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The German Autumn (german: Deutscher Herbst) was a series of events in Germany in 1977, mostly late in the year, associated with the kidnapping and murder of industrialist, businessman, and former SS member
Hanns Martin Schleyer Hans "Hanns" Martin Schleyer (; 1 May 1915 – 18 October 1977) was a German business executive, and employer and industry representative, who served as President of two powerful commercial organizations, the Confederation of German Employers' A ...
, president of the
Confederation of German Employers' Associations The Confederation of German Employers' Associations or BDA (German: ''Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände'') is the umbrella organization for German employers' associations. It represents interest groups in the areas of industry, ...
(BDA), and the
Federation of German Industries The Federation of German Industries (german: Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie (BDI)) is the umbrella organization of German industry and industry-related service providers. It represents 39 industry associations and more than 100,000 compani ...
(BDI), by the
Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (RAF, ; , ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang (, , active 1970–1998), was a West German far-left Marxist-Leninist urban guerrilla group founded in 1970. The ...
(RAF), a far-left militant organisation, and the hijacking of
Lufthansa Flight 181 Lufthansa Flight 181 was a Boeing 737-230C jetliner (reg. D-ABCE) named the ''Landshut'' that was hijacked on the afternoon of 13 October 1977 by four members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who called themselves Commando ...
(known in Germany by the aircraft's name ''Landshut'') by the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( ar, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين, translit=al-Jabhah al-Sha`biyyah li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn, PFLP) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist and revolutionary so ...
(PFLP). They demanded the release of ten RAF members detained at the
Stammheim Prison Stammheim Prison (german: Justizvollzugsanstalt Stuttgart-Stammheim) is a prison in Stuttgart, Baden Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the northern boundaries of Stuttgart in the city district of Stuttgart-Stammheim, right between fields a ...
plus two Palestinian compatriots held in
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
and US$15 million in exchange for the hostages. The assassination on 7 April 1977 of
Siegfried Buback Siegfried Buback (3 January 1920, Wilsdruff, Saxony – 7 April 1977, Karlsruhe) was the Attorney General of West Germany from 1974 until his murder in 1977. Life and career Buback studied at the University of Leipzig. From 1940 to 1945, he w ...
, the attorney-general of
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
, and the failed kidnapping and murder of the banker
Jürgen Ponto Jürgen Ponto (17 December 1923 Bad Nauheim, Hesse - 30 July 1977 Frankfurt am Main) was a German banker and since 1969 chairman of the Dresdner Bank board of directors. Previously, he had worked as a lawyer. He was murdered by members of the R ...
on 30 July 1977, marked the beginning of the German Autumn. It ended on 18 October, with the liberation of the ''Landshut'', the deaths of the leading figures of the first generation of the RAF in their prison cells, and the death of Schleyer. The phrase "German Autumn" is derived from the 1978 film ' (''
Germany in Autumn ''Germany in Autumn'' (german: Deutschland im Herbst) is a 1978 West German anthology film about the period of 1977 known as the German Autumn, which was dominated by incidents of terrorism. The film is composed of contributions from different f ...
''), a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
omnibus film whose segments covered the social atmosphere during late 1977, while offering different critical perspectives and arguments pertaining to the situation. The directors involved were
Heinrich Böll Heinrich Theodor Böll (; 21 December 1917 – 16 July 1985) was a German writer. Considered one of Germany's foremost post-World War II writers, Böll is a recipient of the Georg Büchner Prize (1967) and the Nobel Prize for Literature (1972). ...
, Hans Peter Cloos,
Rainer Werner Fassbinder Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema movement. Fassbinder's main ...
,
Alexander Kluge Alexander Kluge (born 14 February 1932) is a German author, philosopher, academic and film director. Early life, education and early career Kluge was born in Halberstadt, Province of Saxony (now Saxony-Anhalt), Germany. After growing up durin ...
, Maxmiliane Mainka,
Edgar Reitz Edgar Reitz (born 1 November 1932) is a German filmmaker and Professor of Film at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung (State University of Design) in Karlsruhe. He is best-known for his internationally acclaimed '' Heimat film series'' (1 ...
, Katja Rupé,
Volker Schlöndorff Volker Schlöndorff (; born 31 March 1939 Friday) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer who has worked in Germany, France and the United States. He was a prominent member of the New German Cinema of the late 1960s and early 1970s ...
, Peter Schubert and Bernhard Sinkel. Kluge and Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus edited the film.


