Fritz Haarmann

Friedrich Heinrich Karl "Fritz" Haarmann (25 October 1879 – 15 April 1925) was a German serial rapist and serial killer, known as the Butcher of Hanover, the Vampire of Hanover and the Wolf Man, who committed the sexual assault, murder, mutilation and dismemberment of at least twenty-four young men and boys in the city of Hanover between 1918 and 1924.

Found guilty of twenty-four of the twenty-seven murders for which he was tried, Haarmann was sentenced to death by beheading in December 1924. He was subsequently executed by guillotine in April 1925.

Haarmann became known as the Butcher of Hanover () due to the extensive mutilation and dismemberment committed upon his victims' bodies, and by such titles as the Vampire of Hanover (der Vampir von Hannover) and the Wolf Man (Wolfsmensch) because of his preferred murder method of biting into or through his victims' throats.

Early life

Childhood

Fritz Haarmann was born in Hanover on 25 October 1879, the sixth and youngest child born to Johanna (née Claudius) and Ollie Haarmann.

Haarmann was a quiet child, with few friends his own age or gender, and who seldom socialized with any children outside of school, with the exception of his siblings. From an early age, Haarmann's behaviour was noticeably effeminate, and he was known to shun boys' activities, instead playing with his sisters' dolls and dressing in their clothes. He also developed a passion for both needlework and cookery,

Reportedly, Haarmann's father married his mother when she was 41 years old and seven years his senior, largely due to her wealth and the substantial dowry their marriage would eventually bring him. Haarmann Sr. was known to be argumentative and short-tempered and conducted several affairs throughout his marriage. Via his infidelity, he contracted syphilis in his later years.

In 1886, Haarmann began his schooling; he was noted by teachers to be a spoiled and mollycoddled child who was prone to daydreaming. Although his behaviour at school was noted to be exemplary, his academic performance was below average, and Haarmann had to repeat a school year twice. On one occasion, when he was about eight years old, Haarmann was molested by one of his teachers, although he never discussed this incident in detail.

Haarmann grew into a trim, physically strong youth. With his parents' consent, he finished his schooling in 1894. Upon leaving school, Haarmann briefly obtained employment as an apprentice locksmith in Neuf-Brisach (now part of France) before opting at age 15 to enrol in a military academy in the town of Breisach. and unfit to stand trial by a psychologist named Gurt Schmalfuß. Schmalfuß ordered Haarmann to be confined at the mental institution indefinitely. He was returned to the institution on 28 May 1897.

Seven months later, in January 1898, Haarmann escaped the mental institution and, with apparent assistance from his mother, fled to Zürich in Switzerland. Here, he lived with a relative of his mother and obtained employment as a handyman in a shipyard. Haarmann remained in Zürich for sixteen months before he returned to Hanover in April 1899. Early the following year, he seduced and subsequently became engaged to a woman named Erna Loewert, who soon became pregnant with his child. In October 1900, Haarmann received notification to perform his compulsory military service.

Military service

On 12 October 1900, Haarmann was deployed to the Alsatian city of Colmar to serve in the Number 10 Rifle Battalion. Throughout his service, he earned a reputation among his superiors as an exemplary soldier and excellent marksman, and he would later describe this period of service as being the happiest of his entire life. After collapsing while on exercise with his battalion in October 1901, Haarmann began to suffer dizzy spells and was subsequently hospitalized for over four months. He was later deemed "unsuitable for [military] service and work" and was discharged on 28 July 1902.

Discharged from the military under medical terms described as being "probable" dementia praecox, by the 10th Army in 1904. As a result, his monthly pension was slightly increased. The same year, his fiancée, while pregnant with his child, terminated their engagement after he accused her of having an affair with a student. As the fishmongery was registered in her name, Erna simply ordered her fiancé to leave the premises. Consequently, Haarmann spent the majority of the years between 1905 and 1912 in jail.

In late 1913, Haarmann was arrested for burglary. A search of his home revealed a hoard of stolen property linking him to several other burglaries. Despite protesting his innocence, Haarmann was charged with and convicted of a series of burglaries and frauds. He was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for these offences.

