Kommune 1
The first location of K1
K1's final location
Friday 2nd June 1967 Berlin - the murder of Benno Ohnesorg
Kommune 1 existed from 12 January 1967 to November 1969. Over that period the community had three locations, all in West Berlin. The first location was the dormant apartment of the poet and author Hans Magnus Enzensberger in the Friedenau district of the city. The apartment at Friegestrasse 20, is close to Friedenau S Bahn on the S1 line and Friedrich Wilhelm Platz on the U9 line.
The second location for K1 was the home of author and editor Uwe Johnson at Stierstrasse 3, also located in the Friedenau district and also close to the aforementioned Bahn stations.
The second location of K1
The third and final location was in the Moabit district of the city at Stephanstrasse 60. This is within walking distance of Westhafen S and U Bahn, on the S41.S42 and U9 routes.
Friday 2nd June 1967 Berlin - the murder of Benno Ohnesorg
Amid a massive security operation,The Shah of Persia was a guest visitor to the Opera House to hear a performance of Mozart's'The Magic Flute'.
The location is in the Charlottenberg district. Go by train on the U2 line to U Bahnhof Deutsche Oper. The Opera House stands near the Bismarckstrasse exit.
The view looking down Krummer Strasse from the junction with Bismarckstrasse. Benno Ohnesorg was shot in the courtyard at the back of 66 Krummer Strasse and died soon afterwards.
Only in 2009 were files discovered that indicated the perpetrator,plain clothes policeman Karl- Heinz Kurras, worked for the East German Stasi. Looks as though there is more mileage in this....
66 Krummer Strasse with the courtyard in view
Thursday April 11th 1968 Berlin
- the shooting of Red Rudi
This occurred in the Wilmersdorf area of Berlin, on the trendy Kurfurstendamm, which is the capitals most famous shopping road. To reach the spot where Rudi Dutschke was shot by anti-communist loner Josef Bachmann, you can travel by train on the U7 line to U- Bahnhof Adenauerplatz, or on the S Bahn Ring line to S-Bahnhof Halensee.
The shooting occurred 7 days after the murder of Martin Luther King, Dutschke survived though would eventually die from delayed affects 11 years later.
Wider view of the plaque
The location as viewed from the junction with Joachim Friedrich Strasse.
Thursday April 11th onwards through the Easter weekend 1968 Berlin - Springer Building Riots
As news spread that Dutschke had been shot, students organised blockades to prevent the tabloid Bild Zeitung from leaving the Axel Springer Buildings around the country.
They blamed the newspaper for stirring up animosity towards Dutschke. Violent riots took place with newspaper delivery vans set ablaze. The most intense rioting occurred outside the Berlin Springer Buildings. These were built in 1966 and lie within walking distance of Checkpoint Charlie. A new Springer building is currently under construction nearby.
The original and still active Berlin Springer buildings
Berlin-The Grave of Rudi Dutschke
Rudi Dutschke rests in the Sankt-Annen-Kirchof in the Dahlem area of Berlin.
Santk -Annen-Kirchhof
To reach this spot travel on the U3 to U Bahn Dahlem-Dorf. Turn left leaving the station and walk for just over 5 minuites.
Thursday May 14th 1970 Berlin- Andreas Baader escapes
The building that was at the time the Institute for Social Issues is now private residential property in Miquel Strasse,in the wealthy Berlin district of Dahlem. This was of course the setting where Ulrike Meinhof passed the point of no return in helping to rescue Baader.
I reached here by travelling on the U3 line and alighting at the previously mentioned U Bahn Dahlem-Dorf. Turn right on immediately leaving the station followed by the next right turning. It's roughly a 15 minuite walk.
The former Institute for Social Studies as it looks now.
Thursday 8th October 1970 - Arrests in Berlin
The Police had information that the apartment at 89 Knesebecksrtrasse was often frequented by Baader -Meinhof members and were expecting, amongst others, Baader and Ensslin to be there on this day.
