Editing Fritz Haarmann

{{Short description|German serial killer (1879–1925)}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=May 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox serial killer
| name              = Fritz Haarmann
| image             = Friedrich Haarmann.jpg
| image_size        = 
| caption           = Haarmann, {{circa|1924}}
| alias             = The Butcher of Hanover<br />The Wolf Man<br />The Vampire of Hanover
| birth_date        = 25 October 1879
| birth_name        = Friedrich Heinrich Karl Haarmann
| birth_place       = [[Hanover]], [[German Empire]]
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|df=y|1925|4|15|1879|10|25}}
| death_place       = Hanover Prison, [[Weimar Republic]]
| cause             = [[Execution by guillotine]]
| victims           = 24–27+
| country           = Germany
| states            = [[Province of Hanover]], [[Prussia]]
| beginyear         = 25 September 1918&nbsp;
| endyear           = &nbsp;14 June 1924
| apprehended       = 22 June 1924
| conviction        = [[Murder]] (24 counts)
| conviction_penalty = [[Capital punishment|Death]]
| criminal_status   = [[Executed]]
}}

'''Friedrich Heinrich Karl''' "'''Fritz'''" '''Haarmann''' (25 October 1879 – 15 April 1925) was a German [[serial rapist]] and [[serial killer]], known as the '''Butcher of Hanover''', the '''Vampire of Hanover''' and the '''Wolf Man''', who committed the [[sexual assault]], [[murder]], [[mutilation]] and [[dismemberment]] of at least twenty-four young men and boys in the city of [[Hanover]] between 1918 and 1924.

Found guilty of twenty-four of the twenty-seven murders for which he was tried, Haarmann was [[death sentence|sentenced to death]] by [[decapitation|beheading]] in December 1924.<ref name="https">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19241219&id=LaQhAAAAIBAJ&pg=3285,3792815|title=Reading Eagle |via= Google News Archive Search|access-date=26 February 2017}}</ref> He was subsequently executed by [[guillotine]] in April 1925.

Haarmann became known as the ''Butcher of Hanover'' ({{langx|de|link=no|Der Schlächter von Hannover}}) due to the extensive mutilation and dismemberment committed upon his victims' bodies, and by such titles as the ''Vampire of Hanover'' (''der Vampir von Hannover'') and the ''Wolf Man'' (''Wolfsmensch'') because of his preferred murder method of biting into or through his victims' throats.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1893&dat=19241215&id=_ycrAAAAIBAJ&pg=5092,708824|title=Slayer of 30 Near Collapse at his Trial|access-date=20 December 2017|newspaper=The Southeast Missourian|date=15 December 1924}}</ref>

==Early life==
===Childhood===
Fritz Haarmann was born in [[Hanover]] on 25 October 1879, the sixth and youngest child born to Johanna (''[[née]]'' Claudius) and Ollie Haarmann.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 18">{{cite book|first1=Thomas|last1=Lessing|first2=Karl|last2=Berg|first3=George|last3=God|title=Monsters of Weimar|year=1993|publisher=Nemesis Publications|location=Berlin, Germany|isbn=1-897743-10-6|page=18}}</ref>

Haarmann was a quiet child, with few friends his own age or gender, and who seldom socialized with any children outside of school, with the exception of his siblings. From an early age, Haarmann's behaviour was noticeably [[Effeminacy|effeminate]], and he was known to shun boys' activities, instead playing with his sisters' dolls<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 23">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 23</ref> and dressing in their clothes. He also developed a passion for both [[needlework]] and cookery,<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 23"/> and would develop a close relationship with his mother, who spoiled her youngest child.<ref name="Real Life Crimes 2650">Real Life Crimes, p. 2650, {{ISBN|1-85875-440-2}}.</ref>{{refn|group=n|From his early childhood Fritz developed a bitter hatred and rivalry towards his father, which would continue until his father's death in 1921.<ref name="ReferenceB">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 21</ref>}}

Reportedly, Haarmann's father married his mother when she was 41 years old and seven years his senior, largely due to her wealth and the substantial [[dowry]] their marriage would eventually bring him. Haarmann Sr. was known to be [[argumentative]] and short-tempered and conducted several affairs throughout his marriage. Via his [[infidelity]], he contracted [[syphilis]] in his later years.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 23"/> Despite his father being an authoritarian who had little time for his children and a notorious [[Promiscuity#Male promiscuity|womanizer]], Haarmann's parents remained together until his mother's death in April 1901.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 23"/><ref name="ReferenceB">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 21</ref>

In 1886, Haarmann began his schooling; he was noted by teachers to be a spoiled and mollycoddled child who was prone to daydreaming. Although his behaviour at school was noted to be exemplary, his academic performance was below average, and Haarmann had to repeat a school year twice. On one occasion, when he was about eight years old, Haarmann was [[child molestation|molested]] by one of his teachers, although he never discussed this incident in detail.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 24">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 24</ref>

Haarmann grew into a trim, physically strong youth. With his parents' consent, he finished his schooling in 1894. Upon leaving school, Haarmann briefly obtained employment as an apprentice locksmith in [[Neuf-Brisach]] (now part of France) before opting at age 15 to enrol in a military academy in the town of [[Breisach]].<ref name="Real Life Crimes 2650"/> His military training began on 4 April 1895.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 23"/>

===Adolescence and first offences===
Haarmann initially adapted to military life and performed well as a trainee soldier. However, after five months of military service, he began to suffer periodic lapses of [[consciousness]] which, although initially described by a medical professional as being sudden signs of [[anxiety disorder|anxiety neurosis]], were subsequently diagnosed as being "equivalent to [[epilepsy]]" in October 1895. The following month, Haarmann discharged himself from the military and returned to Hanover, where he briefly worked in a cigar factory his father had established in 1888.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 24"/>

At age 16, Haarmann committed his first known sexual offences, all of which involved young boys whom he would lure to secluded areas—typically cellars—before proceeding to [[child sexual abuse|sexually abuse]] them. He was first arrested for committing offences of this nature in July 1896. Following further offences, the Division for Criminal Matters opted to place Haarmann in a [[Psychiatric hospital|mental institution]] in the city of [[Hildesheim]] in February 1897.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 24"/> Although briefly transferred to a Hanover hospital for [[Psychological evaluation|psychiatric evaluation]], he would be certified as being "incurably [[Psychosis|deranged]]"<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 25</ref> and unfit to stand trial by a [[psychologist]] named Gurt Schmalfuß. Schmalfuß ordered Haarmann to be confined at the mental institution indefinitely. He was returned to the institution on 28 May 1897.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} pp. 25–26</ref>

Seven months later, in January 1898, Haarmann escaped the mental institution and, with apparent assistance from his mother, fled to [[Zürich]] in Switzerland. Here, he lived with a relative of his mother and obtained employment as a handyman in a shipyard. Haarmann remained in Zürich for sixteen months before he returned to Hanover in April 1899. Early the following year, he seduced and subsequently became engaged to a woman named Erna Loewert,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/history/haarman/5b.html|title=CrimeLibrary.com|access-date=26 February 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023150958/http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/history/haarman/5b.html|archive-date=23 October 2014}}</ref> who soon became pregnant with his child.{{refn|group=n|Haarmann's fiancée would later arrange for this first pregnancy to be [[abortion|aborted]].}} In October 1900, Haarmann received notification to perform his compulsory military service.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 26</ref>

==Military service==
On 12 October 1900, Haarmann was deployed to the [[Alsace|Alsatian]] city of [[Colmar]] to serve in the Number 10 Rifle Battalion. Throughout his service, he earned a reputation among his superiors as an exemplary soldier and excellent [[marksman]], and he would later describe this period of service as being the happiest of his entire life. After collapsing while on exercise with his battalion in October 1901, Haarmann began to suffer dizzy spells and was subsequently hospitalized for over four months. He was later deemed "unsuitable for [military] service and work" and was discharged on 28 July 1902.<ref name="ReferenceI">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 27</ref>

Discharged from the military under medical terms<ref name="ReferenceC">Cannibalism: The Last Taboo! {{ISBN|1-859-58495-0}} p. 111</ref> described as being "probable" [[dementia praecox]],<ref name="ReferenceI"/> Haarmann was awarded a monthly pension of twenty-one [[German gold mark|gold marks]].{{refn|group=n|Haarmann would continue to receive his military pension until his 1924 arrest for murder.<ref name="Real Life Crimes 2650"/>}} He returned to live with Erna in Hanover, briefly working again in his father's cigar factory. However, he soon filed a maintenance lawsuit against his father, citing that he was unable to work due to the ailments noted by the military. Haarmann's father successfully contested the suit, and the charges were dropped. The following year, a violent fight between father and son resulted in Haarmann's father himself unsuccessfully initiating legal proceedings against his son, citing verbal death threats and [[blackmail]] as justification to have his son returned to a mental institution. These charges were dropped due to a lack of [[corroborating evidence]]. Nonetheless, Haarmann was ordered to undertake a psychiatric examination in May 1903. This examination was conducted by a Dr. Andrae, who concluded that, although morally inferior, Haarmann was not mentally unstable.

With financial assistance from his father, Haarmann and his fiancée opened a [[fishmonger]]y. Haarmann himself briefly attempted to work as an insurance salesman before being officially classified as disabled and unable to work<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 28">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 28</ref> by the [[10th Army (German Empire)|10th Army]] in 1904. As a result, his monthly pension was slightly increased. The same year, his fiancée, while pregnant with his child, terminated their engagement after he accused her of having an affair with a student. As the fishmongery was registered in her name, Erna simply ordered her fiancé to leave the premises.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 28"/>

==Criminal career==
For the next decade, Haarmann primarily lived as a petty thief, burglar, and [[con artist]]. Although he did occasionally obtain legitimate employment, he invariably stole from his employers or their customers. Beginning in 1905, he served several short prison sentences for offences such as [[larceny]], [[embezzlement]], and assault. On one occasion when working legitimately as an invoice clerk, Haarmann became acquainted with a female employee with whom he later claimed to have robbed several [[tombstones]] and graves between 1905 and 1913 (he was never charged with these offences).<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} pp. 29–31</ref> Consequently, Haarmann spent the majority of the years between 1905 and 1912 in jail.<ref>Cannibalism: The Last Taboo! {{ISBN|978-1-859-58495-8}} p. 109</ref>

In late 1913, Haarmann was arrested for burglary. A search of his home revealed a hoard of stolen property linking him to several other burglaries. Despite protesting his innocence, Haarmann was charged with and convicted of a series of burglaries and frauds. He was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for these offences.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 29</ref>

Due to compulsory conscription resulting from the outbreak of [[World War I]], Germany saw a shortage of available domestic manpower. In the final years of his prison sentence, Haarmann was permitted to work throughout the day on the grounds of various [[manor house]]s near the town of [[Rendsburg]],<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 31</ref> with instructions to return to prison each evening. Upon his release from prison in April 1918, he initially moved to [[Berlin]] before opting to return to Hanover, where he briefly lived with one of his sisters before renting a single-room apartment in late August 1918.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 33</ref>
[[File:Food Queues Weimar Republic 1918 Hanover.jpg|right|thumb|The years following the loss of [[World War I]] saw an increase in poverty, crime, and [[black market]] trading in the [[Weimar Republic]].]]

