Thomas Niedermayer, OBE (1928–1973) was a German industrialist, who was kidnapped by, and died while in the hands of, the

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...

in 1973. He was managing director of the

Grundig Grundig (; ) is a German consumer electronics manufacturer owned by the Turkish Arçelik A.Ş., the white goods (major appliance) manufacturer of Turkish conglomerate Koç Holding. The company made domestic appliances and personal-care prod ...

factory in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, and the

West German 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 ...

honorary consul for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Abduction

Niedermayer was kidnapped on 27 December 1973, at around 11 pm, from his home in West Belfast, by two IRA members who lured him outside his house on the pretext that they had accidentally crashed into his car. The abduction incident was witnessed by his two teenage daughters, who had answered the door to them, and by a neighbour who worked at the Grundig factory. The

Government of the United Kingdom ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal coat of arms of t ...

denied at the time that it had received any subsequent demands from the IRA in relation to the kidnapping, but several years later it was revealed that it had done so, and had briefly attempted to negotiate, with the IRA seeking the transferral from imprisonment in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

of two of its members who had been jailed for involvement in a bombing campaign in London in 1973. However, the negotiations had ended abruptly from the IRA's side without explanation. In March 1980, the

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal ...

, acting on information received, located Niedermayer's body lying face down, with hands tied, and gagged, in a shallow grave at an illegal rubbish dump at Colin Glen. A forensic examination revealed that the cause of death had been severe injuries sustained to the head after being pistol-whipped with a handgun. His funeral took place at

Dunmurry Dunmurry (; ) is an urban townland in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Dunmurry is in the Collin electoral ward for the local government district of Belfast City Council. History Until the end of the 18th century, Dunmurry was largely an agricultura ...

, and he was buried in the church's graveyard.

Criminal trial and after

Eugene McManus (IRA Belfast Brigade

Adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

in 1973) and 42-year-old John Bradley (also an IRA member) were charged in connection with the crime. Bradley was originally charged with murder, but at his trial in 1981 he pleaded guilty to manslaughter, stating that he had accidentally killed Niedermayer whilst he was trying to escape. McManus pleaded guilty to withholding information about the crime and IRA membership. Bradley was subsequently sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment, and McManus to five years' imprisonment. Information later obtained by the Royal Ulster Constabulary revealed that the kidnapping operation had been set in motion by Brian Keenan, a former employee at the Belfast Grundig factory that Niedermayer had been the Director of, where Keenan, as a

Trade Union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

representative, had had several confrontations with Niedermayer.

Subsequent events

Niedermayer's wife, Ingeborg, returned to Ireland in 1990, ten years to the day after her husband's funeral, and booked into a hotel in Bray, where she died by suicide by walking into the sea from an isolated beach. Niedermayer's two daughters, Renate and Gabrielle, also died, in 1991 and 1994 respectively, with Gabrielle committing suicide. Gabrielle's husband, Robin Williams-Powell, killed himself five years later in 1999. Gabrielle and Robin are survived by their two daughters, Tanya and Rachel.Niedermeyer, by James O'Fee
impalapublications.com, recovered 18 August 2015

References

External links

A Knock on the Door
RTE Radio, 16 February 2013

Belfast Telegraph, 23/04/2010 * ttps://magazin.spiegel.de/EpubDelivery/spiegel/pdf/41784397, Der Spiegel, Nr. 6/1974, Waffen im Container

Abduction

Criminal trial and after

Subsequent events

See also

References

External links

Further reading