The Baader-Meinhof Gang Andreas Baader

Andreas Baader was one of the two namesakes of the Baader-Meinhof Gang. A juvenile delinquent, Baader was drawn towards the leftist student movement because of the excitement, and the potential for violence. He was convicted of the 1968 arson bombing of a Frankfurt department store, along with his girlfriend Gudrun Ensslin. He escaped from police custody in May 1970 with the help of famous journalist Ulrike Meinhof, giving birth to the so-called “Baader-Meinhof Gang.”

Baader spent the next two years on the run, robbing banks, and bombing buildings. He was captured, along with fellow group members Jan-Carl Raspe and Holger Meins in a spectacular Frankfurt shootout on 1 June, 1972.

Baader spent the next four years in prison, being tried and convicted of many counts, including murder, in the longest and most expensive trial in German history.

Baader committed suicide in his Stammheim prison cell early in the morning of 18 October, 1977, on “Death Night,” along with Ensslin, and comrade Jan-Carl Raspe.