When they entered the apartment they found car number plates, inflammable liquids and other chemicals, and some weapons. They arrested Ingrid Schubert, Monika Berberich, Brigitte Asdonk ,Irene Georgens and most notably Horst Mahler who rang the bell unaware that the Police were already inside.
The apartment is in the trendy area around Savignyplatz, with Savignyplatz S Bahn nearby.
Loitering suspiciously in car parks appears to have
been a favourite pastime for Baader Meinhof members.
On this occasion Ulrike Meinhof and Ali Jansen had picked a Mercedes to steal in a residential car park in Watzmannstrasse. They were joined by Astrid Proll and Ulrich Scholtze in a BMW. Struggling to get the Mercedes to start, the noise alerted the owner who called the Police. A few mile away the Police caught up with a Ford with Jansen and Scholtze inside. They wanted to take the pair back to Watzmannstrasse to see if the owner of the Mercedes could recognize them. A struggle ensued and Jansen began firing shots. He was eventually overpowered and in 1973 was sentenced to 10 years in prison for attempted murder.
Watzmannstrasse is located in the Langwasser district of Nuremberg and is within short walking distance of Langwasser Nord U Bahn Station, which lies on the U1 line.
Thursday 6th May 1971- Astrid Proll Arrested in Hamburg
Astrid Poll was arrested after her picture was recognized by a petrol station worker. According to the Aust book,the police found a key ring on her and decided to check all locks on all the apartments within a 500 metre radius, and tried 2,167 different locks before finding a matching fit in a third floor apartment on Lubecker Strasse 139.
Astrid Poll was arrested after her picture was recognized by a petrol station worker. According to the Aust book,the police found a key ring on her and decided to check all locks on all the apartments within a 500 metre radius, and tried 2,167 different locks before finding a matching fit in a third floor apartment on Lubecker Strasse 139.
Inside the police found fingerprints belonging to Baader and Ensslin, and evidence showing they planned to carry out a robbery on a van carrying money for the bank.
The discovery of the Lubecker Strasse den led to operation 'Pike' during which Petra Schelm was shot dead. This part of Lubecker Strasse is 100 metres away from Wartenau U Bahn, which is on the U 1 line.
Berlin - A Petra Schelm Drinking Haunt
Petra Schelm is an iconic name in ageing radical hippy circles - there is even a Canadian goth band using the name. On Thursday 15th July 1971 she became the first member of the Baader-Meinhof gang to be killed in action when a Police officer returned fire on her in Hamburg.
It was in the old West Berlin that she mixed in revolutionary circles,often visiting 'Zum gemutlichen Schotten' ( known just as Zum Schotten at the time) in Charlottenburg. It's a Whiskey bar similar to a typical old fashioned UK pub. Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin and Ulrike Meinhof, amongst others, visited here.
It's certainly plausible to imagine the likes of 'Gimme Shelter' and 'Child in Time' resounding from the Jukebox as they gathered and plotted to change the world.
I'm not sure how widely known it is that they drank here - I stumbled upon it in an online copy of an early 1970's edition of the generally accurate Das Spiegel - and mentioned only once too.
The pub is on Sybel Strasse, close to the Kurfurstendamm, and near the same vicinity where Dutschke was shot. Similarly, by underground U- Bahnhof Adenauerplatz is close by, but if using the S Bahn, the closest would be S-Bahnhof Charlottenburg which is on routes S5, S7 and S75. By bus down the 'damm the junction with Joachim Friedrich Strasse would be the ideal departing point.
Petra Schelm was a regular here. Picture was taken during the 2014 World Cup, hence the flags.
Thursday 15th July 1971 Hamburg -
Petra Schelm Shot Dead
On this day Operation Pike was put into action by the Government with massive resources assigned to the task of capturing Baader-Meinhof members. Roadblocks were set up across the country and Petra Schelm and Werner Hoppe, in the customary BMW, found themselves caught up at a checkpoint on a bridge on Osdorger Weg, in the Barhrenfeld district of Hamburg.
