Tours · Düsseldorf · serial_killer
The Vampire's Park - Hofgarten
In the autumn of 1929, Germany's oldest public park became the hunting ground of Peter Kürten, the "Vampire of Düsseldorf", who attacked women on these paths and drank the blood of a swan by the water's edge.
Sobre este lugar
Germany's first public park, laid out in 1769 for Elector Palatine Charles Theodore, stretches across forty hectares at the edge of the Altstadt, a landscape of ponds, formal allées and ancient chestnut trees. In the terror year of 1929, its nighttime paths became closely linked to Peter Kürten, the "Monster of Düsseldorf", one of the most studied serial killers in German criminal history. On the night of 25 October 1929, Kürten attacked a woman in this park with a hammer, striking her until the handle broke on the final blow; earlier that same evening he had assaulted a second woman here and she too survived. The act that sealed his legend came on the night of 7 December 1929, when he returned to the Hofgarten, found a sleeping swan by one of the ponds, cut its throat, and drank the blood. It was this detail, reported in the Düsseldorf papers, that gave the city its unforgettable nickname for the killer. Arrested in May 1930, Kürten was convicted of nine murders and seven attempted murders. His case directly inspired Fritz Lang's landmark 1931 film "M", still regarded as cinema's first great portrait of a serial killer.
Datos clave
- 9 murder convictions — Peter Kürten was convicted of nine murders and seven attempted murders at his 1931 trial in Düsseldorf, receiving nine death sentences after a jury deliberation of under two hours.
- 1769 year opened — The Hofgarten became Germany's first public park in 1769, laid out by court architect Nicolas de Pigage for Elector Palatine Charles Theodore.
- 2 attacks in one night — On the night of 25 October 1929, Kürten attacked two separate women in the Hofgarten in a single evening, with a hammer, both of whom survived.