baader-meinhof gang

Note: I am in the process of moving all of the content from my previous version of this site. The “who’s who” section should be mostly complete by the end of October 2011. Thanks for your patience!

The Baader-Meinhof Gang or Baader-Meinhof Group was the popular name for the Red Army Faction during much of the 1970s. The name was applied to the nascent terrorist organization after convicted arsonist Andreas Baader was freed from police custody in West Berlin with the help of famous journalist Ulrike Meinhof.

Among the general public; leftists and some centrists would avoid the term “gang” and instead call them the “Baader-Meinhof Group.” For right-wingers, they were a gang of criminals, nothing more.

But ironically the group hated either label. The name implied that Baader and Meinhof were co-leaders of the group; which was untrue. Baader was certainly the true leader of the group, alongside his girlfriend Gudrun Ensslin. Meinhof was absolutely one of the inner circle of leaders, but clearly not at Baader’s level.

The names listed here are people associated with the group during the nascent years from their founding in May of 1970 through the late summer 1972 capture of most of the leadership of the group. Those who joined later can be found in the Second Generation of the Red Army Faction section.

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