According to Haarmann, he was struck by the poverty of the German nation as a result of the loss the nation had suffered in World War I. Through his initial efforts to both trade and purchase stolen property at [[Hanover Central Station]], Haarmann established several criminal contacts with whom he could trade in contraband property, and he immediately reverted to the criminal life he had lived before his 1913 arrest.<ref name="nydailynews.com">{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/butcher-hanover-article-1.300659|title=The Justice Story: The Butcher of Hanover|access-date=7 November 2017|newspaper=Daily News|date=18 October 2008}}</ref>

===Police informant===
Despite police knowledge that Haarmann was both a known criminal and a known homosexual,<ref name="Weimar p.50">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 50</ref>{{refn|group=n|Homosexuality was illegal and punishable by imprisonment in the German Empire and the Weimar Republic.<ref name="Weimar p.50"/>}} he gradually began to establish a relationship with law enforcement as an [[Informant|informer]], largely as a means of redirecting the attention of the police from himself and his own criminal activities,<ref>Cannibalism: The Last Taboo! {{ISBN|978-1-859-58495-8}} p. 110</ref> and to facilitate his access to young males. By 1919,<ref name="ReferenceD">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 35</ref> Haarmann is known to have regularly patrolled Hanover station,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/butcher-hanover-article-1.300659|title=The Justice Story: The Butcher of Hanover|access-date=29 November 2017|newspaper=Daily News|date=18 October 2008}}</ref> and to have provided police with information relating to the city's extensive criminal network. With the cooperation of several police officials, Haarmann devised a ruse whereby he would offer to [[Fence (criminal)|fence]] or store stolen property at his premises, then pass this information to police, who would then raid his property at agreed times and arrest these contacts.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} pp. 50–51</ref> To remove any suspicion as to his treachery reaching the criminal fraternity, Haarmann himself would be arrested in these raids. Moreover, on numerous occasions, he is known to have performed [[citizen's arrest]]s upon commuters for offences such as travelling on forged documents. As a result of these activities, police began to rely on Haarmann as a reliable source of information regarding various criminal activities in Hanover, and he was allowed to patrol Hanover station largely at will.<ref>Cannibalism: The Last Taboo! {{ISBN|1-859-58495-0}} p. 110</ref>

==Known and alleged murders==
Between 1918 and 1924, Haarmann committed at least twenty-four murders, although he is suspected of murdering a minimum of twenty-seven. All of his victims were males between the ages of 10 and 22, the majority of whom were in their mid- to late-teens. The victims were lured back to one of three addresses in which Haarmann is known to have resided throughout those years. He is known to have killed upon the promise of assistance, accommodation, work, or under the pretence of arrest. At Haarmann's apartment, the victim was typically given food and drink before Haarmann bit into his [[Adam's apple]], often as he was [[strangulation|strangled]].<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 80">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 80</ref> Often this caused the victim to die of asphyxiation, but on several occasions Haarmann bit completely through his victims' Adams apple and [[trachea]].<ref name="A Plague of Murder Chapter 3">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pRieBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT74|title=A Plague of Murder|first=Colin|last=Wilson|date=7 February 2013|publisher=Little, Brown Book Group|access-date=26 February 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=978-1-472-10802-9}}</ref> (Haarmann referred to the act of biting through his victims' neck as his "[[love bite]]".)<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 99">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 99</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/215220421|title=There Are-Vampires To-day!|access-date=26 October 2020|newspaper=The Glenelg Guardian|date=29 July 1936}}</ref>
[[File:Ihme Muendung Leine Hannover 2005-03-21 00.jpg|right|thumb|The Leine River, into which Haarmann disposed of many of his victims' dismembered remains]]

All of Haarmann's known victims were dismembered before their bodies were discarded, usually in the [[River Leine|Leine River]], although the dismembered body of his first known victim had simply been buried,<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 65">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 65</ref> and the body of his last victim had been thrown into a lake located at the entrance to the [[Herrenhausen Gardens]].<ref name="ReferenceJ">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 124</ref>

Haarmann typically kept his victims' personal possessions for himself or his lover, Hans Grans. Alternatively, they would be sold on the black market through criminal contacts he and Grans had established at Hanover Central Station. However, the personal possessions of some victims were sold to legitimate retailers. In several instances, both Haarmann and Grans gave possessions belonging to various victims to acquaintances as gifts.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 86">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 86</ref>

Following Haarmann's arrest, rumours circulated that Haarmann ate the flesh of his victims, or sold it on the black market as pork or horse meat.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 60">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 60</ref> Although no evidence was ever produced to confirm these theories, Haarmann was known to be an active trader in contraband meat,<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 81">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 81</ref> which was invariably boneless, diced, and often sold as [[ground meat]].<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 54">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 54</ref> When asked where he obtained the meat, Haarmann sometimes said he had obtained the produce from a butcher named "Karl", although investigators would later note that the stories Haarmann told his acquaintances regarding the origins of this individual varied.<ref name=Perth>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/76438969|title=Fiend in Human Form: Jack the Ripper Deeds Outdone|date=31 January 1925|work=The Mirror (Perth)|access-date=24 October 2020}}</ref><ref name=RealLife>Real Life Crimes, p. 2651, {{ISBN|1-85875-440-2}}</ref>

===First known victim===
Haarmann's first known victim was a 17-year-old runaway named Friedel Rothe. When Rothe disappeared on 25 September 1918, his friends told police he was last seen with Haarmann, who at the time resided in a single-room apartment at 27 Cellerstraße. Under pressure from Rothe's family, police raided Haarmann's apartment in October 1918, where they found him in the company of a semi-naked 13-year-old boy.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 83</ref> He was charged with both the [[sexual assault]] and [[Battery (crime)|battery]]<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 37">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 37</ref> of a minor, and sentenced to nine months' imprisonment. (Haarmann later confessed to detectives that at the time they had searched his apartment, Rothe's head was stowed behind his stove, wrapped in newspaper.)<ref>Real Life Crimes, p. 2652, {{ISBN|1-85875-440-2}}.</ref>

Haarmann avoided serving his sentence throughout 1919. That October, he met an 18-year-old youth named Hans Grans, who had run away from his home in Berlin following an argument with his father on 1 October. Grans had slept rough in and around Hanover station for approximately two weeks—selling old clothes<ref name="ReferenceE">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19240716&id=YnwuAAAAIBAJ&pg=3040,1969303|title=Aided Murderer: Second-hand Dealer Wanted Victims' Clothes|access-date=16 December 2017|newspaper=The Gazette|location=Montreal|date=16 July 1924}}</ref> in and around the station to earn enough money to simply eat—before he encountered Haarmann.<ref name="A Plague of Murder Chapter 3"/>

===Relationship with Hans Grans===
In his subsequent confessions to police, Grans stated that, although his sexual orientation was heterosexual, he himself initiated contact with Haarmann, with the intention of prostituting himself, having heard of Haarmann's homosexuality through acquaintances he had established in Hanover.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 41</ref> Haarmann himself stated following his arrest that he viewed Grans as being "like a son" to him, adding that he "pulled him [Grans] out of the ditch and tried to make sure he didn't go to the dogs."<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 42">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 42</ref>

Shortly after their initial acquaintance, Haarmann invited the youth to move into his apartment, and Grans became Haarmann's lover and criminal accomplice.<ref>[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/history/haarman/1b.html trutv.com].</ref> According to Haarmann, although he was smitten with Grans,<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 42"/> he gradually became aware that the youth manipulated and, occasionally, mocked him. On several occasions, Grans was evicted after heated arguments, only for Haarmann to plead with him to come back. Despite the manipulation Haarmann endured at the hands of his accomplice, he later claimed to tolerate the capitulation as he craved Grans' companionship and affection,<ref name="news.google.com">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19241219&id=yepPAAAAIBAJ&pg=2918,5611359|title=The Evening Independent |via= Google News Archive Search|access-date=26 February 2017}}</ref> adding: "I had to have someone I meant everything to."<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 45</ref>

Haarmann served the nine-month prison sentence imposed in 1918 for sexual assault and battery between March and December 1920. Upon his release, he again regained the trust of the police and again became an informer.<ref name=Perth /> Haarmann initially resided in a hotel, before he and Grans lodged with a middle-class family.<ref name=RealLife />

Through criminal contacts, Haarmann became aware of a vacant ground-floor apartment located at 8 Neue Straße. The apartment was located in a densely populated, old house located alongside the Leine River. Haarmann secured a letting agreement with the landlady, ostensibly to use the property for storage purposes. He and Grans moved into 8 Neue Straße on 1 July 1921.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 47</ref>

==Subsequent murders==
===1923===
Haarmann's subsequent victims largely consisted of young male commuters, runaways, and, occasionally, [[Male prostitution|male prostitutes]], whom he would typically encounter in or around Hanover's central railway station. The second murder Haarmann is known to have committed occurred on 12 February 1923. The victim was a 17-year-old pianist named Fritz Franke, whom Haarmann encountered at Hanover Central Station and invited to his Neue Straße residence, where he introduced the youth to Hans Grans and two female acquaintances (one of whom was Grans' female lover). According to Grans' lover, that evening, Grans whispered in her ear: "Hey! He's going to be trampled on today."<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} pp. 83–84</ref> The following day, both these acquaintances returned to Haarmann's apartment, where they were informed by Haarmann that Franke had travelled to [[Hamburg]].<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 84</ref> Speculation remains as to Grans' knowledge of Haarmann's intentions towards Franke when he made this comment to the two female acquaintances. According to Haarmann, following this murder, Grans arrived unannounced at his apartment, where he observed Franke's nude body lying upon Haarmann's bed. Grans had then simply looked at him and asked, "When shall I come back again?"<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 85</ref>