The bridge on Osdorfer Weg. The immediate turn on the left, and the following turn on the left are both entry roads to Bundesautobahn 7.
The turn into Reineckestrasse
Schelm was pursued on foot into Reineckestrasse. Hoppe went in the opposite direction through a wooded area and eventually gave himself up to Police by the concrete barrier wall that backs on to Bundesautobahn 7.
Schelm was pursued on foot into Reineckestrasse. Hoppe went in the opposite direction through a wooded area and eventually gave himself up to Police by the concrete barrier wall that backs on to Bundesautobahn 7.
The pursuing Police caught up with Schelm outside an apartment block in Reineckestrasse. She refused to surrender and fired her Pistol, the Police returned fire hitting her in the eye. She died immediately.
To reach the above area I walked from Bahrenfeld S-Bahn which is on the S1 and S11 lines. The point where Osdorfer Weg flys over Bundesautobahn 7 is half a mile from the station.
The Resting Place of Petra Schelm
Petra Schelm lies in an unmarked grave in the Berlin borough of Spandau. The cemetery, Stadtischer Friedhof in den Kisseln, is large and in a woodland area. Pleasant and relaxing to stroll around , the sight of Red Squirrels shooting from branch to branch is a common one. Only downside would be that it is situated on the Tegel Airport flightpath.
Travelling by train either use the underground to Rathaus Spandau which is the end point of the U7 line, or on the above line to S -Banhof Spandau on the S5 line. The cemetery lies roughly two miles away, so either a long walk or get familiar with the bus routes.
Somewhere here perhaps ?
Generally, it's etiquette for strangers not to approach cemetery/graveyard workers and ask for the spot of unmarked resting places. On my visit on a lovely July midweek morning I was literally cold searching and after wandering around for approaching two hours I had two spots of luck. A lady, longish brown hair, late fifties to early sixties, walked hurriedly past and gave me a brief but strangely curious glance. She had a small camera in hand, a handbag and wore a long black dress.
My first thought was ex-hippie revolutionary - it's just an aura that can't be hidden. Hopes rising I then went searching in the area where she had appeared from, and that's when I had my second spot of luck. Although the grave had been unmarked for many,many years, a small picture and other items had been left and evidently allowed to remain.
Oh sweet Jesus I really have found her!
Those who find grave searching enjoyable and challenging will know when they have that euphoric trainspotting moment. This was mine.
Stadtischer Friedhof in den Kisseln covers a large area and I shall not indicate what part of the cemetery the grave lies. In the only picture of the grave I had seen before it was totally bare, with no items whatsoever resting above, and no real clues where it was situated.
Late morning sunlight gives a mystic effect
A small shrine
Friday October 22nd 1971 Hamburg - Norbert Schmid Murdered
On this day Ulrike Meinhof, Jan Carl Raspe, Irmgard Moller, Margrit Schiller, Manfred Grashof, Holger Meins, Klaus Junschke, Gerhard Muller and some others planned to meet in the apartment.
Apartments next to the Alstertal shopping center.
According to Schiller's account in her book, soon after midnight Meinhof needed to go out to a phone box to make a call, she asked Schiller and Muller to accompany her.
The scene today outside Poppenbuettel railway station. It would have changed alot since 1971. In the background you can see the apartment block that lies next to the Alstertal shopping centre.
Sergeant Schmid was murdered on this side of the road. As an indicator where this lies, the Alster shopping centre is straight on through the traffic lights on the right. The block of apartment flats can be spotted in the distance.
The area is best reached by travelling on S Bahn to Poppenbuettel which is the last stop on both the S1 and S11 routes.