Events


Murder of Siegfried Buback

On 7 April 1977, Siegfried Buback, the attorney-general of
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
, was shot and killed alongside his driver Wolfgang Göbel and a passenger, judicial officer Georg Wurster, in an ambush whilst travelling from his home in Neureut to the Bundesgerichtshof in
Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
. Four RAF members,
Christian Klar Christian Klar (born 20 May 1952) is a former leading member of the second generation Red Army Faction (RAF), active between the 1970s and 1980s. Imprisoned in 1982 in Bruchsal Prison, he was released on 19 December 2008, after serving over 26 ...
,
Knut Folkerts Knut Detlef Folkerts (born 1 January 1952 in Singen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany) is a former member of the terrorist group, the Red Army Faction (RAF). In 1977 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the Netherlands for murder. Later he was c ...
, Günter Sonnenberg and
Brigitte Mohnhaupt Brigitte Margret Ida Mohnhaupt (born 24 June 1949) is a German convicted former terrorist associated with the second generation of the Red Army Faction (RAF) members. She was also part of the Socialist Patients' Collective (SPK). From 1971 until ...
were formally charged and prosecuted in connection with the Buback murder. In 2007, former RAF members
Peter-Jürgen Boock Peter-Jürgen Boock (born 3 September 1951) is a former terrorist of the Red Army Faction. Earlier life After completing secondary school, Boock began training as a mechanic but soon quit. Claiming that his father was a staunch Nazi, Boock then ...
and
Verena Becker Verena Becker (born 31 July 1952) is a former West German member of the Movement 2 June and later the Red Army Faction. Terrorist career While a student, Becker initially joined Movement 2 June (J2M) and was involved in bank robberies and the bomb ...
claimed that another former RAF member,
Stefan Wisniewski Stefan Wisniewski (born 8 April 1953) is a former member of the Red Army Faction (RAF). Early life Wisniewski was born in 1953 in Klosterreichenbach, a part of Baiersbronn, Baden-Württemberg, in the Black Forest. He was the son of Gisela, a ...
, had fired the gun that killed Buback.


Kidnapping and murder of Jürgen Ponto

On 30 July 1977,
Jürgen Ponto Jürgen Ponto (17 December 1923 Bad Nauheim, Hesse - 30 July 1977 Frankfurt am Main) was a German banker and since 1969 chairman of the Dresdner Bank board of directors. Previously, he had worked as a lawyer. He was murdered by members of the R ...
, the head of Dresdner Bank, was shot and killed in his house in
Oberursel Oberursel (Taunus) () is a town in Germany and part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. It is located to the north west of Frankfurt, in the Hochtaunuskreis county. It is the 13th largest town in Hesse. In 2011, the town hosted the 51st He ...
in a kidnapping that went wrong. Those involved were Brigitte Mohnhaupt, Christian Klar and Susanne Albrecht, the last being the sister of Ponto's goddaughter.


Kidnapping and murder of Hanns Martin Schleyer

On 5 September 1977, an RAF 'commando unit' attacked the chauffeured car carrying
Hanns Martin Schleyer Hans "Hanns" Martin Schleyer (; 1 May 1915 – 18 October 1977) was a German business executive, and employer and industry representative, who served as President of two powerful commercial organizations, the Confederation of German Employers' A ...
, then-president of the German employers' association, in
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
. His driver, Heinz Marcisz, 41, was forced to brake when a baby carriage suddenly appeared in the street in front of them. The police escort vehicle behind them was unable to stop in time, and crashed into Schleyer's car. Four (or possibly five) masked RAF members sprayed machine gun and machine pistol bullets into the two vehicles, killing Marcisz and a police officer, Roland Pieler, 20, who was seated in the backseat of Marcisz's car. The driver of the police escort vehicle, Reinhold Brändle, 41, and a third police officer, Helmut Ulmer, 24, who was in the second vehicle, were also killed. The hail of bullets riddled over twenty bullet wounds into the bodies of Brändle and Pieler. Schleyer was abducted and held prisoner in a rented apartment in an anonymous residential neighborhood near Cologne. He was forced to appeal to the center-left West German government under
Helmut Schmidt Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Before becoming Ch ...
for the 'first generation' of RAF members (then imprisoned) to be exchanged for him. Police attempts to locate Schleyer proved unsuccessful. On 18 October 1977, three of the imprisoned RAF members were found dead in their cells. In response, Schleyer was taken from
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
and shot dead en route to Mulhouse, France, where his body was left in the trunk of a green Audi 100 on the rue Charles Péguy. After the kidnappers phoned the location of the Audi to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur office in Stuttgart, Schleyer's body was recovered on 19 October.


