Podcast 35: Just How Popular Were These Terrorists, Anyway?
Eight million West Germans expressed a willingness to consider directly support the Baader-Meinhof Gang. Were they serious? The Baader-Meinhof Podcast explores the issue. sdfajkdfsakjl sdfa [display_podcast]
12-6-1975 German State Vote Threatens Schmidt (Canadian Press)
Enlightening article on the political climate in West Germany at the end of 1975 and the RAF’s contribution to it. PDF: 12-6-1975 German State Vote Threatens Schmidt (Canadian Press)
11-12-1977 Two Sought by Bonn Badly Wounded by Dutch Police (NY Times)
PDF: 11-12-1977 Two Sought by Bonn Badly Wounded by Dutch Police (NY Times)
11-12-1977 Dutch Shootout Terrorists Tied to Red Army Faction (AP)
PDF: 11-12-1977 Dutch Shootout Terrorists Tied to Red Army Faction (AP)
11-12-1974 Germans Order Extra Security (NY Times)
Reporting the fall-out from the death of Holger Meins by hunger strike, including the assasination of Judge Gunter Von Drenkmann and riots in Berlin. PDF: 11-12-1974 Germans Order Extra Security (NY Times)
10-28-1977 Defender of German Terrorists (NY Times)
PDF: 10-28-1977 Defender of German Terrorists (NY Times)
10-26-1977 Germany Faces Tough Task in Controlling Terrorism Editorial (AP)
PDF: 10-26-1977 Germany Faces Tough Task in Controlling Terrorism Editorial (AP)
10-25-1977 Victims of Democracy – Editorial (NY Times)
PDF: 10-25-1977 Victims of Democracy – Editorial (NY Times)
10-24-1977 We’ve Won! Terrorists Exulted Just Before They Died (AP)
PDF: 10-24-1977 We’ve Won! Terrorists Exulted Just Before They Died (AP)
10-24-1977 Violence Provokes Wide Debate in West German Society (NY Times)
PDF: 10-24-1977 Violence Provokes Wide Debate in West German Society (NY Times)
10-23-1977 A Loose Alliance of Terrorists Does Seem to Exist (NY Times)
PDF: 10-23-1977 A Loose Alliance of Terrorists Does Seem to Exist (NY Times)
10-21-1977 Red Army Guerrillas Waging German Battle (AP)
PDF: 10-21-1977 Red Army Guerrillas Waging German Battle (AP)
6-2-1972 Bonn Seizes Suspected Guerrillas (NY Times)
Article on the arrests of Baader and Meins as well as an outline of possible international links. PDF: 6-2-1972 Bonn Seizes Suspected Guerrillas (NY Times)
5-27-1975 Baader-Meinhof Trial Postponed (Canadian Press)
Announcement of the postponment of the Stammheim trial. PDF: 5-27-1975 Baader-Meinhof Trial Postponed (Canadian Press)
5-25-1972 Terrorist Bombs Kill Three at US Army German Post (AP)
Article on Heidelberg bombings and possible links to attacks in Paris on two US airline company offices. Interestingly refers to The Red Army Faction as “believed to be part of” The Baader Meinhof Gang. PDF: 5-25-1972 Terrorist Bombs Kill Three at US Army German Post (AP)
4-25-1975 GermanTerroristCaptured (UPI)
A virually identical article to the previous post. PDF: 4-25-1975 GermanTerroristCaptured (UPI)
4-25-1975 German Terrorist Captured (AP)
Report on the fall out following the Stockholm siege, including the conviction of June 2nd Movement member Ronald Augustin. PDF: 4-25-1975 German Terrorist Captured
4-24-1975 Five Terrorists Seize Embassy (AP)
An updated version of the previous article which names two suspected members of the group that seized the embassy. PDF: 4-24-1975 Five Terrorists Seize Embassy
12-15-1971 West Germany’s Bonnie and Clyde (LA Times)
A quite long, omnibus-style Lost Angeles Times article exploring the Baader-Meinhof Group, written at the height of their public support and well before their bombing campaign of the following May. The article lays out the false “Bonnie and Clyde” meme probably more completely than any other source. Early western media reports were obsessed with equating [read all]
6-28-1972 West Germany has its Bonnie, Clyde (AP)
Another background article on Meinhof. This one finds “no evidence of any romantic link” between her and Baader! PDF: 6-28-1972 West Germany has its Bonnie, Clyde
6-18-1972 The wife who became Public Enemy No 1 (Guardian UK)
