The Local Germany

What Germany's Red Army Faction can tell the world about terror

Fri, 05 Apr 2019 13:49:18 +0200

Just over 40 years ago, Germany was gripped with fear as terrorists carried out a series of assassinations and bombings. The culprits? German youth – students and dropouts.

Former RAF terrorist apologises to son of murdered industrialist

Tue, 28 Nov 2017 12:59:38 +0100

Four decades after a wave of far-left militancy shook Germany, a former Red Army Faction (RAF) member has apologised to the son of one of its most high-profile victims, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

40 years after 'the German Autumn': who were the RAF terror group?

Tue, 05 Sep 2017 11:49:51 +0200

On September 5th 1977 left-wing terrorists kidnapped industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer. The abduction kicked off “the German Autumn” - six weeks of hostage-taking, murder and intrigue.

Hungary deports left-wing terrorist turned neo-Nazi to Germany

Tue, 13 Jun 2017 14:37:03 +0200

A notorious German neo-Nazi and Holocaust denier arrested last month in Hungary after skipping his jail sentence was handed over to German authorities on Tuesday, Hungarian police said.

Dutch join hunt for German terrorists-turned-outlaws

Wed, 27 Jul 2016 11:03:47 +0200

Dutch police on Tuesday told people to be on the lookout for three German far-left militants, at large for decades and suspected of a string of recent heists.

Why can't Germany catch these washed-up terrorists?

Tue, 07 Jun 2016 18:01:02 +0200

It's been nearly three decades, but these terrorists are still at large - and still committing armed crimes. So why can't Germany seem to catch them.

Fugitive ex-terrorists 'on huge crime spree' in north Germany

Fri, 27 May 2016 14:46:56 +0200

In their struggle against capitalism they murdered high profile businessmen and politicians. Now three ex-terrorists have taken to robbing supermarkets - and rather successfully, too.

Swedish police chase German terror suspects

Fri, 15 Apr 2016 16:29:05 +0200

Police in southern Sweden are searching for three alleged robbers thought to belong to a German extremist group.

Far-left terrorists' last-gasp spree 'to fund their retirement'

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 09:56:35 +0100

Police have confirmed that DNA from three far-left terrorists who have been on the run for decades was found at the site of two robberies in 2015.

The shot that launched a battle of generations

Thu, 04 Jun 2015 18:17:13 +0200

On June 2nd 1967, student Benno Ohnesorg was shot dead by a policeman during a protest in West Berlin. His death fuelled the outrage of the left-wing student movement and ended up contributing to the radicalization of the notorious Red Army Faction.

Terror alert 'higher than in decades'

Tue, 23 Dec 2014 11:34:00 +0100

A leaked government report shows that security authorities believe the threat of a terrorist attack in Germany is higher than at any time since the late 1970s.

Leaked cables show US fears over RAF terror

Fri, 25 Apr 2014 18:46:00 +0200

American fears that the German government had lost control in 1977 under a wave of far-left terrorist attacks were revealed in US diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks on Thursday.

'Get off your rear end and learn German'

Mon, 12 Aug 2013 11:00:00 +0200

For our latest installment of My German Career, we asked aircraft engineer Matt Fullick about life and work in Gütersloh.

No new investigation into RAF prison deaths

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 13:31:00 +0200

German prosecutors have rejected a request for a new investigation into the 1977 prison deaths of three members of extreme-left militant group the Red Army Faction (RAF), citing a lack of fresh evidence.

RAF investigates Berlin child sex abuse charge

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 10:39:00 +0100

Britain's Royal Air Force said on Friday that it has questioned one of its former servicemen over claims that he sexually abused children at a British base in Berlin in the 1980s.

Court jails ex-RAF member for 1977 murder

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 18:20:00 +0200

A former member of the Red Army Faction (RAF), which terrorised Germany in the 1970s and 1980s, was jailed for four years on Friday for accessory to the murder of a top official 35 years ago.

Baader-Meinhof member speaks to deny murder

Mon, 14 May 2012 16:42:00 +0200

A former member of the notorious Baader-Meinhof gang that terrorised Germany in the 1970s and 1980s on Monday denied taking part in the group's most high-profile murder, breaking a long silence.

Last Red Army Faction prisoner freed

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 19:27:00 +0200

Birgit Hogefeld, the last member of the German leftist terror group the Red Army Faction behind bars, was freed prison on Tuesday after serving 18 years.

Greek police arrest German in terror raid

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 18:04:00 +0100

Greek police on Friday said they had arrested a German woman, allegedly the daughter of a wanted leftist with ties to the Red Army Faction, in a sweep aimed at a radical anarchist group that sent bombs to embassies.

Motorcycle used in RAF killing turns up in private garage

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 16:28:00 +0200

A motorcycle secured a few days ago by police is likely the vehicle used by the leftist terrorist group the Red Army Faction (RAF) in the notorious shooting of West Germany's federal prosecutor Siegfried Buback in 1977.