''Landshut'' hijacking

When it became clear that the government was unwilling to entertain a further prisoner exchange given the experience of the kidnapping of
Peter Lorenz Peter Lorenz (22 December 1922 – 6 December 1987) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). In 1975 Lorenz was a candidate for mayor of West Berlin. He was kidnapped by the 2 June Movement group three days befor ...
two years earlier, the RAF tried to exert additional pressure by hijacking the Lufthansa aeroplane ''Landshut'' on 13 October 1977 with the help of the allied Palestinian group
PFLP The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( ar, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين, translit=al-Jabhah al-Sha`biyyah li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn, PFLP) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist and revolutionary so ...
. After a long odyssey through the Arabian Peninsula and the execution-type killing of Captain Jürgen Schumann, the hijackers and their hostages landed in
Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Oc ...
, the capital of
Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
. After political negotiations with the Somali leader Siad Barre, the West German government was granted permission to assault the plane
Lufthansa 181 Lufthansa Flight 181 was a Boeing Boeing 737, 737-230C jetliner (reg. D-ABCE) named the ''Landshut'' that was aircraft hijacking, hijacked on the afternoon of 13 October 1977 by four members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, ...
. This was carried out on 18 October by the special task force GSG 9, which had been formed after the 1972 Munich Olympics hostage crisis. Only one GSG 9 member and one flight-attendant were injured; of the hijackers only Souhaila Andrawes survived. On the same night, three of the imprisoned RAF members –
Gudrun Ensslin Gudrun Ensslin (; 15 August 1940 – 18 October 1977) was a German far-left terrorist and founder of the West German far-left militant group Red Army Faction (, or RAF, also known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang). After becoming involved with co-foun ...
,
Jan-Carl Raspe Jan-Carl Raspe (24 July 1944 – 18 October 1977) was a member of the German militant group, the Red Army Faction (RAF). Early life Raspe was born in Seefeld in Tirol (then Germany, now Austria). He was described as gentle but had difficulty co ...
and
Andreas Baader Berndt Andreas Baader (6 May 1943 – 18 October 1977) was one of the first leaders of the West German left-wing militant organization Red Army Faction (RAF), also commonly known as ''the Baader-Meinhof Group''. Life Andreas Baader was born i ...
– were found dead in their cells. The official investigation into the deaths of the imprisoned RAF members concluded that they had committed suicide: Baader and Raspe using handguns allegedly smuggled into the Stammheim maximum security prison by their lawyer Arndt Müller, Ensslin by hanging herself.
Irmgard Möller Irmgard Möller (born 13 May 1947) is a former member of the German group the Red Army Faction (RAF). Her father was a high school teacher, and before joining the RAF, she was a student of German studies. RAF activity *On 12 May 1972, Mölle ...
, who was imprisoned with them, survived with four knife wounds in her chest. She later claimed that the "suicides" were actually
extrajudicial killings An extrajudicial killing (also known as extrajudicial execution or extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, whether ...
. On 12 November 1977
Ingrid Schubert Ingrid Schubert (7 November 1944 – 12 November 1977) was a West German terrorist and founding member of the Red Army Faction (RAF). She participated in the freeing of Andreas Baader from prison in May 1970 as well as multiple bank robberies bef ...
was found hanged in her cell.


Reactions


Political divides

Germany's political parties also came into fierce clashes during the German Autumn. The
CDU/CSU CDU/CSU, unofficially the Union parties (german: Unionsparteien, ) or the Union, is a centre-right Christian-democratic political alliance of two political parties in Germany: the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Soc ...
suspected that the ruling social-liberal
SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been t ...
- FDP coalition under
Helmut Schmidt Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Before becoming Ch ...
(SPD) were ideologically close to the terrorists. The coalition, in turn, accused the opposition of hysteric overreactions and seizing the opportunity to transform the Federal Republic a little way into a
police state A police state describes a state where its government institutions exercise an extreme level of control over civil society and liberties. There is typically little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the exe ...
.


Policy agreements

The Schmidt administration convened the ''Großer Krisenstab'' (''Great Crisis Committee''), an informal council formed at the beginning of the Schleyer kidnapping, which involved members of all parties in the
Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...
and several Minister Presidents of German states. Historian Wolfgang Kraushaar likened its 45-day rule to an "undeclared state of emergency". One result of the cross-party collaboration was the ''Kontaktsperre'', a law which mandated that RAF prisoners could have no access to newspapers, TV, or radio, and could not be visited by family or lawyers.


References


Citations


Sources

* * Originally published as * * * * * *


External links


1977: the German Autumn
Chronology of the main events, statements by the RAF {{Cold War 1977 crimes in Germany 1977 in West Germany Cold War conflicts Conflicts in 1977 Hostage taking in Germany Red Army Faction Terrorist incidents in Europe in 1977 Terrorist incidents in Germany in 1977