Great article by Neal Ascherton on Ulrike Meinhof’s journey toward terror, including memories of conversations with the subject. PDF: 6-18-1972 The wife who became Public Enemy No 1
6-8-1972 A Fourth Anarchist Seized By Germans (NY Times)
Piece on the arrest of Gudrun Ensslin, and one of the first mentions of her in English language press. PDF: 6-8-1972 A Fourth Anarchist Seized By Germans
6-2-1972 Anarchist Leaders Seized in Frankfurt (NY Times)
“Come out, your means are limited, but ours are unlimited.” Great quote attributed to Federal Police in this article on Baader and Meins arrest. PDF: 6-2-1972 Anarchist Leaders Seized in Frankfurt
5-26-1972 Bombings Link Probed (AP)
Another piece on Heidelberg and possible connections with attacks in France. States that The Baader Meinhoff Gang have “recently adopted ” the Red Army Faction moniker. PDF: 5-26-1972 Bombings Link Probed
4-24-1975 Five Terrorists Seize Embassy (UPI)
A United Press International article detailing the initial takeover of the West Germany Embassy in Stockholm by the Red Army Faction. PDF 4-24-1975 Five Terrorists Seize Embassy
4-25-1975 German Terrorists Captured After Embassy Bomb Attack (UPI)
United Press International story in the April 25, 1975 edition of the Montreal Gazette, providing coverage of the aftermath of the disastrous Red Army Faction takeover of the West German Embassy in Stockholm. As with many article of the era, it perpetuates common misconceptions about the group (such as Ulrike Meinhof being the leader). PDF: German Terrorists [read all]
The Baader-Meinhof Gang – History International [Registered]
1998 – Produced by ITN Factual for History International. “The Baader-Meinhof Gang” is a one hour special created for History Channel International in 2007 as part of their “International Profile” series. The film benefits immensely for interview with former Baader-Meinhof Gang member Astrid Proll, family members of former terrorists, baader-meinhof.com site creator Richard Huffman (me!), [read all]
Red Army Faction
RAF or Rote Armee Fraktion The Red Army Faction was the name that the Baader-Meinhof Gang chose for itself. The intent was to portray themselves as faction of a much larger Revolutionary army. Some in the group would later claim that the name was created almost as a joke; modeled after Japan’s “Red Army” terrorists, and also named [read all]
Praxis
“Practice” In the study of Marxism in the western world, there was “theory,” which was the discussion of how to best bring about the Revolution, and there was “praxis,” or practice, which was direct action attempting to bring about the revolution. For aspiring terrorists, the primacy of praxis was absolute. It was this allegiance to [read all]
Second Generation of the Red Army Faction
Die Dritte Generation Depending on the timeframe that you are studying, the members of the Red Army Faction are often described as “the first generation of the RAF,” or the “second generation of the RAF,” and so on. There are two different meanings for this talk of RAF “generations.” The first, and less prominent meaning, is articulated [read all]
Baader-Meinhof Wagen
BMW or Baader-Meinhof Wagen or Bayerische Motoren Werke or Bavrian Motor Works Bayerische Motoren Werke was the third largest manufacturer of cars on Germany, but by the mid-sixties the company was in financial trouble. Its cars were well built, yet plain. They were also distressingly easy to break into and hot-wire. Though the Baader-Meinhof Gang [read all]
Baader-Meinhof Gang
Baader-Meinhof Bande or Baader-Meinhof Gruppe Depending on how one looks at it, the Baader-Meinhof Gang came into existence on 2 April 1968, when Andreas Baader and his girlfriend, Gudrun Ensslin, firebombed Frankfurt’s Kaufhaus Schneider department store, or it came into being two years later when the famed left-wing journalist Ulrike Meinhof helped to break Baader out [read all]
The Return of the Red Army Faction?