Saturday December 4th 1971 Berlin - Georg von Rauch Shot Dead
Saturday December 4th 1971 Berlin - Georg von Rauch Shot Dead
Georg von Rauch's death in Berlin resulted from a Police operation in response to discovering that the RAF were moving the main core of it's operations back to the capital. Von Rauch was a member of the 2nd June Movement, who had similar aims and connections to the RAF.
His death occurred when Police stopped a Ford Transit van and an accompanying Volkswagen Variant, which they suspected had been stolen. Of the occupants, one ran away from the scene while the remaining three were frisked by Police. In an altercation von Rauch was shot dead through the eye by an officer. It is not clear what happened though some reports state that von Rauch had drawn a pistol and had shot first.
The incident happened in Eisenacher Strasse, near the corner with Fugger Strasse, in the Schoneberg district of the city. Eisenacher Strasse U Bahn is on the U7 line.
Friday 19th May 1972 Hamburg - Bombing of the Springer Building
Six bombs were planted in the building by Meinhof, Siegfried Hausner, Klause Junschke and Ilse Stachowiak. Several telephone warnings to the building were not treated seriously and three of the bombs exploded injuring 17 of the workers. This attack was later regretted by the Group was the workers were not deemed 'legitimate' targets.
Axel Springer Platz is situated on the edge of the city centre. The nearest S and U Bahn is Jungfernstieg.
Wednesday 7th June 1972 Hamburg - the arrest of Gudrun Ensslin
Ensslin was arrested in the Linette Boutique on the fashionable Jungfernstieg close to the centre of Hamburg. It was a week after Baader had been arrested and she entered the boutique acting nervously and went to the changing room to try on items. As she did one of the assistants began tidying some of the discarded items and picked up Ensslin's jacket , finding a handgun.
A Linette Boutique still exists in Hamburg but has moved location. The original is now another store and is close to Jungfernstieg S Bahn/ U Bahn.
The scene of Ensslin's last moments on the outside.The former Linette Boutique on Jungfernstieg
View towards the centre of Hamburg from outside the former Linette Boutique.
A Gudrun Ensslin Address in Hamburg
When arrested, they found an ID card in the name of a Magaret Reins with the Hamburg address of Hochallee 21.
The house was raided and a Kommune discovered. Five inhabitants were arrested but later released.
Gudrun Ensslin linked to here
The address is in the Harvesthude district of Hamburg and within walking distance of Hallerstrasse U Bahn on the U1 line.
A Gudrun Ensslin Address in Hamburg
When arrested, they found an ID card in the name of a Magaret Reins with the Hamburg address of Hochallee 21.
The house was raided and a Kommune discovered. Five inhabitants were arrested but later released.
The address is in the Harvesthude district of Hamburg and within walking distance of Hallerstrasse U Bahn on the U1 line.
Ulrike Meinhof
Ulrike Meinhof lived in several different locations in Germany during her childhood, and the the Juta Ditfurth Biography of Meinhof details the locations and reveals she also had a spell living in Worcester, England in 1949 as a 15 year old.
As a prominent established left wing journalist in her mid-thirties, she lived for a short while in the summer of 1969 at 7 Halberstadter Strasse in the Halensee area of Berlin, near the Kurfurstendamm. Halensee S Bahn, on the Ring line, is close by.
Meinhof lived here for a short spell in 1969.
Before the freeing of Baader and her crossing over to illegality and becoming a wanted person, she resided at 12 Kufsteiner Strasse in the Schoneberg district of Berlin.It lies equal distance from U Bahnhof Bayerischer Platz on the U4 and U7 routes, and U Bahn Berliner Strasse on the U7 and U9 routes.
Saturday May 15th 1976 Berlin
- the funeral of Ulrike Meinhof
Ulrike Meinhof lies in the Friedhof 111 der Dreifaltigkeitsgemeinde in the Mariendorf area of Berlin.
To reach the cemetery you travel on the U6 line towards Alt Mariendorf but alight at the stop before, U Bahn Westphalweg.
