The RAF Assassination - Rheinuferpromenade

Su questo luogo

The Rheinuferpromenade is one of Düsseldorf's great pleasures, a broad, tree-lined walkway where locals stroll and the Rhine stretches out in a wide silver band. But roughly 1.1 kilometres across the water, tucked among the villas of Kaiser-Friedrich-Ring, stands the house where Germany's most audacious post-war political assassination unfolded. On Easter Monday, 1 April 1991, at 23:30, Detlev Karsten Rohwedder, head of the Treuhandanstalt and the agency tasked with privatising the entire East German economy, was shot dead through his study window. He had been a lightning rod for fury on the radical left: the man deciding which factories would close, which workers would lose their livelihoods, which companies would pass to West German investors. Someone had stalked him, selected a position just 63 metres away in a neighbouring garden, and fired three shots in the dark. The first killed him instantly. The second wounded his wife Hergard, standing nearby. The third buried itself in a bookcase. At the scene: three cartridges, a plastic chair, a towel, and a claim letter signed by the RAF Kommando Ulrich Wessel. The weapon was never found. The shooter was never identified. The case remains open.

Fatti principali

• 63 metres — The sniper positioned himself just 63 metres from Rohwedder's study window, close enough for a lethal shot through the glass and far enough to vanish into the night.
• 3 rifle shots — Three shots rang out at 23:30 on Easter Monday: the first killed Rohwedder instantly, the second wounded his wife Hergard, and the third struck a bookcase.
• 35 years unsolved — Despite DNA evidence collected in 2001 and decades of investigation, the murder remains officially unsolved, the last major unresolved case linked to the Red Army Faction.

Ascoltalo in una passeggiata audioguidata