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 – Berlin. The discovery and defusing of a bomb planted in Berlin’s main train station yesterday, the third bomb in a row created apparently by left-wing extremists, unexpectedly sent shivers down my spine. A leftist group called “Hekla Reception Committee — Initiative for more Eruptions in Society ” has claimed responsibility, [read all]
Astrid Proll
Astrid Proll Information Coming Soon
March 3, 1973 Khartoum
Black September Palestinian guerrillas execute American diplomats Cleo Noel Jr. and George Moore. The diplomats had been among many hostages taken by Black September from the Saudi Arabian embassy in Khartoum. The guerrillas have been demanding the release of Sirhan Sirhan (Bobby Kennedy’s killer), many Palestinians held in Jordan, all Arab women detained in Israel, [read all]
February 9, 1973 Cologne
After eight months of total isolation in the “Dead Section” of Cologne’s Ossendorf prison, Ulrike Meinhof is finally moved to an area of the prison that is populated by other prisoners. The move is prompted by the hunger strikes that most of the Baader-Meinhof Gang members are waging. The hunger strikes are called off, and [read all]
July 7, 1972 Offenbach
New Baader-Meinhof Gang member Hans-Peter Konieczny is cornered by police. He is quietly persuaded that the likelihood of him going to prison will be lessened if he aids in the capture of other gang members. Konieczny sets up Klaus Jünschke and Irmgard Möller, who are easily captured by the police. Konieczny is released from custody [read all]
June 25, 1972 Stuttgart
Police burst in the apartment of a young Scottish businessman named Iain Macleod (they are acting on tips that he is involved with the Baader-Meinhof Gang). Macleod shrieks; the police shoot, killing him. Police never conclusively link him to the activities of the Baader-Meinhof Gang in any way.
June 15, 1972 Hanover
Ulrike Meinhof and Gerhard Müller spent the past two days at the apartment of a teacher, who was a friend of one of Ulrike’s Schili connections. At first the teacher does not realize exactly who is sleeping under his roof, but he takes his suspicions to his girlfriend the next morning and then to the [read all]
June 9, 1972 West Berlin
Baader-Meinhof Gang member (and original member of the SPK) Brigitte Mohnhaupt and Movement 2 June member Bernhard Braun are captured in Berlin.
May 12, 1972 Augsburg and Munich
Angela Luther and Irmgard Möller sneak into the Augsburg Police department and leave two time-delay pipe bombs. The bombs explode shortly after noon, injuring five policemen. Later in the Baader, Meins, and Ensslin leave a car bomb to explode in the parking lot of the state Bundeskriminalamt in Munich, destroying 60 cars. The Baader-Meinhof Gang, [read all]
March 15, 1972, Federal Republic of Germany
Karl-Heinz Ruhland, the auto shop worker turned terrorist turned informer, is sentenced to four and a half years in prison for his participation with the Baader-Meinhof Gang.
Chapter 4 — Praxis
May, 1967 – May 1970, 59 pages: The stories of the three major characters, Baader, Meinhof, and Ensslin, merge into one story in this chapter, and follow a straight narrative arc for the rest of the book. But first this chapter will look into the extremes of the student movement, exemplified by a West German [read all]
Introduction Chapter
12 pages: The introduction begins with an anecdote describing the event that put the Baader-Meinhof Gang squarely on the German national consciousness: the freeing of Andreas Baader from prison custody with the help of noted journalist Ulrike Meinhof. The three most important characters, Baader, Meinhof, and Gudrun Ensslin, are introduced, each showing telling aspects of [read all]
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 [read all]
December 23, 1971 Hamburg
Though there is nothing to connect the Kaiserlautern murder to the Baader-Meinhof Gang at this time, the Springer Press newspaper Bild publishes a story headlined “Baader-Meinhof murders on.”