Watch out not to go in the Friedhof Zum Heiligen Kreuz in error. Both cemeteries lie side by side on Eisenacher Strasse with both entrances look almost identical if seen for the first time. To avoid this error just remember that as you walk down Eisenacher Strasse from the direction of U Bahn Westphalweg, walk on past the first entrance and keep on to the second one approximately 100 yards further on.
Kirchhof der Dreifaltigkeilsgemeinde
It's amazing to think that an estimated 4,000 mourners attended the funeral. In summer bloom the cemetery is pleasant on the eye and has a fair sized population of Red Squirrels
Thursday February 27th 1975 Berlin - Peter Lorenz Kidnapping
It's now history that when the Federal Government conceded to the demands of the 2nd June Movement, it paved the way for future kidnappings by left wing radicals. Lorenz, a Conservative politician, was released unharmed and stated that he had been treated extremely well though clearly that may not have been the case if the demands had not been met.
Lorenz was held captive in the basement of 7 Schenkendorfstrasse in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin. the best way to reach it is to travel on the U7 and alight at U Bahn Gneisenau Strasse, The location is just over 100 yards away.
The property with the basement windows in view.
Tuesday 9th September 1975 Berlin - Arrest of Movement 2nd June Members
M2J members Ralf Reinders, Inge Viett and Juliane Plambeck were arrested in connection with the Gunter von Drenkmann assassination and Lorenz kidnapping.
The arrest occurred in an apartment at Birkbuschstrasse 48, in the Steglitz district of the city, which is within walking distance of S Bahn Rathaus Steglitz.
The apartment where the arrests occurred
Reinders was eventually given a 15 year sentence for his role in the Drenkmann murder. Viett and Plambeck escaped from Prison. Plambeck switched from the M2J to the RAF in 1980, and died during that year in a car accident.
Tuesday 9th September 1975 Berlin - Arrest of Movement 2nd June Members
M2J members Ralf Reinders, Inge Viett and Juliane Plambeck were arrested in connection with the Gunter von Drenkmann assassination and Lorenz kidnapping.
The arrest occurred in an apartment at Birkbuschstrasse 48, in the Steglitz district of the city, which is within walking distance of S Bahn Rathaus Steglitz.
Reinders was eventually given a 15 year sentence for his role in the Drenkmann murder. Viett and Plambeck escaped from Prison. Plambeck switched from the M2J to the RAF in 1980, and died during that year in a car accident.
Stammheim Prison - Stuttgart
The prison in the Stammheim district of Stuttgart forms one of the jewels in the crown for those visiting Baader-Meinhof locations. To reach there travel on the U 15, the train will terminate at U Banhof Stammheim which like many of the stops on this line is above ground. You can then continue on foot down Asperger Strasse which ends at the prison entrance.
You can walk full circle around the prison though you may be spoken to by a curious patrolling policeman or two . The following pictures were taken at dusk on a gloomy December day. The place has a hellish feel to it and you can hear prisoners shouting to each other out of the window grills.
Monday 5th September 1977 Cologne - HMS Kidnapped
The kidnapping of Hans Martin Schleyer during which four members of his two car convoy were shot dead, happened in the Braunsfeld district of Cologne. The actual location is less than a mile away from FC Koln's football stadium and runs parallel with the busy Aachener Strasse, the road that leads from the edge of the city centre and goes past the stadium.
Schleyer was being driven back from the Rhein front where the Economic Institute of German Industry building stood, to the apartment he owned off Friedrich Schmidt Strasse.
The start of Friedrich Schmidt Strasse.
Journalist Stefan Aust is recognised for doing the most accurate research on the subject and he has stated that those who carried out the ambush had been waiting in a cafe for a phone call with the code word ' Mendocino' ( after the Sir Douglas Quintett song) to alert them that Schleyer had left the Institute. Aust states that in the cafe they had ordered coffee and cakes, and that housewives and elderly ladies sat nearby.The cafe was close to where the kidnapping would occur.