Five weeks after the murder of Franke, on 20 March, Haarmann encountered a 17-year-old commuter named Wilhelm Schulze at Hanover station.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 86"/> Schulze had been travelling to work when he encountered Haarmann. No human remains identified as belonging to Schulze were ever found, although most of his clothing was in the possession of Haarmann's [[landlady]], Elisabeth Engel, at the time of his arrest. Two more victims are known to have been murdered at 8 Neue Straße before Haarmann vacated the apartment in June: 16-year-old Roland Huch, who disappeared on 23 May after informing a close friend he intended to run away from home and join the [[Marines#Germany|Marines]]; and 19-year-old Hans Sonnenfeld, who disappeared on or about 31 May and whose distinctive yellow overcoat Haarmann is known to have worn after the youth's murder.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} pp. 87–88</ref>
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00882, Hannover, Prozeß gegen Friedrich Haarmann.jpg|right|thumb|Police photo of Haarmann's attic room at 2 Rote Reihe, Hanover]]

On 9 June 1923, Haarmann moved into a single-room attic apartment at 2 Rote Reihe. Two weeks after moving into this address, on 25 June, Ernst Ehrenberg, the 13-year-old son of Haarmann's neighbour, disappeared while running an errand for his father. His school cap and [[Suspenders|braces]] would be found in Haarmann's apartment following his arrest.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 89</ref> Two months later, on 24 August, an 18-year-old office clerk named Heinrich Struß was reported missing by his aunt (with whom he lived). Many of Struß's belongings would also be found in Haarmann's apartment. Struß's murder would be followed one month later by the murder of a 17-year-old named Paul Bronischewski,<ref>Cannibalism: The Last Taboo! {{ISBN|1-859-58495-0}} p. 114</ref> who disappeared en route to the city of [[Bochum]], having worked with his uncle in [[Saxony-Anhalt]] throughout the summer. Subsequent police enquiries suggested Bronischewski had likely alighted the train at Hanover, where he evidently encountered Haarmann. Bronischewski's jacket, knapsack, trousers, and towel would all be found in the possession of Haarmann following his arrest.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 91</ref>

Haarmann is next known to have killed on or about 30 September 1923. The victim was 17-year-old Richard Gräf, who last informed his family he had met an individual at Hanover station who "knows of a good job for me." Two weeks later, on 12 October, a 16-year-old [[Gehrden]] youth named Wilhelm Erdner failed to return home from work. Subsequent enquiries by Erdner's parents revealed the youth became acquainted with a "Detective Fritz Honnerbrock" (a [[pseudonym]] used by Haarmann) shortly before his disappearance. Both Haarmann and Grans subsequently sold Erdner's bicycle on 20 October. Within a week of having sold this bicycle, Haarmann killed two further victims: 15-year-old Hermann Wolf, who disappeared from Hanover station on 24 October, and 13-year-old Heinz Brinkmann, who was seen by a witness standing in the entrance to Hanover station at 11:00&nbsp;p.m. on 27 October, having missed his train home to the town of [[Clausthal-Zellerfeld|Clausthal]].{{refn|group=n|Haarmann would deny having killed Hermann Wolf at his trial, and was acquitted of this murder.}}
[[File:Adolf Hannapel Fritz Haarmann November 10 1923.jpg|upright=0.70|right|thumb|Adolf Hannappel]]
 	
On 10 November 1923, a 17-year-old apprentice carpenter from the city of [[Düsseldorf]] named Adolf Hannappel disappeared from Hanover station. He was seen by several witnesses sitting upon a [[Trunk (luggage)|trunk]] in the waiting room. These witnesses also positively identified Hans Grans—in the company of Haarmann—pointing towards the youth, who shortly thereafter was observed walking towards a café in the company of these two men. One month later, on 6 December, 19-year-old Adolf Hennies disappeared. He had been seeking employment at the time of his disappearance. None of the human remains recovered were identified as belonging to Hennies, whom Haarmann specifically admitted to dismembering, but denied killing. In subsequent court testimony vehemently disputed by Grans, Haarmann claimed he returned home to find Hennies's body—missing his signature "love bite"—lying naked on his bed, with Grans and another criminal acquaintance named Hugo Wittkowski stating the youth was, "One of yours." (Neither Haarmann nor Grans were convicted of Hennies's murder due to conflicting testimony.<ref>Cannibalism: The Last Taboo! {{ISBN|1-859-58495-0}} pp. 114–15</ref>)

===1924===
The first victim killed by Haarmann in 1924 was 17-year-old Ernst Spiecker, who disappeared on 5 January. Although subsequent trial testimony from a friend of Spiecker indicated Haarmann had become acquainted with this youth before his murder, Haarmann stated he would simply have to "assume" this youth was one of his victims due to all his personal possessions being found in his or Grans' possession following his arrest.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 103</ref> Ten days later, Haarmann killed a 20-year-old named Heinrich Koch, whom he is also believed to have been acquainted with prior to the youth's murder. The following month, Haarmann is known to have killed two further victims: 19-year-old Willi Senger, who disappeared from the suburb of Linden-Limmer on 2 February, having informed his sister he was to travel with a friend; and 16-year-old Hermann Speichert, who was last seen by his sister on 8 February.<ref name=Taboo>Cannibalism: The Last Taboo! {{ISBN|1-859-58495-0}} p. 115</ref>

Haarmann is not known to have killed again until on or about 1 April, when he is believed to have killed an acquaintance named Hermann Bock. Although cleared of this murder at his trial, Haarmann possessed Bock's clothing when arrested, and he is known to have given the youth's suitcase to his landlady; moreover, Haarmann is known to have actively dissuaded several of Bock's acquaintances from reporting the youth missing. One week later, on 8 April, 16-year-old Alfred Hogrefe disappeared from Hanover station, having run away from home in the town of [[Lehrte]] on 2 April. Hogrefe's murder would be followed 9 days later by that of a 16-year-old apprentice named Wilhelm Apel, whom Haarmann encountered on his "patrols" of [[Hannover-Leinhausen station|Hanover-Leinhausen station]].<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 112</ref>

On 26 April, 18-year-old Robert Witzel disappeared after borrowing 50 [[pfennig]]s from his mother, explaining he intended to visit a travelling circus. Enquiries by the youth's parents revealed their son had accompanied an "official from the railway station" to the circus. Haarmann himself would later state he killed Witzel the same evening and, having dismembered the youth's body, had thrown the remains into the Leine River.<ref name=Taboo />

Two weeks after the murder of Witzel, Haarmann killed a 14-year-old named Heinz Martin, who was last seen by his mother on 9 May and who is believed to have been abducted from Hanover station. All his clothing was later found in Haarmann's apartment. Less than three weeks later, on 26 May, a 17-year-old travelling salesman from the town of [[Kassel]] named Fritz Wittig, whom Haarmann would later state he killed upon the insistence of Grans as he had worn a "good new suit" Grans coveted,<ref name="AAAAIBAJ 2714">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2293&dat=19241207&id=aswmAAAAIBAJ&pg=2714,6321349|title=The Sunday Morning Star |via= Google News Archive Search|access-date=26 February 2017}}</ref> was dismembered and discarded in the Leine River. The same day Wittig is believed to have been killed, Haarmann killed his youngest known victim, 10-year-old Friedrich Abeling, who disappeared while truant from school. His murder would be followed less than two weeks later by that of 16-year-old Friedrich Koch, who was approached by Haarmann on 5 June as he walked to college. Two acquaintances of Koch would later testify at Haarmann's trial that, as they walked with Koch to college, Haarmann approached Koch, tapped the youth on the boot with his walking stick and stated: "Well, boy, don't you recognize me?"<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 123</ref>

Haarmann killed his final victim, 17-year-old Erich de Vries, on 14 June 1924. De Vries encountered Haarmann at Hanover station. His dismembered body would later be found in a lake located near the entrance to the Herrenhausen Gardens. Haarmann would confess it had taken him four separate trips to carry de Vries's dismembered remains—carried in the leather bag which had belonged to Friedrich Koch—to the location where he had disposed of them.<ref name="ReferenceJ"/>

==Discoveries==
On 17 May 1924,<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 17">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 17</ref> two children playing near the Leine River discovered a human skull. Determined to be that of a young male aged between 18 and 20 and bearing evidence of knife wounds, police were sceptical as to whether a murder had been committed or whether the skull had either been discarded in this location by grave robbers, or placed there in a tasteless prank by medical students. Furthermore, police theorized the skull may have been discarded in the river at [[Alfeld]], which had recently experienced an outbreak of [[Typhoid fever|typhoid]].<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 17"/> Two weeks later, on 29 May, a second skull was found behind a [[mill race]] located close to the scene of the earlier discovery. This skull was also identified as having been that of a young male aged between 18 and 20. Shortly thereafter, two boys playing in a field close to the village of [[Döhren]] discovered a sack containing numerous human bones.<ref name="ReferenceK">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 18</ref>

Two more skulls would be found on 13 June: one upon the banks of the Leine River, and another located close to a mill in western Hanover. Each of the skulls had been removed from the [[vertebra]]e with a sharp instrument. One skull belonged to a male in his late teens, whereas the other belonged to a boy estimated to have been aged between 11 and 13 years old. In addition, one of these skulls also bore evidence of having been [[Scalping|scalped]].<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 17"/>

For more than a year prior to these discoveries, rumours had circulated in Hanover about the fate of the sheer number of children and teenagers who had been reported missing in the city. The discoveries sparked fresh rumours regarding missing and murdered children. In addition, various newspapers responded to these discoveries and the resulting rumours by harking to the disproportionate number of young people who had been reported missing in Hanover between 1918 and 1924.{{refn|group=n|In 1923 alone, almost 600 teenage boys and young men had been reported missing in Hanover.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 18"/>}}