September 1, 1971 Bonn
Horst Herold is selected to be Chief Commissioner of the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA). He immediately goes about centralizing efforts to track down the Baader-Meinhof Gang. He builds a computer system which contains every singe fact or bit of evidence relating to the gang.
February 10, Frankfurt am Main
Baader-Meinhof Gang members Manfred Grashof and Astrid Proll are stopped by two undercover police agents. Grashof pulls out a pistol (Proll is unarmed) and they both run. One of the cops fires his pistol, missing both Grashof and Proll. Partially with the aid of a sympathetic passer-by, Grashof and Proll escape.
January 15, 1971 Kassel
Two Kassel banks are raided at the same time netting 115,000 DM. For one of the bank jobs, a BMW 2000 was stolen in Frankfurt. The BMW was one of the Baader-Meinhof Gang’s favorite cars to steal; because they were fast, easy to break into, and easy to hot-wire. In the coming year the group [read all]
January 1971, Federal Republic of Germany
Young Beate Sturm, member of the nascent Baader-Meinhof Gang and tired of being on the run, quietly returns home to her mother.
Early Winter 1971, Bonn
Always protective of their own sovereignty, the leaders of the various Länder (states) agree to allow a special section of the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) to be created to oversee Germany’s anti-terrorism efforts. After the second World War, West Germany had been created as a loose confederation of states, with little in the way of an internal [read all]
Podcast 26: The Politics of Burying Terrorists
We compare how the US buried bin Laden with how the bodies of Ensslin, Raspe, and Baader were buried. [display_podcast]
Podcast 25: How Heated Rhetoric Helped Give Birth to Baader-Meinhof
The deadly Arizona shooting offers interesting and tragic parallels to the heated environment and rhetoric that helped give birth to the era of the Baader-Meinhof Gang. [display_podcast]
Podcast 21: Fritz Teufel is Dead
Fritz Teuful, co-founder of Kommune 1, clown prince of the Berlin student movement, and inspiration of the Baader-Meinhof Gang, died this week at 67. [display_podcast]
Podcast 19: The Gamest Bastard of All: Paul Bloomquist
A Memorial day tribute to Lt. Col. Paul Bloomquist, the first American victim of the Baader-Meinhof Gang. [display_podcast]
Podcast 18: It was 40 Years Ago Today… The Birth of Baader-Meinhof
Forty years ago today Ulrike Meinhof helped break Andreas Baader from police custody, giving birth to the Baader-Meinhof Gang. [display_podcast]
Podcast 10: Music Icon Luke Haines Interview
An interview with legendary British musician Luke Haines about his seminal 1996 concept album “Baader-Meinhof.” [display_podcast]
Podcast 9: Bombing Witness Larry David Young Interview
An interview with Larry David Young, witness to the tragic Baader-Meinhof bombing of the Frankfurt V Corp HQ in 1972. A very long talk with a very interesting man. [display_podcast]
Podcast 8: Musician Chris Cooley Interview
Chris Cooley of the Tulsa band tHE pORTRAYL, talks about his interest in the Baader-Meinhof era and his song “Stammheim.” [display_podcast]
Podcast 7: On the Term “Baader-Meinhof”
How did the term “Baader-Meinhof” come into common usage and why was it controversial? [display_podcast]
Podcast 4: Talking Heads’ Life During Wartime
Talking Heads’ “Life During Wartime” was inspired by the Baader-Meinhof Gang; we discuss. [display_podcast]