Due to compulsory conscription resulting from the outbreak of World War I, Germany saw a shortage of available domestic manpower. In the final years of his prison sentence, Haarmann was permitted to work throughout the day on the grounds of various manor houses near the town of Rendsburg, with instructions to return to prison each evening. Upon his release from prison in April 1918, he initially moved to Berlin before opting to return to Hanover, where he briefly lived with one of his sisters before renting a single-room apartment in late August 1918.

right|thumb|The years following the loss of [[World War I saw an increase in poverty, crime, and black market trading in the Weimar Republic.]]

According to Haarmann, he was struck by the poverty of the German nation as a result of the loss the nation had suffered in World War I. Through his initial efforts to both trade and purchase stolen property at Hanover Central Station, Haarmann established several criminal contacts with whom he could trade in contraband property, and he immediately reverted to the criminal life he had lived before his 1913 arrest.

Police informant

Despite police knowledge that Haarmann was both a known criminal and a known homosexual,

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Year!! No.!! Date!! Name!! Age!! Context!! Conviction

| 1918|| Suspected || September || Hermann Koch || 14 ||Koch was a 14-year-old youth who disappeared just weeks prior to Haarmann's first confirmed victim, Friedel Rothe. Haarmann is known to have kept company with Koch. He is also known to have written a letter to Koch's school providing an explanation for the youth's prolonged absence. A distinctive handkerchief bearing Grans' name was also found lodged in Keimes's throat.|| Yes

| 1923|| 4|| 23 May|| Roland Huch|| 16|| Huch vanished from Hanover station after running away from home. Items of his clothing were traced to a lifeguard who later testified at Haarmann's trial that he obtained these items from Haarmann.|| Yes

| 1923|| 5|| c. 31 May|| Hans Sonnenfeld|| 19|| A runaway from the suburb of Limmer who is known to have associated with acquaintances at Hanover station. Sonnenfeld's coat and tie were found at Haarmann's apartment.|| Yes

| 1923|| 6|| 25 June|| Ernst Ehrenberg|| 13|| The first known victim killed at Haarmann's Rote Reihe address. Ehrenberg was the son of Haarmann's neighbour. He never returned home after running an errand for his parents.|| Yes

| 1923|| 7|| 24 August|| Heinrich Struß|| 18|| A carpenter's son from the suburb of Egestorf. Struß was last seen at a Hanover cinema. Haarmann was in possession of the youth's violin case when arrested.|| Yes

| 1923|| 8|| 24 September|| Paul Bronischewski|| 17|| Vanished as he travelled home to the city of Bochum after visiting his uncle in Groß Garz. He was offered work by Haarmann when he alighted the train at Hanover.|| Yes

| 1923|| 9|| c. 30 September|| Richard Gräf|| 17|| Disappeared after informing his family a detective from Hanover had found him a job. Haarmann's landlady is known to have pawned Gräf's overcoat.|| Yes

| 1923|| 10|| 12 October|| Wilhelm Erdner|| 16|| A locksmith's son from the town of Gehrden. Erdner disappeared as he cycled to work. Haarmann is known to have sold Erdner's bicycle on 20 October.|| Yes

| 1923|| 11|| 24 October|| Hermann Wolf|| 15|| Wolf was last seen by his brother in the vicinity of Hanover station; his belt buckle was later found in Haarmann's apartment, although Haarmann would deny having killed Wolf at his trial. Haarmann was acquitted of this murder.|| No

|1923 || 12|| 27 October|| Heinz Brinkmann|| 13|| Vanished from Hanover station after missing his train home to Clausthal. A witness would later testify to having seen Haarmann and Grans conversing with Brinkmann in the waiting rooms at Hanover station.|| Yes

