Haarmann: Die Geschichte eines Werwolfs

by Theodor Lessing

Diese Ausgabe wurde mit einem funktionalen Layout erstellt und sorgfältig formatiert.
Aus dem Buch:
"Die Geschworenen sind: Landwirt Wesche aus Hüpede, Zimmermann Harse aus Bodenwerder, Schneider Untorf aus Pyrmont, Schmied Heise aus Engelbostel, Postassistent Ahrens aus Holzhausen, Korbmacher Ackmann aus Kreiensen. Links an der Fensterseite des Saales ist die Anklagebank. Neben und zwischen den beiden Angeklagten sitzen zwei Sicherheitspolizisten und ein Kriminalassistent. Vor der Anklagebank haben ihren Platz die zwei Offizialverteidiger: Justizrat Benfey für Haarmann, Rechtsanwalt Lotze für Grans."
Theodor Lessing (1872-1933) war ein deutscher Philosoph und politischer Publizist.

Genres: History, True Crime

153 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1925

About the author

Theodor Lessing (8 February 1872, Hanover – 31 August 1933, Marienbad) was a German Jewish philosopher.

He is known for opposing the rise of Hindenburg as president of the Weimar Republic and for his classic On Jewish self-hatred (Der jüdische Selbsthaß), a book which he wrote in 1930, three years before Adolf Hitler came to power, in which he tried to explain the phenomenon of Jewish intellectuals who incited antisemitism against the Jewish people and who regarded Judaism as the source of evil in the world.

Lessing's political ideals, as well as his Zionism made him a very controversial person during the rise of Nazi Germany. He fled to Czechoslovakia where he lived in Marienbad in the villa of a local social democratic politician. On the night of 30 August 1933, he was assassinated by Sudeten German Nazi sympathizers. Lessing was shot through a window of the villa where he lived. His assassins were German Nazis from Sudetenland, Rudolf Max Eckert, Rudolf Zischka and Karl Hönl. They fled to Nazi Germany after the assassination.

Lessing's philosophical views were influenced by Nietzsche and Afrikan Spir. According to Theodore Ziolkowski in Lessing's Geschichte als Sinngebung des Sinnlosen (History as Giving Meaning to the Meaningless), "writing in the tradition of Nietzsche, argued that history, having no objective validity, amounts to a mythic construct imposed on an unknowable reality, in order to give its some semblance of meaning."[

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Friedrich “Fritz” Haarmann (1879–1925) was one of the most notorious serial killers in Germany. Called the “Butcher”, “Vampire”, or “Werewolf” of Hanover he committed sexual assault, murder, mutilation and dismemberment (in that order) of at least 24 boys and young men between 1918 and 1924 in Hanover, Germany. He was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death by beheading in December 1924, and was subsequently executed in April 1925.

This book, published in February 1925, is a report on Haarmann’s life, the investigations that led to his arrest and the trial (which lasted only 14 days). The author, Theodor Lessing, studied philosophy and psychology and became a well-known political writer in Weimar-Germany. He was an accredited reporter to the trial and wrote about it in the newspapers. After drawing attention to the fact that the police officials in Hanover played some dubious role in the Haarmann case (Haarman was a spy for the police, among other things!), Lessing was excluded from the trial.

It is hard for me to find a just rating for this book. On one hand I learned all the facts there are to learn, as far as they were known at the time, about Haarmann and his crimes. On the other hand I was missing the professional distance by the author I would have expected. The book was published shortly after the trial (when Haarmann was still alive), and I could sense that the author was quite incensed. He is ranting about almost everyone who had anything to do with the process: The judge was biased, the defender incapable, the witnesses implausible and partly guilty too (according to the author). The interrogators were not permitted to act on Haarmann the way they did, and there were forced confessions. All of this is put forward in a very emotional way. It may be that such a style was common at that time. I don’t know. But I had the feeling, the author wanted to pay back the police and judiciary with his book. He may have been right about the facts, but the way they are presented seems counterproductive to me.

After a little research I found this site with newspaper articles by Lessing that were published between 1923 and 1933 in the Prager Tagblatt (newpaper from Praque), including the ones on the Haarmann-trial (dates between 07.12.1924 and 21.12.1924 and one more on 12.02.1925). I only skimmed those articles, but it seems that a great deal was copied verbatim to this book and it only confirms my impression that the book was published in some fit of pique. In my opinion the author should have taken some time to relax, reconsider, and reflect to get a better book in the end.