On 8 June, several hundred Hanover residents converged close to the Leine River and searched both the banks of the river and the surrounding areas, discovering a number of human bones, which were handed to the police. In response to these latest discoveries, police decided to [[Dredging|drag]] the entire section of the river which ran through the centre of the city. In doing so, they discovered more than 500 further human bones<ref>Cannibalism: The Last Taboo! {{ISBN|978-1-859-58495-8}} p. 116</ref> and sections of bodies, many bearing knife striations, which were later confirmed by a court doctor as having belonged to at least 22 separate human individuals. Approximately half of the remains had been in the river for some time, whereas other bones and body parts had been discarded in the river more recently. Many of the recent and aged discoveries bore evidence of having been [[dissection|dissected]]—particularly at the [[joint]]s. Over 30 per cent of the remains were judged to have belonged to young males aged between 15 and 20.<ref name="ReferenceK"/>

Suspicion for the discoveries quickly fell upon Haarmann, who was known to both the police and the criminal investigation department as a homosexual who had amassed fifteen previous convictions dating from 1896 for various offences including child molestation and the sexual assault and battery of a minor.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 37"/> Moreover, he had been connected to the 1918 disappearances of Friedel Rothe and a 14-year-old named Hermann Koch (who had disappeared weeks prior to Rothe). Haarmann was placed under surveillance.<ref>Cannibalism: The Last Taboo! {{ISBN|1-859-58495-0}} p. 116</ref> Being a trusted police informant, Haarmann was known to frequent Hanover Central Station. As he was well known to many officers from Hanover, two young policemen were drafted from Berlin to pose as undercover officers and discreetly observe his movements. The surveillance of Haarmann began on 18 June 1924.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 61</ref>

==Arrest==
On the night of 22 June, Haarmann was observed by the two undercover officers prowling Hanover's central station. He was soon observed arguing with a 15-year-old boy named Karl Fromm, then approaching police and insisting they arrest the youth on the charge of travelling upon forged documents. Upon his arrest, Fromm informed police he had been living with Haarmann for four days, and that he had been repeatedly raped by his accuser, sometimes as a knife was held to his throat. Haarmann was arrested the following morning and charged with sexual assault.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} pp. 61–62</ref>
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00884, Hannover, Prozeß gegen Friedrich Haarmann.jpg|right|thumb|Detectives search a stove inside Haarmann's attic room at 2 Rote Reihe.]]

Following his arrest, Haarmann's attic apartment at No. 2 Rote Reihe was searched. Haarmann had lived in this single-room apartment since June 1923. The flooring, walls, and bedding within the apartment were found to be extensively bloodstained.<ref>Real Life Crimes, p. 2653, {{ISBN|1-85875-440-2}}.</ref> Haarmann initially attempted to explain this fact as a by-product of his illegal trading in contraband meat.<ref>On Trial for Murder {{ISBN|0-09-472990-5}} p. 71</ref> Various acquaintances and former neighbours of Haarmann were also extensively questioned as to his activities. Many fellow tenants and neighbours of the various addresses in which Haarmann lived since 1920 commented to detectives about the number of teenage boys they observed visiting his various addresses. Moreover, some had seen him leaving his property with concealed sacks, bags, or baskets—invariably in the late evening or early morning hours. Two former tenants informed police that, in the spring of 1924, they had discreetly followed Haarmann from his apartment and observed him discarding a heavy sack into the Leine River.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 56</ref>

The clothes and personal possessions found at Haarmann's apartment and in the possession of his acquaintances were suspected of being the property of missing youths: all were confiscated and put on display at Hanover Police Station, with the parents of missing teenage boys from across Germany invited to look at the items. As the days passed, an increasing number of items were identified by family members as having belonged to their sons and brothers. Haarmann initially attempted to dismiss these revelations as being [[circumstantial evidence|circumstantial]] in nature. He claimed that the majority of the clothes had been acquired through his business (trading used clothing), and that the remaining items had been left behind by youths with whom he'd engaged in consensual sexual activity.<ref name="The Milwaukee Journal Jan. 19, 1933">{{cite news|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/us/new-york/olean/olean-times/1924/12-05/page-1|title=Fritz Haarmann: Tells of Killing His First Victim|access-date=2 April 2025|newspaper=Olean Times Herald|date=5 December 1924}}</ref>

The turning point came on 29 June when clothes, boots, and keys found stowed at Haarmann's apartment were identified as belonging to a missing 18-year-old named Robert Witzel. A skull that had been found in a garden on 20 May<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 113</ref> (which was not initially connected with other skeletal discoveries determined to be linked to Haarmann) was identified as that of the missing youth. A friend of Witzel's then identified the police officer whom Witzel had been seen with on the day of his disappearance as Haarmann.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} pp. 63–64</ref>

Confronted with this evidence, Haarmann briefly attempted to bluster his way out of these latest and most damning pieces of evidence. When Witzel's jacket was found in the possession of his landlady and he was confronted with various witnesses' testimony as to his destroying identification marks on the clothing, he broke down and had to be supported by his sister.{{refn|group=n|Of the 400 items of clothing found in Haarmann's apartment, only 100 were ever identified as having belonged to any of Haarmann's known victims.<ref>On Trial for Murder {{ISBN|978-0-330-33947-6}} p. 72</ref><ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 102</ref>}}

===Confession===
Faced with this latest evidence, and upon the urging of his sister,<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 64">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 64</ref> Haarmann confessed to raping, killing, and dismembering many young men in what he initially described as a "rabid sexual passion"<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 64"/> between 1918 and 1924. According to Haarmann, he never actually intended to murder any of his victims, but would be seized by an irresistible urge to bite into or through their [[Adam's apple]]<ref name="nydailynews.com"/>—often as he manually strangled them—in the throes of [[Ecstasy (emotion)|ecstasy]], before typically collapsing atop the victim's body. Only one intended victim had escaped from Haarmann's apartment after he attempted to bite into his Adam's apple, although this individual is not known to have reported the attack to police.<ref name="The Milwaukee Journal Jan. 19, 1933"/>

All of Haarmann's victims' bodies were disposed of via dismemberment shortly after their murder, and Haarmann was insistent that he found the act of dismemberment extremely unpleasant; he had, he stated, been ill for eight days after his first murder.<ref>Cannibal Serial Killers {{ISBN|1-5697-5902-2}} p. 225</ref> Nonetheless, Haarmann was insistent that his passion at the moment of murder was invariably "stronger than the horror of the cutting and the chopping" which would inevitably follow, and would typically take up to two days to complete.<ref name=Ludington>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=110&dat=19241207&id=nXZOAAAAIBAJ&pg=5624,5147990|title=Murderer of 14 Men Asks for Speedy Death |newspaper=Ludington (MI) Sunday Morning News |date=7 December 1924 |via= Google News Archive Search|access-date=26 February 2017}}</ref>

To fortify himself to dismember his victims' bodies, Haarmann would pour himself a cup of strong black coffee,<ref>Cannibalism: The Last Taboo! {{ISBN|1-859-58495-0}} p. 117</ref> then place the body of his victim upon the floor of this apartment and cover the face with cloth, before first removing the intestines, which he would place inside a bucket. A towel would then be repeatedly placed inside the [[abdominal cavity]] to soak the collecting blood. He would then make three cuts between the victim's ribs and shoulders, then "take hold of the ribs and push until the bones around the shoulders broke."<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 80"/> The victim's heart, lungs, and kidneys would then be removed, diced, and placed in the same bucket which held the intestines before the legs and arms would be severed from the body. Haarmann would then begin [[Kitchen knife#Paring|paring]] the flesh from the limbs and torso. This surplus flesh would be disposed of in the toilet or, usually, in the nearby river.<ref>The World's Most Evil Murderers {{ISBN|978-1-405-48828-0}} p. 18</ref>

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00824, Hannover, Prozeß gegen Friedrich Haarmann.jpg|right|220px|thumb|Fritz Haarmann (centre) with police detectives, November 1924]]

The final section of the victims' bodies to be dismembered was invariably the head. After severing the head from the torso, Haarmann would use a small kitchen knife to strip all flesh from the skull, which he would then wrap in rags and place face downwards upon a pile of straw and bludgeon with an axe until the skull splintered, enabling him to access the brain. This he would also place in a bucket, which he would pour, alongside the "chopped up bones" in the Leine.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 81"/>

Haarmann was insistent that none of the skulls found in the Leine belonged to his victims, and that the [[Forensic anthropology|forensic identification]] of Robert Witzel's skull was mistaken, as he had almost invariably smashed his victims' skulls to pieces. The exceptions being those of his earliest victims—killed several years prior to his arrest—and that of his last victim, Erich de Vries.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 65"/> Although insistent that none of his murders were [[malice aforethought|premeditated]], investigators discovered much circumstantial evidence suggesting that several murders had been planned hours or days in advance, and that Haarmann had both concocted explanations for his victims' disappearances and dissuaded acquaintances of his victims from filing [[missing person]]s' reports with Hanover police.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 110</ref> Investigators also noted that Haarmann would only confess to murders for which there existed evidence against him; on one occasion, Haarmann stated: "There are some [victims] you don't know about, but it's not those you think."<ref name="ReferenceL">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 34</ref>

When asked how many victims he killed, Haarmann claimed, "Somewhere between fifty and seventy." The police, however, could only connect Haarmann with the disappearance of twenty-seven youths, and he was charged with twenty-seven murders—some of which he claimed had been committed upon the insistence of Grans,<ref name="ReferenceF">Chronicle of 20th Century Murder {{ISBN|978-0-425-14649-1}} p. 82</ref> who was arrested on 8 July, and formally charged with being an [[accessory to murder]] one week later.<ref name="ReferenceE"/>{{refn|group=n|In his initial confession to police, Haarmann stated that although Grans knew of many of his murders, and personally urged him to kill two of the victims so that he could obtain their clothing and personal possessions, Grans was otherwise not involved in the murder of the victims.}}

On 16 August 1924, Haarmann underwent a psychological examination at a [[Göttingen]] medical school; on 25 September, he was judged competent to stand trial and returned to Hanover to await trial.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 65"/>

