Haarmann's mass murderer's head cremated

Head of serial killer Fritz Haarmann cremated

01/25/2015

The head of mass murderer Fritz Haarmann, who killed at least two dozen young men around 1920, was cremated in Göttingen and buried anonymously. Originally, researchers from the brain and head hoped to gain knowledge on criminal predisposition.

The murderer's head camped in Göttingen for about 90 years
For around 90 years, the head of the notorious mass murderer Fritz Haarmann from Hanover camped in Goettingen after his execution. As it has now become known, the last mortal remains have come to rest. According to a report by the dpa news agency, a spokesperson for the University Hospital Göttingen confirmed that the criminal's head had already been cremated last year and buried anonymously. This had previously „Göttinger Tageblatt“ reported in his Saturday issue.

Mass murderer admitted 24 murders
After his arrest in June 1924, Haarmann had confessed to a series of 24 murders of homeless men. It is said that he allegedly consumed body parts in the crimes of 1918-1924. The mass murderer, who had been convicted of sexual abuse of small children, was known to the police as an informer in Hanover's red-light milieu. The scary case delivered in the 1990s, the stuff for the German feature film „The Totemaker“. The actor Götz George was honored for his role as Haarmann in 1996 as Best Actor with the German Film Award.

Areas for the good and the evil in the brain
At the end of 1924 Haarmann was convicted and beheaded in Hanover with the hatchet. His head then went into a formalin bath at the forensic institute in Göttingen, where it was kept for decades. „There were earlier requests to show the head in public“, shared hospital spokesman Stefan Weller. Especially during the time of National Socialism the misconception prevailed that criminals could be recognized by their physiognomy. In addition, some scientists believed that they could find areas in the brain for the good and the bad.

Finding relatives was fruitless
According to Professor Klaus-Steffen Saternus of the Göttinger Rechtsmedizin, however, the head had no scientific value. Therefore, the notorious drug remained under lock and was not synonymous for scare effects. So saternus declined the claims according to photography wishes always. Weller explained that before burial in an anonymous burial ground, ethical questions about the proper handling of human remains were discussed. „Haarmann was a Protestant faith, and so the funeral was discussed in a dignified frame with the church.“ The search for potential relatives had previously been fruitless.

Brains of personalities examined
Haarmann was not the only person whose brain was examined for possible peculiarities after his death. For example, the brain of the revolutionary and Marxist theorist Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was searching for signs of genius. And also the brain of Albert Einstein was examined. This was only possible because the brain of the most important physicist of all time was stolen by the physician Thomas Harvey. One of the biggest brains ever measured was Jonathan Swift, the author of Gulliver's Travels: It weighed 2,000 grams. (Ad)

Image: Bundesarchiv, picture 102-0016351a2cc0b08c03p>