There are numerous other books about the Haarmann-case, one of which containes the so called Haarmann-protocols. I think I have to read that one too. The quotes by Haarmann in this book were the most “enjoying” parts, but there are only a few.

At one point Lessing asked the judge to consult with other psychologists, which the judge denied. One name Lessing mentioned in this context was Alfred Döblin, who was a psychiatrist. I didn’t know that Döblin based the main character, Franz Biberkopf, of his novel Berlin Alexanderplatz partly on Haarmann.

All in all it’s a good book about the case, crimes, police work, justice, and general society of the Weimar republic … if you leave out the emotional rants. I guess it has to be read from the perspective of that time, to really appreciate it.

____________

Everyone has a different way of dealing with such disgusting crimes. One of which is to turn it into ridicule. In this case there is the “Haarmann-Song” (which is performed until today and contains quite a few factual errors), and it goes like this:

♫ In Hannover an der Leine
Rote Gasse Nummer acht
Wohnt der Massenmörder Haarmann
Der die Leute umgebracht.

Haarmann hat auch ein' Gehilfen
Grans heißt dieser junge Mann.
Und der lockte mit Behagen
Viele junge Männer an.

Warte warte nur ein Weilchen
Dann kommt Haarmann auch zu Dir.
Mit dem kleinen Hackebeilchen
Macht er Hackefleisch aus dir.

Aus den Augen macht er Sülze
Aus dem Arsch da macht er Speck
Aus dem Darm da macht er Würste
Und den Rest den schmeißt er weg.

[translation]
In Hannover at the river Leine
Red Lane number eight
Lives the mass-murderer Haarmann
Who has slain the people.

Haarman also had an accessory
Grans was the name of this young man.
And enticed with pleasure
Many young men.

Wait wait just a little while
Then Haarmann comes to you too.
With the little cleaver
He turns you into ground-meat.

From the eyes he makes aspic
From the ass he makes bacon
From the gut he makes sausages
And the rest he throws away.

____________

Here are the links to articles published by Theodor Lessing in Prager Tagblatt during and after the Haarmann trial:

1924-12-07, Die Freundschaft zwischen Grans und Haarmann
1924-12-10, Die Schuld der Polizei
1924-12-11, Haarmann lenkt den Prozeß
1924-12-13, Skizzen aus Hannover
1924-12-14, Sechster bis dreizehnter Mord
1924-12-16, Auf der Höhe des Dramas
[1924-12-17, Haarmann: Die Beweisaufnahme geschlossen. Der Gerichtshof entzieht Prof. Lessing die Pressekarte]
1924-12-17, Die letzten Knaben
1924-12-18, „Wir haben Sie nicht als Schriftsteller zugelassen…“
1924-12-21, Zusammenfassendes Schlusswort
1925-02-12, Haarmanns Brief



This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

[Kalkwerk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fritz Haarmann aus Hannover ist heute - neben Peter Kürten und Karl Denke - einer der berühmtesten deutschen Serienmörder des frühen 20. Jahrhunderts. In einer vom 4. bis zum 19. Dezember 1924 andauernden Verhandlung wird er für die sexualmotivierten Morde an etlichen jungen Männern zum Tode verurteilt und am 15. April 1925 unter Ausschluss der Öffentlichkeit hingerichtet.
Der politische Publizist und Philosoph Theodor Lessing nahm als Journalist und Beobachter an Haarmanns Prozess teil und liefert mit seinem, 1925 unter dem Titel "Haarmann. Die Geschichte eines Werwolfs" veröffentlichten, Bericht die erste von zahlreich nachfolgenden Aufarbeitungen des spektakulären Haarmann-Falls.