| 1923|| 13|| 10 November|| Adolf Hannappel|| 17|| One of the few murder victims whom Haarmann readily confessed to killing. Hannappel was seen by several witnesses sitting in the waiting rooms at Hanover station—all of whom would later testify to having seen Haarmann approach Hannappel. Haarmann would himself claim to have committed this murder upon the urging of Hans Grans.|| Yes

| 1923|| 14|| 6 December|| Adolf Hennies|| 19|| Hennies disappeared while looking for work in Hanover; his coat was found in the possession of Hans Grans. Haarmann would claim at his trial that, although he dismembered Hennies's body, Grans and another acquaintance were responsible for this murder.|| Yes

| 1924|| 21|| 17 April || Wilhelm Apel|| 16|| Disappeared on his way to work; Apel was lured from the Hanover-Leinhausen station to Haarmann's apartment. Much of his clothing was later sold by Haarmann's landlady.|| Yes

| 1924|| 22|| 26 April|| Robert Witzel|| 18|| Last seen visiting a travelling circus; Witzel's skull was found on 20 May. The remainder of his body was thrown into the Leine River.|| Yes

| 1924|| 23|| 9 May|| Heinz Martin|| 14|| An apprentice locksmith from the city of Chemnitz. His leather marine cap, shirt, and cardigan were all found in Haarmann's apartment. It is speculated that Martin disappeared from Hanover station while looking for work.|| Yes

| 1924|| 24|| 26 May|| Fritz Wittig|| 17|| A travelling salesman from the town of Kassel. According to Haarmann, he had not wanted to kill Wittig but was persuaded to "take the boy" by Grans, who coveted Wittig's suit.|| Yes

| 1924|| 25|| 26 May || Friedrich Abeling|| 10|| The youngest victim. Abeling disappeared while playing truant from school. His skull was found in the Leine River on 13 June.|| Yes

| 1924|| 26|| 5 June|| Friedrich Koch|| 16|| Vanished on his way to college. Koch was last seen by two acquaintances in the company of Haarmann.|| Yes

| 1924|| 27|| 14 June|| Erich de Vries|| 17|| De Vries disappeared after informing his parents he intended to go for a swim in the Ohe River. Following his arrest, Haarmann led police to de Vries's dismembered skeletal remains, which he had discarded in a lake located at the entrance to the Herrenhausen Gardens.

In the case of Hermann Wolf, police established that prior to the youth's disappearance, he had informed his father he had conversed with a detective at Hanover station. Haarmann is known to have given many of Wolf's clothes to his landlady in the days immediately following his 44th birthday (shortly after Wolf was reported missing).

Haarmann was acquitted of the murder of Adolf Hennies due to conflicting testimony regarding the circumstances as to whether he or Grans actually murdered the youth. Although Haarmann admitted at his trial to having dismembered Hennies's body, he claimed to have returned to his apartment and "found a dead body lying there," to which, he claimed, Grans simply replied, "One of yours." Grans would deny this claim, and would state that he had bought Hennies's distinctive coat from Haarmann for eight Marks, after having been warned the coat was stolen. Due to this conflicting testimony, and the lack of an actual witness to the murder, neither Haarmann nor Grans were convicted of Hennies's murder.

Suspected victims

Hermann Koch

In September 1918, As had been the case in the disappearance of Friedel Rothe, police had searched Haarmann's Cellerstraße apartment in search of the youth, although no trace of Koch was found and charges against Haarmann in relation to the disappearance were dropped. Koch's father had petitioned in 1921 for Haarmann to be tried for his son's murder however his requests were officially rejected. although no sections of Haarmann's brain were permanently preserved. Nonetheless, Haarmann's head was preserved in formaldehyde and remained in the possession of the Göttingen medical school from 1925 until 2014, when it was cremated.

right|220px|thumb|The communal grave of Haarmann's victims

The remains of Haarmann's victims which had been recovered were buried together in a communal grave in Stöckener Cemetery in February 1925. In April 1928, a large granite memorial in the form of a triptych, inscribed with the names and ages of the victims, was erected over the communal grave.