==Trial==
The trial of Fritz Haarmann and Hans Grans began on 4 December 1924. Haarmann was charged with the murder of twenty-seven boys and young men who had disappeared between September 1918 and June 1924. In fourteen of these cases, Haarmann—who insisted upon conducting his own defence—acknowledged his guilt,<ref name=Ludington/> although he claimed to be uncertain of the identification of the remaining thirteen victims upon the list of charges.<ref name=Olean>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4531609/times-herald/|title=Insame Plea Believed Behind Acts|date=15 December 1924|work=Olean Evening Times|access-date=24 March 2022}}</ref> Grans pleaded not guilty to charges of being an accessory to murder in several of the murders.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1928&dat=19241206&id=EKwgAAAAIBAJ&pg=2571,4866547|title=The Lewiston Daily Sun |via= Google News Archive Search|access-date=26 February 2017}}</ref> Initially, following a thorough security search, all members of the public were permitted access to the courtroom, although by the third day<ref name=Pitt>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19241206&id=sA8bAAAAIBAJ&pg=3148,3175095|title=Public Excluded as Slayer Tells of Wholesale Crimes|access-date=14 December 2017|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|date=6 December 1924}}</ref> the judge excluded all spectators from the courtroom as each murder was discussed in detail, due to the ongoing [[libido|carnal]] and gruesome nature of the revelations.<ref name="news.google.com"/><ref name=Pitt/>
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00921, Hannover, Prozeß gegen Friedrich Haarmann.jpg|right|thumb|Hans Grans (head bowed) is escorted into court, December 1924.]]

The trial was one of the first major modern media events in Germany, and received extensive international press coverage, being described as the "most revolting [case] in German criminal history."<ref name="AAAAIBAJ 2714"/> Varying sensational headlines—in which Haarmann was variously referred to by such titles as the "Butcher of Hanover," the "Vampire of Hanover," the "Wholesale Murderer," and the "Wolf Man"—continuously appeared in the press.<ref>{{cite news|last=Watson|first=Dr. Jun|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/245401362|title=Murder for Profit and Pleasure|date=23 March 1946|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2 September 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Haarmann is Condemned at Hanover|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K_JGAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1|access-date=11 November 2024|work=The Warsaw Union|date=19 December 1924}}</ref>

Although Haarmann denied any [[premeditation]] in the crimes,<ref name="ReferenceG">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19241219&id=LaQhAAAAIBAJ&pg=3285,3792815|title=Butcher Says He Would Kill More if He Was Freed |newspaper=Reading (PA) Eagle |date=19 December 1924 |page=1 |via= Google News Archive Search|access-date=14 December 2017}}</ref> and remained adamant the ultimate reason he killed was a "mystery" to him,<ref name="news.google.com"/> he readily confessed to having killed fourteen of the victims for whose murder he was tried and to retaining and selling many of their possessions, although he denied having sold the body parts of any of his victims as contraband meat.<ref name="Ludington"/> Haarmann's denial that he had either consumed or sold human flesh would be supported by a medical expert, who testified on 6 December that none of the meat found in Haarmann's apartment following his arrest was human.<ref name="AAAAIBAJ 2714"/>

When asked to identify photographs of his victims, Haarmann became taciturn and dismissive as he typically claimed to be unable to recognize any of his victims' photographs; however, in instances where he claimed to be unable to recognize his victims' faces but the victims' clothing or other personal belongings had been found in his possession, he would simply shrug and make comments to the effect of, "I probably killed him,"<ref name=Pitt/> or: "Charge it to me; it's alright with me."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1893&dat=19241215&id=_ycrAAAAIBAJ&pg=5092,708824|title=Slayer of 30 Near Collapse at his Trial|access-date=16 December 2017|newspaper=The Southeast Missourian|date=15 December 1924}}</ref> For example, when asked to identify a photograph of victim Alfred Hogrefe, Haarmann stated: "I certainly assume I killed Hogrefe, but I don't remember his face."<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} pp. 108–09</ref>{{refn|group=n|In their interrogations of Haarmann, investigators noted that he would only confess to murders for which sufficient [[Real evidence|physical]] or [[circumstantial evidence]] existed attesting to his guilt.}}

Numerous exhibits were introduced into evidence in the opening days of the trial, including 285 sections of the [[skeleton|skeletal structure]]—particularly skulls and thigh bones<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=861&dat=19241202&id=9f1HAAAAIBAJ&pg=5176,7286714|title=Trial of Fiend in Germany so Revolting No One Admitted|access-date=20 December 2017|newspaper=The Victoria Advocate|date=2 December 1924}}</ref>—recovered from the Leine and forensically determined as belonging to young men under 20 years of age,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19241207&id=zKMwAAAAIBAJ&pg=5177,1944206|title=Try German For Killing Thirty Men Since 1918| newspaper=St. Petersburg Times |date=7 December 1924 |via= Google News Archive Search|access-date=26 February 2017}}</ref> the bucket which he used to store and transport human remains, and the extensively bloodstained camp bed upon which he had killed many of the victims at his Rote Reihe address.<ref name="AAAAIBAJ 2714"/> As had been the case when earlier asked whether he could recognize the photographs of any of his victims, Haarmann's demeanour became dismissive upon the introduction of these exhibits; he denied any of the skulls introduced into evidence belonged to his victims, stating he had almost invariably "mashed" the victims' skulls, and had thrown only one undamaged skull into the Leine.<ref>The Encyclopaedia of Serial Killers {{ISBN|0-7472-3731-X}} p. 207</ref>

Several acquaintances and criminal associates of Haarmann testified for the prosecution, including former neighbours who testified to having purchased [[Head cheese|brawn]] or mince from Haarmann, whom they noted regularly left his apartment with packages of meat, but rarely arrived with them. Haarmann's landlady, Elisabeth Engel, testified that Haarmann would regularly pour chopped pieces of meat into boiling water and would strain fat from meat Haarmann claimed was pork.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/248279270|title=A Black-marketeer Who Murdered for Profit|access-date=4 April 2019|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=15 February 1948}}</ref> This fat would invariably be poured into bottles. On one occasion in April 1924,<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 60"/> Haarmann's landlady and her family became ill after eating sausages in skins Haarmann claimed were sheep's intestines. Another neighbour testified to the alarming number of youths whom he had seen entering Haarmann's Neue Straße apartment, but whom he seldom observed leaving the address. This neighbour assumed Haarmann was selling youths to the [[French Foreign Legion|Foreign Legion]];<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 54"/> another neighbour testified to having observed Haarmann throw a sack of bones into the Leine River. Two female acquaintances of Hans Grans also testified how, on one occasion in 1923, they discovered what they believed to be a human mouth boiling in a soup kettle in Haarmann's apartment;<ref name="AAAAIBAJ 2714"/> these witnesses testified they had taken the item to Hanover police, who simply replied the piece of flesh may be a pig's snout.{{refn|group=n|The precise origins of the contraband meat in which Haarmann had traded were never established.}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00922, Hannover, Prozeß gegen Friedrich Haarmann.jpg|right|thumb|Haarmann (seated in front of chalkboard sketch of his apartment), during his trial in 1924]]

===Police scrutiny===
By the second week of the trial, testimony was introduced about how much the police knew about Haarmann's criminal activities after his 1918 release from prison.<ref name="Reading (PA)Eagle Dec. 14, 1924">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19241214&id=KKQhAAAAIBAJ&pg=3628,2809946|title=German Police Knew About Slayer's Doings|newspaper=Reading Eagle |via= Google News Archive Search|access-date=26 February 2017}}</ref> The police apparently never suspected him for any of the cases of missing boys and young men in Hanover in 1923 and 1924, even though some of the victims were last seen in his company, and he had a long criminal record that included charges of sexual assault and battery.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 19</ref>

==Conviction==
The trial lasted barely two weeks, and a total of 190 witnesses testified.<ref name="Ludington"/> On 19 December 1924,<ref name="https"/> the court reconvened to impose sentence upon both defendants. Judged sane and accountable for his actions, Haarmann was found guilty of twenty-four of the twenty-seven murders and sentenced to death by [[Decapitation|beheading]].<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=19241219&id=7RksAAAAIBAJ&pg=4698,5369811|title=Times Daily |via= Google News Archive Search|access-date=26 February 2017}}</ref> He was [[acquittal|acquitted]] of three murders which he denied committing. Upon hearing the sentence, Haarmann stood before the court and proclaimed, "I accept the verdict fully and freely",<ref name="ReferenceA"/> before adding: "I [shall] go to the decapitating block joyfully and happily."<ref name="ReferenceG"/> Grans became hysterical upon hearing he had been found guilty of [[incitement]] to murder and sentenced to death by beheading in relation to the murder of victim Adolf Hannappel,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/history/haarman/4b.html/TruTV.com.|title=truTV – Reality TV – Comedy|access-date=26 February 2017}}</ref> with an additional sentence of twelve years' imprisonment imposed for being an accessory to murder in the case of victim Fritz Wittig.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 129"/> Upon returning to his cell after hearing the verdict, Grans collapsed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2293&dat=19241221&id=bMwmAAAAIBAJ&pg=1163,7169979|title=The Sunday Morning Star |via= Google News Archive Search|access-date=26 February 2017}}</ref>

