Your true crime audio index.
The body is a textbook; it tells you everything if you know how to read it.
—
Dr. Michael Baden
;
Forensic Pathologist
Caution: Contains disturbing adult content; discretion advised.
This website contains content related to real crimes, including graphic descriptions and disturbing subject matter that may not be suitable for all audiences. By entering, you acknowledge that you are 18 years of age or older and understand that some material may be distressing. Viewer discretion is strongly advised.
Content on this site is based on public information and research, and may contain inaccuracies or incomplete details.
I agree, Enter
arrow_forward
Caution: Contains disturbing content; discretion advised.
Note: Images enhanced for clarity, resolution, lighting, and minor blemishes.
Fritz Haarmann
The Butcher of Hanover
Victim(s)
Friedel Rothe (17M), Hermann Witzel (16M), Heinz Brinkmann (13M), Wilhelm Schulze (16M), Adolf Hannappel (17M), Hermann Wolff (15M), Adolf Hesse (18M), Heinrich Koch (17M), Wilhelm Erdmann (17M), Robert Witzel (18M), Hermann Spieker (16M), Erich de Vries (17M), Arthur Koch (20M), Willi Sengebusch (18M), Paul Brackmann (19M), Hermann Barkhausen (16M), Paul Kramer (17M), Erich Keller (16M), Walter Fiedler (19M), Hans Sonnenberg (20M), Erich Kahn (18M), Fritz Wittig (17M), Several Unidentified youths (estimated 10–22M)
Perpetrator(s)
Friedrich Heinrich Karl "Fritz" Haarmann
Case Status
Closed Case
Case Years
1918–1924
Location(s)
Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany
Read synopsis
In postwar Hanover, Germany, Fritz Haarmann preyed upon runaway boys and young men amid the desperation and chaos that followed World War I. Known as the Butcher of Hanover, he lured victims from train stations with promises of food or work, then assaulted, killed, and dismembered them inside his small apartment. For years, police failed to connect the growing number of missing youths until human remains were found floating in the Leine River, sparking one of Germany’s most horrifying murder investigations. Haarmann confessed to killing more than twenty men and boys, and his crimes left a lasting scar on a nation already struggling to recover from the war’s devastation.