Der besondere Reiz von Lessings Text liegt in seinem höchst differenzierten Zugriff auf den Fall. Zwar liegt es ihm fern, Haarmann zum Unschuldigen zu stilisieren - dennoch zeigt Lessing überzeugend auf, dass die vielen Mordtaten Haarmanns ohne die problematischen Gesellschaftsumstände nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg nicht möglich gewesen wären, Behörden überlastet waren und verrohte Privatmenschen weggesehen haben. Haarmanns Taten - so Lessings Argumentation - geschahen im Windschatten der Kriminalpolizei, für die er als V-Mann arbeitete. Von Haarmanns Verbrechen profitierten zudem Abnehmer für die Kleidung der Opfer, von denen so mancher etwas von dem grausamen Treiben in Haarmanns Unterkünften geahnt haben muss oder tatsächlich gewusst hat, aber einen guten Anzug höher als ethisches Handeln geschätzt zu haben scheint.
Kritisch geht Haarmann auch mit der Justiz ins Gericht, die im Haarmann-Prozess, bei Bedrohung der Presse, das staatliche System von jeder Mitschuld an den Verbrechen reingewaschen sehen wollte. Lessing gibt nicht zuletzt auch den Biografien der Haarmann-Opfer viel Raum und fordert, sie mit einem Gedenkstein und der Inschrift "Unser aller Schuld" zu ehren. (Tatsächlich wurden die Überreste der Opfer in einem Ehrengrab in Hannover beigesetzt, auf dessen Grabmal weder etwas von kollektiver Schuld noch von Mord zu lesen ist).

Lessings mal literarisch anmutende, mal philosophisch oder psychologisch wertende, aber immer gestochen scharfe Analyse ist auch heute noch unbedingt lesenswert!

[Antonio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Altro che Dracula e Frankenstein.
L'essere umano può essere più spaventoso di qualsiasi mostro della fantasia.

Questa è la storia di un "essere tutto natura" che, fra il 1918 ed il 1924, massacrò ventisette giovani, con i quali aveva avuto rapporti sessuali, azzannandoli alla gola e bevendone il sangue.
La cosa più spaventosa? Che ventisette sono solo le vittime certe. Potrebbero esser state molte di più.
Haarmann, infatti, ammise innanzi alla Corte che lo giudicava, che potevano "essere trenta come quaranta" le sue vittime.

Lessing ha il coraggio di scendere nell'inferno dell'animo umano, nel punto più basso.
Da qui, Satana lo si guarda da sotto. E ne fuoriesce con una rappresentazione di una "umanità dolente, distrutta dal lavoro, fiaccata, inaridita, oppressa" che non può non condividere una parte di colpe con il Lupo Mannaro.
Perché la Colpa è di Haarmann, ma anche di quelli che nulla hanno notato.
Del funzionario, del poliziotto che non hanno dato peso alle denunce di smarrimento, alle lacrime, alla paura dei genitori.

Consigliato.

"Tutti insieme seguiamo, partecipi della sorte di quei genitori, genitori anche noi, la bara della gioventù che non è sbocciata per colpa nostra."

"Haarmann. Storia di un lupo mannaro.", Theodor Lessing, 1925.

[Matteo Massafra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Libro scritto da Theodor Lessing, un professore di psicologia che ha assistito al processo che porterà Fritz Haarmann a essere condannato a morte, accusato di 27 omicidi (certamente non tutti) e giustiziato nell'aprile del 1925. Lessing durante il corso del libro racconta accuratamente la storia privata di Haarmann (fornendo anche una attenta analisi psicologica), la sua famiglia, facendo particolare attenzione a gli anni in cui vive ad Hannover, dove si consumano i suoi omicidi. C'è anche una descrizione di tutte le 27 vittime, della modalità di assassinio (età compresa tra gli 11 e 18 anni) e di come sono stato addescate da Haarmann. Libro abbastanza scorrevole ma non una lettura per tutti per via di alcune parti molto esplicite.

[Susanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haarmann was a killer and he was executed for his crimes.
This sounds too simple though.
The author was present at the trial and sheds some light on the social issues of the time as well as how the process worked and what role media played in it.
At times it feels like he takes it too personal and doesnt keep his distance. However it as a contemporary work amd a hot topic at the time and he was personally critizes for his involvement... so this is a point to consider as well.
Overall I think he excellently demonstrates what went wrong in this story and how a lot of "lucky " moments saved Haarmann from being caught before.

[Muruy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Per la storia sarebbero 3 stelle, ma il mio odio per i libri scritti in blocchi unici in cui non si và mai a capo fa scendere la votazione.

[Stefani Akins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't the exact book I read, but I'm too lazy to add my version (which looks more like the Italian translation of Haarmann: Die Geschichte eines Werwolfs). Not only is this an interesting document about Germany's most infamous serial killer from someone who was there at the trial, it is also incidentally a telling look at the Weimar Republik. Some sensitive or not very well read souls may find the somewhat archaic writing style difficult, but I finished the book in under two days. It is worth mentioning perhaps that Lessing was also a philosopher, and as such, his attempt to explain Haarmann's deeds and the lessons that ought to be drawn from them could be of interest to students of philosophy.