In the case of Hannappel, several witnesses testified to having seen Grans, in the company of Haarmann, pointing towards the youth. Haarmann claimed this was one of two murders committed upon the insistence of Grans and for this reason, Grans was sentenced to death. In the case of Wittig, police found a handwritten note from Haarmann, dated the day of Wittig's disappearance and signed by both him and Grans, in which Grans agreed to pay Haarmann 20 gold marks for the youth's suit. As the note indicated Grans' possible knowledge in the disappearance of Wittig, he was convicted of being an accomplice to Haarmann in this murder and sentenced to twelve years' imprisonment.<ref>The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers {{ISBN|978-0-747-23731-0}} p. 207</ref>
{| class="toccolours" style="float: right; margin-left: 0.5em; margin-right: 1em; font-size: 85%; background:#t5dbf1; color:black; width:27em; max-width: 27%;" cellspacing="5"
| style="text-align: left;" | ''"Condemn me to death. I ask only for justice. I am not mad. Make it short; make it soon. Deliver me from this life, which is a torment. I will not petition for mercy, nor will I appeal. I want to pass just one more merry night in my cell, with coffee, cheese, and cigars, after which I will curse my father and go to my execution as if it were a wedding."''<ref>Encyclopedia of Serial Killers {{ISBN|1-85648-328-2}} p. 77</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/178388818|title=Callous Murderer: Strangler's Last Request|date=6 February 1925|work=The Telegraph|access-date=24 October 2020}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Fritz Haarmann addressing the court prior to his sentencing. December 1924.
|}
Haarmann made no appeal against the verdict;<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 129">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 129</ref> claiming his death would [[Atonement|atone]] for his crimes and stating that, were he at liberty, he would likely kill again.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 145</ref> Grans did lodge an appeal against his sentence, although his appeal was rejected on 6 February 1925.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19250206&id=CqYhAAAAIBAJ&pg=3770,1125487|title=Reading Eagle – Google News Archive Search|access-date=26 February 2017}}</ref>

==Execution==
At six o'clock on the morning of 15 April 1925, Haarmann was beheaded by [[guillotine]] in the grounds of Hanover prison.<ref name="ReferenceF"/> His executioner was [[Carl Gröpler]]. By German tradition, Haarmann was not informed of his execution date until the prior evening. Upon receipt of the news, he observed prayer with his pastor, before being granted his final wishes of an expensive cigar to smoke and Brazilian coffee to drink in his cell.<ref name="Southeast Missourian Apr. 15, 1925">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1893&dat=19250415&id=wiQrAAAAIBAJ&pg=4160,4483255|title=The Southeast Missourian |via= Google News Archive Search|access-date=26 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/178388818|title=Callous Murderer: Strangler's Last Request|date=6 February 1925|work=The Telegraph|access-date=5 June 2019}}</ref>

No members of the press were permitted to witness the execution, and the event was seen by only a handful of witnesses.<ref name="Southeast Missourian Apr. 15, 1925"/> According to published reports, although Haarmann was pale and nervous, he maintained a sense of bravado as he walked to the guillotine. The [[last words]] Haarmann spoke were: "I am guilty, gentlemen, but, hard though it may be, I want to die as a man."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=897&dat=19250415&id=_aRaAAAAIBAJ&pg=2571,3694356|title=Fritz Haarmann, Hanover Butcher and Slayer of 26 Men and Boys, Is Guillotined; Wanted to Die Like a Man, He Told His Executioners|access-date=26 October 2020|newspaper=The Prescott Evening Courier|date=15 April 1925}}</ref> Immediately prior to placing his head upon the execution apparatus, Haarmann added: "I [[repentance|repent]], but I do not fear death."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dRgsAAAAIBAJ&pg=5034,3477391&dq|title=Execute Three Men in Europe: Fritz Haarmann, Lurer of Youths, Dies on the guillotine|date=15 April 1925|work=[[TimesDaily|The Florence Times]]|page=4|access-date=18 June 2011|location=Hanover, Germany}}</ref>

==Victims==
The true tally of Haarmann's victims will never be known. Following his arrest, Haarmann made several imprecise statements regarding both the actual number of his victims he killed, and when he began killing. Initially, Haarmann claimed to have killed "maybe thirty, maybe forty" victims;<ref name="ReferenceL"/><ref name="ReferenceC"/> later, he would claim the true number of victims he had killed was between fifty and seventy.{{refn|group=n|Although Haarmann was charged with twenty-seven murders, by the second week of his trial, he had confessed to having committed three further murders for which he had not been formally charged.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1893&dat=19241215&id=_ycrAAAAIBAJ&pg=5092,708824|title=Slayer of 30 Near Collapse at his Trial|access-date=13 December 2017|newspaper=The Southeast Missourian|date=15 December 1924}}</ref>}}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year!! No.!! Date!! Name!! Age!! Context!! Conviction
|-
| 1918|| Suspected || September || Hermann Koch || 14 ||Koch was a 14-year-old youth who disappeared just weeks prior to Haarmann's first confirmed victim, Friedel Rothe. Haarmann is known to have kept company with Koch. He is also known to have written a letter to Koch's school providing an explanation for the youth's prolonged absence.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 101"/> || Not charged
|-
| 1918|| 1 || 25 September || Friedel Rothe || 17|| Encountered Haarmann in a café, having run away from home. Haarmann claimed to have buried Rothe in Stöckener cemetery. || Yes
|-
| 1922|| Suspected|| 17 March || Hans Keimes || 17 || Haarmann is strongly suspected of the murder of Hans Keimes, a Hanover youth who was reported missing on 17 March 1922.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 101"/> Keimes's nude, [[binding (knot)|bound]] body was found in a canal on 6 May.<ref name="ReferenceH">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 48</ref> A distinctive handkerchief bearing Grans' name was also found lodged in Keimes's throat.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 101"/> || Not charged
|-
| 1923|| 2|| 12 February || Fritz Franke || 17|| Franke was a pianist, originally from Berlin. He encountered Haarmann in the Hanover station waiting rooms. All of Franke's personal possessions were given to Grans. || Yes
|-
| 1923|| 3|| 20 March || Wilhelm Schulze|| 17|| An apprentice writer who last informed his best friend he intended to run away from home. Schulze's clothing was found in the possession of Haarmann's landlady. Haarmann formally identified Schulze's possessions at his trial.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fiend in Human Form: Amazing Confessions by Mass Murderer|date=31 January 1925 |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/76438969 |access-date=31 January 2019|work=The Mirror}}</ref>|| Yes
|-
| 1923|| 4|| 23 May|| Roland Huch|| 16|| Huch vanished from Hanover station after running away from home. Items of his clothing were traced to a lifeguard who later testified at Haarmann's trial that he obtained these items from Haarmann.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} pp. 86–87</ref>|| Yes
|-
| 1923|| 5|| [[Wiktionary:circa|c]]. 31 May|| Hans Sonnenfeld|| 19|| A runaway from the suburb of Limmer who is known to have associated with acquaintances at Hanover station. Sonnenfeld's coat and tie were found at Haarmann's apartment.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 87</ref>|| Yes
|-
| 1923|| 6|| 25 June|| Ernst Ehrenberg|| 13|| The first known victim killed at Haarmann's Rote Reihe address. Ehrenberg was the son of Haarmann's neighbour. He never returned home after running an errand for his parents.|| Yes
|-
| 1923|| 7|| 24 August|| Heinrich Struß|| 18|| A carpenter's son from the suburb of [[Egestorf]]. Struß was last seen at a Hanover cinema. Haarmann was in possession of the youth's violin case when arrested.|| Yes
|-
| 1923|| 8|| 24 September|| Paul Bronischewski|| 17|| Vanished as he travelled home to the city of Bochum after visiting his uncle in [[Groß Garz]]. He was offered work by Haarmann when he alighted the train at Hanover.|| Yes
|-
| 1923|| 9|| c. 30 September|| Richard Gräf|| 17|| Disappeared after informing his family a detective from Hanover had found him a job. Haarmann's landlady is known to have [[Pawnbroker|pawned]] Gräf's overcoat.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 92</ref>|| Yes
|-
| 1923|| 10|| 12 October|| Wilhelm Erdner|| 16|| A locksmith's son from the town of Gehrden. Erdner disappeared as he cycled to work. Haarmann is known to have sold Erdner's bicycle on 20 October.|| Yes
|-
| 1923|| 11|| 24 October|| Hermann Wolf|| 15|| Wolf was last seen by his brother in the vicinity of Hanover station; his belt buckle was later found in Haarmann's apartment,<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 94">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 94</ref> although Haarmann would deny having killed Wolf at his trial. Haarmann was acquitted of this murder.|| No
|-
|1923 || 12|| 27 October|| Heinz Brinkmann|| 13|| Vanished from Hanover station after missing his train home to Clausthal. A witness would later testify to having seen Haarmann and Grans conversing with Brinkmann in the waiting rooms at Hanover station.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 95</ref>|| Yes
|-
| 1923|| 13|| 10 November|| Adolf Hannappel|| 17|| One of the few murder victims whom Haarmann readily confessed to killing.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 97</ref> Hannappel was seen by several witnesses sitting in the waiting rooms at Hanover station—all of whom would later testify to having seen Haarmann approach Hannappel. Haarmann would himself claim to have committed this murder upon the urging of Hans Grans.|| Yes
|-
| 1923|| 14|| 6 December|| Adolf Hennies|| 19|| Hennies disappeared while looking for work in Hanover; his coat was found in the possession of Hans Grans. Haarmann would claim at his trial that, although he dismembered Hennies's body, Grans and another acquaintance were responsible for this murder.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 99"/> Haarmann was acquitted of this murder.|| No
|-
| 1924|| 15|| 5 January|| Ernst Spiecker|| 17|| Last seen by his mother on his way to appear as a witness at a trial. Grans was wearing Spiecker's shirt at the time of his arrest.|| Yes
|-
| 1924|| 16|| 15 January|| Heinrich Koch|| 20|| Although Haarmann claimed to be unable to recognize a photo of Koch, the youth was known to be an acquaintance of his. Koch's clothing and personal possessions were given to the son of Haarmann's landlady.|| Yes
|-
|1924 || 17|| 2 February|| Willi Senger|| 19|| Senger had known Haarmann prior to his murder. Although Haarmann initially denied any involvement in the youth's disappearance, police established that Haarmann regularly wore Senger's coat after the youth had vanished.|| Yes
|-
| 1924|| 18|| 8 February|| Hermann Speichert|| 16|| An apprentice electrician from Linden-Limmer. Speichert's clothing is known to have been sold by the son of Haarmann's landlady; his [[geometry]] kit was given to Grans as a gift.|| Yes
|-
| 1924|| 19||c. 1 April || Hermann Bock|| 22|| Bock was a labourer from the town of [[Uelzen]], who had known Haarmann since 1921. He was last seen by his friends walking towards Haarmann's apartment. Although Haarmann was wearing Bock's suit when arrested, he was acquitted of this murder.|| No
|-
| 1924|| 20|| 8 April|| Alfred Hogrefe|| 16|| Ran away from home on 2 April following a family argument. He was repeatedly seen in the company of Haarmann at Hanover station in the days prior to his murder. All of Hogrefe's clothes were traced to Haarmann, Grans, or Haarmann's landlady.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 107</ref>|| Yes
|-
| 1924|| 21|| 17 April || Wilhelm Apel|| 16|| Disappeared on his way to work; Apel was lured from the Hanover-Leinhausen station to Haarmann's apartment. Much of his clothing was later sold by Haarmann's landlady.|| Yes
|-
| 1924|| 22|| 26 April|| Robert Witzel|| 18|| Last seen visiting a travelling circus; Witzel's skull was found on 20 May. The remainder of his body was thrown into the Leine River.|| Yes
|-
| 1924|| 23|| 9 May|| Heinz Martin|| 14|| An apprentice locksmith from the city of [[Chemnitz]]. His leather marine cap, shirt, and cardigan were all found in Haarmann's apartment. It is speculated that Martin disappeared from Hanover station while looking for work.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 114</ref>|| Yes
|-
| 1924|| 24|| 26 May|| Fritz Wittig|| 17|| A travelling salesman from the town of Kassel. According to Haarmann, he had not wanted to kill Wittig but was persuaded to "take the boy" by Grans, who coveted Wittig's suit.|| Yes
|-
| 1924|| 25|| 26 May || Friedrich Abeling|| 10|| The youngest victim. Abeling disappeared while playing truant from school. His skull was found in the Leine River on 13 June.|| Yes
|-
| 1924|| 26|| 5 June|| Friedrich Koch|| 16|| Vanished on his way to college. Koch was last seen by two acquaintances in the company of Haarmann.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 122</ref>|| Yes
|-
| 1924|| 27|| 14 June|| Erich de Vries|| 17|| De Vries disappeared after informing his parents he intended to go for a swim in the [[Ohe (Sagter Ems)|Ohe River]]. Following his arrest, Haarmann led police to de Vries's dismembered skeletal remains, which he had discarded in a lake located at the entrance to the Herrenhausen Gardens.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 65"/>
|| Yes
|-
|}

