Berndt Andreas Baader (6 May 1943 – 18 October 1977) was a
West German communist
Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
and leader of the
far-left terrorist organization
Red Army Faction (RAF), also commonly known as the Baader-Meinhof Group.
Life
Andreas Baader was born in
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
on 6 May 1943. He was the only child of historian and archivist Berndt Phillipp Baader and Anneliese Hermine "Nina" (Kröcher). Andreas was raised by his mother, aunt, and grandmother. Phillipp Baader served in the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
, was captured on the
Russian Front in 1945, and never returned.
Baader was a high school
dropout and a bohemian before his involvement in the Red Army Faction. He was one of the few members of the RAF who did not attend university.
At the age of 20, Baader moved from Munich to
West Berlin
West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...
, allegedly to do an artistic education. He worked as a construction worker and unsuccessfully as a tabloid journalist.
Baader took part in the in 1962. According to his mother, he is said to have drawn the conclusion from the actions of the police that "something was wrong" in the state. According to journalist
Butz Peters, the events of the Munich city summer during 1962 were "a shocking experience for the nineteen-year-old".
RAF involvement
In 1968, Baader and his girlfriend
Gudrun Ensslin were convicted of the
arson bombing of a
department store
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...
in
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
, to protest what they described as the public's "indifference to the genocide in Vietnam".
After being sentenced, Baader and Ensslin fled in November 1969. They were smuggled out of West Germany by sympathizers and made the tour of the left-wing communities of
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
,
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
, and
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
before re-entering West Germany covertly in early 1970.
Baader was later caught at a traffic stop in Berlin for speeding on 4 April 1970. He produced a fake
driver's license
A driver's license, driving licence, or driving permit is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, ca ...
in the name of the author
Peter Chotjewitz but was placed under arrest when he failed to answer personal questions about the names and ages of Chotjewitz's children.
Ensslin masterminded an escape plan. Journalist
Ulrike Meinhof and Baader's lawyers concocted a false "book deal" in which Meinhof would interview Baader. A few weeks later, in May 1970, he was allowed to meet her at the library of the ''Berlin Zentralinstitut'' outside the prison, without handcuffs but escorted by two armed guards. Meinhof was allowed to join him. Confederates
Irene Goergens and
Ingrid Schubert entered the library carrying suitcases, then opened a door to admit a masked gunman armed with a pistol and then drew pistols out of suitcases. They then fired shots that wounded a 64-year-old librarian, hitting him in his liver. Baader, the masked gunman, and the three women then fled through a window.
The group became known as the ''Baader-Meinhof Group''. Baader and others then spent some time in a
Fatah military training camp in
Jordan
Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
before being expelled due to "differences in attitudes". Back in West Germany, Baader robbed banks and bombed buildings from 1970 to 1972. Although he never obtained a
driver's licence, Baader was obsessed with
driving
Driving is the controlled operation and movement of a land vehicle, including cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses. A driver's permission to drive on public highways is granted based on a set of conditions being met, and drivers are required to ...
. He regularly stole expensive
sports car
A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as Automobile handling, handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and Auto racing, racing capability. Sports cars originated in ...
s for use by the gang and was arrested driving an
Iso Rivolta IR 300.
On 1 June 1972, Baader and fellow RAF members
Jan-Carl Raspe and
Holger Meins were apprehended after a lengthy
shootout in Frankfurt.
Stammheim
From 1975 to 1977, a long and expensive trial took place in a fortified building on the grounds of
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
's
Stammheim Prison. As a precaution against items being smuggled in, all prisoners were strip-searched and inspected and given new clothes before and after meeting lawyers.
During a collective
hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...
in 1974, which led to the death of Meins,
philosopher
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...
visited Baader in Stammheim where he was being held. He allegedly described Baader after the meeting as being a "
twat" ("Quel con!"). Although he did not like Baader's behavior, he criticized the harsh conditions of imprisonment Baader endured.
Meinhof was found dead in her cell at Stuttgart-Stammheim on 9 May 1976, hanging from the grating covering her cell window. Members of the Red Army Faction and others claimed that she was killed by the German authorities. The second generation of the RAF committed several kidnappings and attacks in a campaign in support of their comrades.
The three remaining defendants were convicted in April 1977 of several murders,
attempted murder
Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions.
Canada
Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seve ...
s, and of forming a
terrorist
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
organization, and were sentenced to
life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...
.
Militants tried to force the release of Baader and ten other imprisoned RAF members by
kidnapping
Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...
businessman
Hanns Martin Schleyer in
Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
on 5 September 1977, as part of the sequence of events known as the "
German Autumn", which began on 30 July 1977 with the
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...
of banker
Jürgen Ponto.
On 6 September 1977, an official statement was released in which the state declared that the prisoners would not be released under any circumstances, and on the same day a ''Kontaktsperre'' ("communication ban") was enacted against all RAF prisoners. This order deprived prisoners of all contact with each other as well as with the outside; all visits, including those of lawyers and family members, were forbidden. The prisoners were deprived of their access to post, newspapers, magazines, television, and radio. The official justification for this was a claim by the state that the prisoners had supervised Schleyer's kidnapping from their cells with the assistance of their lawyers. It was claimed that a hand-drawn map had been found which had been used in the kidnapping in Newerla's car on 5 September. On 10 September, the prisoners' lawyers lost their appeal against the ''Kontaktsperre'' order and on 2 October it became effective. On 18 October 1977, the RAF killed Schleyer in France.