Interestingly, there is no cafe near on Friedrich Schmidt Strasse now and I'm guessing that it may have been on the parallel Aachener Strasse as it is hard to imagine the wealthy and probably reserved residents of Friedrich Schmidt Strasse allowing what sounds like something not too dissimilar to a greasy spoon establishment on their doorstep.
Moving along Friedrich Schmidt Strasse
Schleyer's apartment was in Raschdorfstrasse, which is a one way street ,so he was driven on past the junction and turned the next right into Vincenz Statz Strasse, with the intention of going down Vincenz Statz Strasse, turning right onto the Aachener Strasse, then back towards Raschdorfstrasse from the side that allowed entry.
Schleyers convoy carried on past Raschdorfstrasse
(on the right) as there is no entry from this side.
As we know the lure was set in Vincenz Statz Strasse where Sieglinde Hofman pushed the pram into the road.
(on the right) as there is no entry from this side.
As we know the lure was set in Vincenz Statz Strasse where Sieglinde Hofman pushed the pram into the road.
The turn into Vincenz Statz Strasse can be seen in the middle on the right.
Turning into Vincenz Statz Strasse the vehicle carrying Schleyer broke suddenly to avoid hitting the pram causing the vehicle behind to bump into the back.
The turn into Vincenz Statz Strasse
In the carnage that followed Schleyers chauffeur and three of his bodyguards were machine gunned to death and Schleyer snatched.
The ambush area as viewed from Vincenz Statz Strasse.
The cross erected at the junction to honour the victims
Looking back at the turn into Vincenz Statz Strasse
Tuesday 25th October 1977 Stuttgart - Funeral of Dr Hans Martin Schleyer
Dr Schleyer is buried in the Ostfilderfriedhof in the Sillenbuch district of Stuttgart. The cemetery lies next to Schemppstrasse U Bahn which is on the U7, U8 and U15 routes.
Thursday 27th October 1977 Stuttgart - Funeral of Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin and Jan Carl Raspe.
There were 1,000 police officers present for a crowd of 1,000 - 1,200 mourners. The three were buried in the same grave in the Dornhaldenfriedhof in Stuttgart.
It's quite an ordeal to reach this location as you cannot follow the car route on foot with the pavements ending long before you reach the cemetery. Alight at either U Bahn's Sudheimer Platz or Bihlplatz which are both on routes U1, U 14 and U 21 use a map to walk towards the cemetery. You then will have to ramble through a woodland area.
Approaching the cemetery from the woods.
The grave is in the above section but out of sight on the front row nearest to the woods.
Wednesday 6th September 1978 Dusseldorf - death of Willy Peter Stoll
Of the members of the Group that took part in the ambush on the Schleyer convoy, all are alive to this day bar Willy Peter Stoll. It has been stated by various sources that he was traumatised by his prominent role in the Schleyer ambush where he was one of the gunmen, and developed a death wish as a result. He met his end in the Shanghai Restaurant in Dusseldorf.
The building is at 156 Oststrasse , within short walking distance of the Hauptbahnhof. It's now a sports health shop called 'Body Attack'.
The reports in various news archives give a consistent recount of how he met his death. A wanted man with his picture circulated, Stoll entered the restaurant and ordered a Chinese meal and a beer. A lady popping in for a takeaway recognised him and called the Police. A Police officer entered the restaurant , Stoll drew his pistol but the officer was quicker and shot Stoll dead.
What was the Shangai Restaurant in 1978 is now 'Body Attack'
Friday 4th May 1979 Nuremberg- the shooting of Elisabeth von Dyck
Elisabeth von Dyck was shot dead by Police as she entered what was believed to be a Nuremberg hideaway for the group.
It has never been fully established what exactly happened. Police say she was about to shoot, supporters of the group say it was an execution.