'''Footnotes'''
[[File:2016-12-23 Sprengel Museum Hannover Haarmann-Fries.jpg|right|thumb|A bronze memorial depicting the crimes of Fritz Haarmann. This memorial is on display at Hanover's [[Sprengel Museum]].]]
Haarmann was acquitted of three murders at his trial: those of Adolf Hennies, Hermann Wolf, and Hermann Bock. In each instance, strong [[circumstantial evidence]] existed attesting to his guilt.<ref name="ReferenceM">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} pp. 99–100</ref>

In the case of Hermann Wolf, police established that prior to the youth's disappearance, he had informed his father he had conversed with a detective at Hanover station. Haarmann is known to have given many of Wolf's clothes to his landlady in the days immediately following his 44th birthday (shortly after Wolf was reported missing).<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 94"/> Moreover, the youth's distinctive belt buckle was found at Haarmann's Rote Reihe address. Haarmann only chose to deny this murder midway through his trial, following heated threats made against him by the father of the murdered youth.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} pp. 94–95</ref>

Haarmann was acquitted of the murder of Adolf Hennies due to conflicting testimony regarding the circumstances as to whether he or Grans actually murdered the youth. Although Haarmann admitted at his trial to having dismembered Hennies's body, he claimed to have returned to his apartment and "found a dead body lying there," to which, he claimed, Grans simply replied, "One of yours." Grans would deny this claim, and would state that he had bought Hennies's distinctive coat from Haarmann for eight [[German Papiermark|Marks]], after having been warned the coat was stolen. Due to this conflicting testimony, and the lack of an actual witness to the murder, neither Haarmann nor Grans were convicted of Hennies's murder.<ref name="ReferenceM"/>

In the case of Hermann Bock, several friends of his testified at Haarmann's trial that, prior to Haarmann's arrest, they were actively dissuaded from filing a missing person report with police; these witnesses testified that Haarmann was insistent on filing the report himself (he had never done so). Other witnesses testified to having acquired various personal possessions belonging to the youth from Haarmann. In addition, a tailor testified at Haarmann's trial to having been asked by Haarmann to alter the suit. Haarmann repeatedly contradicted himself regarding his claims as to how he acquired the youth's possessions. It is likely that Haarmann chose to deny this murder due to evidence suggesting the murder had been premeditated, as opposed to being committed in the throes of passion. He had known the youth for several years prior to his murder, and Bock was known to be heterosexual. Due to his denial of having committed this particular murder, Haarmann was acquitted.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 111</ref>

===Suspected victims===
===Hermann Koch===
In September 1918,<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 37"/> Haarmann is believed to have killed a 14-year-old named Hermann Koch, a youth who disappeared just weeks prior to his first confirmed victim, Friedel Rothe. Haarmann is known to have kept company with Koch. He is also known to have written a letter to Koch's school providing an explanation for the youth's prolonged absence.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 101">Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 101</ref> As had been the case in the disappearance of Friedel Rothe, police had searched Haarmann's Cellerstraße apartment in search of the youth, although no trace of Koch was found and charges against Haarmann in relation to the disappearance were dropped. Koch's father had petitioned in 1921 for Haarmann to be tried for his son's murder however his requests were officially rejected.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 101"/>

===Hans Keimes===
Haarmann is also strongly suspected of the murder of Hans Keimes, a 17-year-old Hanover youth who was reported missing on 17 March 1922<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 101"/> and whose nude, [[binding (knot)|bound]] body was found in a canal on 6 May. The cause of death was listed as strangulation, and the body bore no signs of mutilation. A distinctive handkerchief bearing Grans' name was found lodged in Keimes's throat.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 101"/>

Prior to the discovery of Keimes's body, Haarmann is known to have both visited the youth's parents offering to locate their son and to have immediately thereafter informed police that he believed Grans was responsible for Keimes's disappearance. However, Hans Grans is known to have been in custody at the time of the disappearance of Keimes.<ref name="ReferenceE"/>

Two weeks before the disappearance of Keimes, Haarmann had returned to his Neue Straße apartment, having served six months in a labour camp for several acts of theft he committed in August 1921. Upon his return, Haarmann discovered that Grans had stolen much of his personal property and fraudulently obtained and spent his military pension while he had been incarcerated. This resulted in a violent argument between the two men culminating in Haarmann evicting Grans. Shortly thereafter, Grans and a criminal acquaintance named Hugo Wittkowski returned and further ransacked the apartment. Haarmann likely murdered Keimes in an attempt to [[Frameup|frame]] Grans in reprisal for the theft of his property and pension.<ref name="ReferenceH"/>

Haarmann was not tried for the murder of either Koch or Keimes. Officially, both cases remain unsolved.<ref name="Monsters of Weimar p. 101"/>

==Aftermath==
Following Haarmann's execution, sections of his brain were removed for forensic analysis. An examination of slices of Haarmann's brain revealed traces of [[meningitis]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goettinger-tageblatt.de/Nachrichten/Goettingen/Uebersicht/Museum-oder-Bestattung-fuer-Haarmanns-Kopf|title=Rechtsmedizinische Sammlung – Museum oder Bestattung für Haarmanns Kopf? – Goettinger-Tageblatt.de|first=Göttinger Tageblatt, Eichsfelder Tageblatt, Göttingen, Eichsfeld, Niedersachsen|last=Germany|access-date=26 February 2017|archive-date=22 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122004005/http://www.goettinger-tageblatt.de/Nachrichten/Goettingen/Uebersicht/Museum-oder-Bestattung-fuer-Haarmanns-Kopf|url-status=dead}}</ref> although no sections of Haarmann's brain were permanently preserved. Nonetheless, Haarmann's head was preserved in [[formaldehyde]] and remained in the possession of the Göttingen medical school from 1925 until 2014, when it was [[cremation|cremated]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/8035ad1e2c0b450ca0a408361a2d2b30/report-butcher-hannovers-head-cremated-after-89-years |title=Report: 'Butcher of Hannover's' head cremated after 89 years |date=24 January 2015 |publisher=AP News |access-date=24 January 2015 |archive-date=27 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150127043024/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/8035ad1e2c0b450ca0a408361a2d2b30/report-butcher-hannovers-head-cremated-after-89-years |url-status=dead }}</ref>
[[File:Hannover cemetery stoecken grave Fritz Haarmann victims.jpg|right|220px|thumb|The communal grave of Haarmann's victims]]

The remains of Haarmann's victims which had been recovered were buried together in a communal grave in Stöckener Cemetery in February 1925. In April 1928, a large granite memorial in the form of a [[triptych]], inscribed with the names and ages of the victims, was erected over the communal grave.<ref>[http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,654732-6,00.html Spiegel.de].</ref>

The discovery of a letter from Haarmann declaring Hans Grans' innocence subsequently led to Grans receiving a second trial. This letter was dated 5 February 1925, and was addressed to the father of Grans.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 143</ref> In this letter, Haarmann claimed that although he had been frustrated at having been seen as little more than a "meal ticket" by Grans, Grans "had absolutely no idea that I killed". Furthermore, Haarmann claimed many of his accusations against Grans prior to his trial were obtained under extreme [[duress]], and that he falsely accused Grans of instigating the murders of Hannappel and Witzel as a means of revenge. Haarmann claimed that his pastor would be informed as to the contents and the authenticity of the letter.<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} pp. 143–45</ref>

Hans Grans was retried in January 1926. He was charged with [[aiding and abetting]] Haarmann in the murders of victims Adolf Hannappel and Fritz Wittig. Although Grans stated in one address to the judge at this second trial that he expected to be acquitted,<ref>Monsters of Weimar {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}} p. 152</ref> on 19 January, he was again found guilty of aiding and abetting Haarmann in both cases, although in this instance, he was sentenced to two [[Concurrence|concurrent]] 12-year sentences. After serving this 12-year sentence, Grans was extralegally interned in [[Sachsenhausen concentration camp]], where he remained until the camp's liberation in April 1945. Following the conclusion of the Second World War, he continued to live in Hanover until his death in 1975.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fritz Haarmann Was A Popular Butcher In 1920s Germany — Until They Found Out His Meat Was Human|url=https://allthatsinteresting.com/fritz-haarmann|access-date=23 October 2020|date=20 July 2020|first=Morgan|last=Dunn}}</ref>