On 13 October 1977 four members of the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP; ) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist organization founded in 1967 by George Habash. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation ...
hijacked
Lufthansa Flight 181 on a flight from
Palma de Mallorca
Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...
to Frankfurt, their leader demanding the release of the eleven RAF prisoners detained at Stammheim. The aircraft was eventually flown to
Mogadishu
Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has ...
,
Somalia
Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...
, where it arrived in the early hours of 17 October. The passengers of the Boeing 737 were freed in an assault carried out by German
GSG 9 special forces in the early hours of 18 October 1977 which saw the death of three of the militants.
Death
According to official accounts of his death, Raspe learned about GSG 9's success on a smuggled
transistor radio and spent the next few hours talking to Baader, Ensslin, and Möller, who agreed to a
suicide pact. In the morning, Baader and Raspe were found dead in their cells, having died from gunshot wounds, while Ensslin was found hanging from a noose made from the speaker wire. RAF member
Irmgard Möller was found with four stab wounds to her chest, but survived.
All official inquiries on the matter concluded that Baader and his two accomplices committed collective suicide, and Baader-Meinhof biographer
Stefan Aust argued in the original edition of his book, ''The Baader-Meinhof Group'' (1985), that they did kill themselves. But there was a controversy about the weapons they used to commit suicide.
Aspects of the deaths have been debated: Baader was supposed to have shot himself in the base of the neck so that the bullet exited through his forehead; repeated tests indicated that it was virtually impossible for a person to hold and fire a gun in such a way. In addition, three bullet holes were found in his cell: one lodged in the wall, one in the mattress, and the fatal bullet itself lodged in the floor, suggesting that Baader had fired twice before killing himself. Finally, Baader had powder burns on his right hand, but he was left-handed. Raspe showed no signs of powder burns.
The theory itself that guns had been smuggled into Stammheim depended on the testimony of Hans Joachim Dellwo (brother of prisoner
Karl-Heinz Dellwo) and Volker Speitel (husband of
Angelika Speitel). Both had been arrested on 2 October 1977, and charged with belonging to a criminal association; under pressure from the police, they subsequently became
crown witnesses and admitted to acting as couriers and testified that they were aware of lawyers smuggling items to the prisoners during the trial. In consideration of this testimony, authorities reduced their sentences and provided them with new identities. In 1979, two defence attorneys were tried and convicted for smuggling weapons. However, as noted above, the lawyers had been unable to meet with their clients after 6 September 1977 due to the ''Kontaktsperre'' order.
Study of brain
Following their apparent suicides, the
German government had the
brains of Baader, Meinhof, Ensslin and Raspe removed for study at the Neurological Research Institute at the
University of Tübingen
The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...
. Meinhof's brain contained scar tissue, the result of surgery to remove a benign tumor in 1962, that could have affected her behavior. The results of the study of the others' brains are not known.
Aside from the removal of his brain, a
death mask was made of Baader. The brains of all but Meinhof have apparently been lost and cannot be accounted for by German authorities.
Cultural depictions
* ''
The Murder of Andreas Baader'' is a 1978 painting by
Odd Nerdrum
Odd Nerdrum (born 8 April 1944) is a Norwegian Figurative art, figurative painting, painter. A controversial figure in Norway, he is known for his anti-modernist stance. Themes and style in Nerdrum's work reference anecdote and narrative. Primar ...
where Baader is depicted as a murder victim.
*
''Stammheim – Die Baader-Meinhof-Gruppe vor Gericht'' ("Stammheim – The Baader-Meinhof Gang on Trial") (1986) a film directed by
Reinhard Hauff; with
Ulrich Tukur in the role of Andreas Baader; after the book by
Stefan Aust. It won the Golden Bear at the 1986 Berlin Film Festival.
* ' (1997) is a TV
docudrama
Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television show, television and feature film, film, which features Drama (film and television), dramatized Historical reenactment, re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of docu ...
by
Heinrich Breloer; with
Sebastian Koch as Andreas Baader. It is about the kidnapping and later the assassination of
''Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbändeunion'' (BDA) president Hanns-Martin Schleyer.
* In 2002, director
Christopher Roth released the film ''
Baader'', with
Frank Giering in the title role. It covers the period between 1967 and 1972.
* Baader was portrayed by
Moritz Bleibtreu in the film ''
The Baader Meinhof Complex''. The film was nominated for the 2009 foreign language film Oscar.
See also
*
Baader–Meinhof effect, a cognitive bias named after Baader
References
Sourcing
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Further reading
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External links
baader-meinhof.com websiteGuardian article on Baader Meinhof film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baader, Andreas
1943 births
1977 suicides
1977 deaths
German communists
Anti-revisionists
Criminals from Bavaria
German arsonists
German male criminals
German people who died in prison custody
German robbers
Members of the Red Army Faction
People from Munich
People imprisoned on terrorism charges
People who died by suicide in prison custody
Suicides in West Germany
Prisoners who died in German detention
Far-left politicians in Germany