The discovery of a letter from Haarmann declaring Hans Grans' innocence subsequently led to Grans receiving a second trial. This letter was dated 5 February 1925, and was addressed to the father of Grans. In this letter, Haarmann claimed that although he had been frustrated at having been seen as little more than a "meal ticket" by Grans, Grans "had absolutely no idea that I killed". Furthermore, Haarmann claimed many of his accusations against Grans prior to his trial were obtained under extreme duress, and that he falsely accused Grans of instigating the murders of Hannappel and Witzel as a means of revenge. Haarmann claimed that his pastor would be informed as to the contents and the authenticity of the letter.

Hans Grans was retried in January 1926. He was charged with aiding and abetting Haarmann in the murders of victims Adolf Hannappel and Fritz Wittig. Although Grans stated in one address to the judge at this second trial that he expected to be acquitted, on 19 January, he was again found guilty of aiding and abetting Haarmann in both cases, although in this instance, he was sentenced to two concurrent 12-year sentences. He initially served his sentence at Celle Prison, but was transferred to Sachsenhausen concentration camp in 1937, where he remained until the camp's liberation in April 1945. Following the camp's liberation, Grans and several other former prisoners were returned to Celle Prison, where he remained until his release in January 1946.

Following his release from prison, Grans continued to live in Hanover until his death in 1975.

The murders committed by Haarmann stirred much discussion in Germany regarding methods used in police investigation, the treatment of mentally ill offenders, and the validity of the death penalty. However, the most heated topic of discussion in relation to the murders committed by Haarmann were issues relating to the subject of homosexuality, which was then illegal and punishable by imprisonment in Germany. The discovery of the murders subsequently stirred a wave of homophobia throughout Germany, with one historian noting: "It split the [gay rights] movement irreparably, fed every prejudice against homosexuality, and provided new fodder for conservative adversaries of legal sex reform."

150px|right|thumb|Poster of Fritz Lang's 1931 film [[M (1931 film)|M]]

Media

Film

The first film to draw inspiration from the Haarmann case, M, was released in 1931. Directed by Fritz Lang, M starred Peter Lorre as a fictional child killer named Hans Beckert. In addition to drawing inspiration from the case of Fritz Haarmann, M was also inspired by the then-recent and notorious crimes of Peter Kürten and Carl Großmann.
The film The Tenderness of the Wolves (Die Zärtlichkeit der Wölfe) was directly based upon Haarmann's crimes. This film was released in July 1973 and was directed by Ulli Lommel. The Tenderness of the Wolves was both written by and starred Kurt Raab, who cast himself as Fritz Haarmann. German film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder produced the film and also appeared in a minor role as Haarmann's criminal accomplice, Hugo Wittkowski.
The most recent film to be directly based upon Haarmann's murder spree, Der Totmacher (The Deathmaker), was released in 1995. This film starred Götz George as Haarmann. Der Totmacher focuses upon the written records of the psychiatric examinations of Haarmann conducted by Ernst Schultze; one of the main psychiatric experts who was to testify at Haarmann's 1924 trial. The plot of Der Totmacher revolves around Haarmann's interrogation after his arrest, as he is being interviewed by a court psychiatrist.
The 2010 film Cyrus: Mind of a Serial Killer, written and directed by Mark Vadik, was loosely based on both Haarmann and American serial killer Henry Lee Lucas.

Books

Lane, Brian; Gregg, Wilfred (1992) The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers
Lessing, Theodor (1925) Monsters of Weimar: Haarmann, the Story of a Werewolf
Marriner, Brian (1992) Cannibalism: The Last Taboo!
Wilson, Colin; Wilson, Damon (2006) The World's Most Evil Murderers: Real-Life Stories of Infamous Killers

Notes

References

Cited works and further reading

External links

Fritz Haarmann at CrimeLibrary.com
Contemporary newspaper account pertaining to Haarmann's trial and conviction
Contemporary newspaper account detailing Haarmann's execution
Fritz Haarmann's entry at executedtoday.com
Image depicting Haarmann's severed head, preserved at Göttingen medical school until its 2014 cremation