The murders committed by Haarmann stirred much discussion in Germany regarding methods used in police investigation, the treatment of [[mentally ill]] offenders, and the validity of the death penalty.<ref name="gilbert">{{Cite news |last=Gilbert |first=Alexander |title=Fritz Haarmann: The Butcher of Hannover |url=http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/history/haarman/index_1.html |periodical=[[Crime Library]] |access-date=4 November 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024033738/http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/history/haarman/index_1.html |archive-date=24 October 2007 }}.</ref> However, the most heated topic of discussion in relation to the murders committed by Haarmann were issues relating to the subject of homosexuality, which was then illegal and punishable by imprisonment in Germany. The discovery of the murders subsequently stirred a wave of [[homophobia]] throughout Germany, with one historian noting: "It split the [gay rights] movement irreparably, fed every prejudice against homosexuality, and provided new fodder for conservative adversaries of legal sex reform."<ref>The Pink Triangle {{ISBN|978-0-805-00600-1}} p. 45</ref>
[[File:M poster.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Poster of Fritz Lang's 1931 film ''[[M (1931 film)|M]]'']]

==Media==
<!---PLEASE DO NOT ADD SONG REFERENCES, INCIDENTAL THEATER PORTRAYALS, REFERENCES TO INCIDENTAL DEPICTIONS UPON ALBUM COVERS OR OTHER DEPICTIONS UPON TV SHOWS LIKE COMICS, ALBUM COVERS OR OTHER IRRELEVANT TRIVIA HERE. IT DOES NOT BELONG HERE AND WILL REMOVED WITH NO FURTHER DISCUSSION. TRIVIA IS INAPPROPRIATE PER THE PROJECT GOVERNING THIS ARTICLE.--->

===Film===
* The first film to draw inspiration from the Haarmann case, ''[[M (1931 film)|M]]'', was released in 1931. Directed by [[Fritz Lang]], ''M'' starred [[Peter Lorre]] as a fictional child killer named Hans Beckert. In addition to drawing inspiration from the case of Fritz Haarmann, ''M'' was also inspired by the then-recent and notorious crimes of [[Peter Kürten]] and [[Carl Großmann]].
* The film ''[[The Tenderness of Wolves (film)|The Tenderness of the Wolves]]'' (''Die Zärtlichkeit der Wölfe'') was directly based upon Haarmann's crimes. This film was released in July 1973 and was directed by [[Ulli Lommel]]. ''The Tenderness of the Wolves'' was both written by and starred [[Kurt Raab]], who cast himself as Fritz Haarmann.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070957/.|title=Tenderness of the Wolves|date=12 July 1973|access-date=26 February 2017|publisher=IMDb}}</ref> German film director [[Rainer Werner Fassbinder]] produced the film and also appeared in a minor role as Haarmann's criminal accomplice, Hugo Wittkowski.
* The most recent film to be directly based upon Haarmann's murder spree, ''[[Deathmaker|Der Totmacher]]'' (''The Deathmaker''), was released in 1995. This film starred [[Götz George]] as Haarmann. ''Der Totmacher'' focuses upon the written records of the psychiatric examinations of Haarmann conducted by Ernst Schultze; one of the main psychiatric experts who was to testify at Haarmann's 1924 trial. The plot of ''Der Totmacher'' revolves around Haarmann's interrogation after his arrest, as he is being interviewed by a court psychiatrist.<ref>Horror International {{ISBN|978-0-814-33101-9}} p. 68</ref>
* The 2010 film ''[[Cyrus: Mind of a Serial Killer]]'', written and directed by Mark Vadik, was loosely based on both Haarmann<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.homemediamagazine.com/anchor-bay/cyrus-creeps-out-viewers-24252 |title = ''Cyrus'' Creeps Out Viewers|last = Ratcliff|first = Aashley |website = [[Home Media Magazine]] |date=17 June 2011 |access-date = 16 February 2017}}</ref> and American serial killer [[Henry Lee Lucas]].<ref>{{cite web|url = http://bloody-disgusting.com/interviews/25118/in-the-mind-of-madness-brief-interview-with-mark-vadik-brian-krause-of-cyrus/|title = In the Mind of Madness: Brief Interview with Mark Vadik & Brian Krause of ''Cyrus''|last = Taylor|first = Lauren|website = bloody-disgusting.com|publisher = [[Bloody Disgusting]]|date = 27 June 2011|access-date = 16 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.killerreviews.com/dispinterview.php?intid=1918|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111112225825/http://www.killerreviews.com/dispinterview.php?intid=1918|url-status = usurped|archive-date = 12 November 2011|title = Director Mark Vadik|last = Schmitt|first = Gavin|publisher = Killer Reviews|date = 7 March 2011|access-date = 16 February 2017}}</ref>

===Books===
* [[Nigel Cawthorne|Cawthorne, Nigel]]; Tibballs, Geoffrey (1993) ''Killers: The Ruthless Exponents of Murder'' {{ISBN|0-7522-0850-0}}
* Lane, Brian; Gregg, Wilfred (1992) ''The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers'' {{ISBN|978-0-747-23731-0}}
* [[Theodor Lessing|Lessing, Theodor]] (1925) ''Monsters of Weimar: Haarmann, the Story of a Werewolf'' {{ISBN|1-897743-10-6}}
* Marriner, Brian (1992) ''Cannibalism: The Last Taboo!'' {{ISBN|1-859-58495-0}}
* [[Colin Wilson|Wilson, Colin]]; Wilson, Damon (2006) ''The World's Most Evil Murderers: Real-Life Stories of Infamous Killers'' {{ISBN|978-1-405-48828-0}}
<!---PLEASE DO NOT ADD SONG REFERENCES, INCIDENTAL THEATER PORTRAYALS, REFERENCES TO INCIDENTAL DEPICTIONS UPON ALBUM COVERS OR OTHER DEPICTIONS UPON TV SHOWS LIKE COMICS, ALBUM COVERS OR OTHER IRRELEVANT TRIVIA HERE. IT DOES NOT BELONG HERE AND WILL REMOVED WITH NO FURTHER DISCUSSION. TRIVIA IS INAPPROPRIATE PER THE PROJECT GOVERNING THIS ARTICLE.--->

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Capital punishment in Germany]]
* [[List of serial killers by country]]
* [[List of serial killers by number of victims]]
* [[Weimar Republic]]
{{div col end}}
{{Portal bar|1920s|Biography|Law|Germany}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=n}}

==References==
{{reflist|3}}

==Cited works and further reading==
* {{cite book| last1 = Cawthorne| first1 = Nigel| last2 = Tibbels| first2 = Geoff| title = Killers: The Ruthless Exponents of Murder| location = London| publisher = Boxtree Books| year = 1993| isbn = 0-7522-0850-0| pages = [https://archive.org/details/killerscontractk0000cawt/page/415 415–17]| url = https://archive.org/details/killerscontractk0000cawt/page/415}}
* {{cite book | last1 = Gibson| first1 =Dirk|title=Serial Killing for Profit: Multiple Murder for Money|location=Santa Barbara|publisher=Praeger|year=2009|isbn=978-0-313-37890-4}}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Kavalovski| first1 =Joshua|title=The Haarmann Case: Remapping the Weimar Republic| journal =The German Quarterly|location=New Jersey|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc.|year=2015|issn=0016-8831}}
* {{cite book| last1 = Lane| first1 = Brian| last2 = Gregg| first2 = Wilfred| title = The Encyclopedia Of Serial Killers| orig-year = 1992| year = 1995| publisher = Berkley Book| location = New York City| isbn = 978-0-425-15213-3| pages = [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofse00lane/page/205 205–06]| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofse00lane/page/205}}
* {{Cite book|last=Lane|first=Brian|title=Chronicle of 20th Century Murder|year=1995|publisher=Select Editions|location=Wiltshire|isbn=978-0-425-14649-1| page = 82}}
* {{cite book| last1 = Lessing| first1 = Theodor| title = Monsters of Weimar: Haarmann, the Story of a Werewolf| orig-year = 1925 | year = 1993| publisher = Nemesis Books | location = London| isbn = 1-897743-10-6| pages = 11–156}}
* {{cite book| last1 = Pozsár| first1 = Christine| last2 = Farin| first2 = Michael| title=Die Haarmann-Protokolle|publisher=Rowohlt Verlag | location = Reinbek|orig-year = 1995 | year = 2002|isbn=3-936-29800-9}}
* {{cite book|author = Tatar, Maria|title=Lustmord. Sexual Murder in Weimar Germany|publisher=Princeton University Press| location = Princeton|year=1995|isbn=0-6910-1590-2}}
* {{cite book| last1 = Wilson| first1 = Colin| last2 = Wilson| first2 = Damon| title=The World's Most Evil Murderers: Real-Life Stories of Infamous Killers|publisher=Parragon Publishing | location = Bath| isbn = 978-1-405-48828-0| pages = 17–20| date = January 2007}}
* {{cite book| last1 = Wilson| first1 = Colin| last2 = Wilson| first2 = Damon| last3 = Wilson| first3 = Rowan| title = World Famous Murders| year = 1993| publisher = Parragon | location = London| isbn = 978-0-752-50122-2| pages = 386–89}}
* {{cite book|last=Wynn|first=Douglas|title=On Trial for Murder|year=1996|publisher=Pan Books|isbn = 0-09-472990-5 | pages=71–72}}

==External links==
*{{commons category-inline|Fritz Haarmann}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071024033738/http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/history/haarman/index_1.html Fritz Haarmann] at [[CrimeLibrary.com]]
*[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=110&dat=19241219&id=qHZOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gkADAAAAIBAJ&pg=5361,5634453 ''Contemporary newspaper account''] pertaining to Haarmann's trial and conviction
*[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1893&dat=19250415&id=wiQrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=g9MEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4160,4483255 ''Contemporary newspaper account''] detailing Haarmann's execution
*[http://www.executedtoday.com/?s=fritz+haarmann ''Fritz Haarmann's entry''] at executedtoday.com
*Image depicting Haarmann's [http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/af/89/b9/af89b939399cc5f67d4f1a5015382275.jpg severed head], preserved at Göttingen medical school until its 2014 cremation

{{Authority control}}

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