the northern port city of Hamburg was attacked on Sunday morning local time. No-one was hurt.

"Rocks and then a burning object were thrown through the window," a police spokesman said.

"Two rooms on lower floors were damaged but the fire was put out quickly."

The regional daily paper had printed three Charlie Hebdo cartoons on its front page, running the headline, "This much freedom must be possible!".

Police said two people had been detained, while state security had opened an investigation.

Whether there was a connection between the Charlie Hebdo cartoons and the arson attack was the "key question", the police spokesman said, adding it was "too soon" to know for certain.

Media reports said the newspaper's publishers had ordered private security protection for the building.

German news agency DPA reported that the attack had occurred from a courtyard of the building and hit the newspaper's archive room where some records were destroyed.

It quoted a police spokeswoman as saying that the editorial team should be able to continue work in the building as the damage was relatively minor.

The offices of Hamburger Morgenpost before the arson attack. ( AFP )

German newspaper Bild reported on Sunday that terror attacks in France could signal the start of a wave of attacks in Europe according to communications by Islamic State (IS) leaders intercepted by US intelligence.

Shortly after the attacks in Paris, the US National Security Agency intercepted communications in which leaders of the jihadist group announced the next wave of attacks, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources in the US intelligence services.

The US services also had information that Cherif and Said Kouachi, the brothers who carried out the massacre at French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, had contacts in the Netherlands, Bild said.

Seventeen people were killed in the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo magazine, at a kosher supermarket in Paris, and against police.

Three gunmen, the two Kouachi brothers, and Amedy Coulibaly were killed by French police.

AFP