Marianne Bachmeier Biography – The Mother who got Her Revenge

Marianne Bachmeier (3 June 1950–17 September 1996) was a German woman who shot and killed the rapist and murderer of her daughter in an act of vigilantism in the hall of the District Court of Lübeck in 1981.

Bachmeier had an unhappy childhood and adolescence in a strictly religious family with an authoritarian father, a former member of the Waffen SS. She was thrown out of the house. She became pregnant twice, with both children placed for adoption as an infant before she gave birth to Anna. Anna grew up with her mother, who ran a pub in Lübeck. According to friends, Anna was a vibrant and open-minded child who was treated like an adult and never truly had a pleasant family life.

On 5 May 1980, Anna (aged 7) was abducted, sexually assaulted, and killed by Klaus Grabowski, a convicted sex offender. He packed her into a box, which he then left on a canal bank. His fiancée turned him in to the police. Once arrested, Grabowski stated that Anna tried to extort him by alleging molestation, and his fear of going back to prison prompted him to kill her.

On 6 March 1981, the third day of the trial and around 10 a.m., Marianne Bachmeier shot Grabowski in the back seven times at the Lübeck District Court, killing him instantly. The case sparked extensive media coverage and public debate. She was convicted of manslaughter and unlawful possession of a firearm, and was sentenced to six years but was released after serving three years.

Bachmeier moved abroad before returning to Germany after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She died at the age of 46 and was buried next to her daughter, Anna, in a Burgtorfriedhof Cemetery in Lübeck.

Youth and Family (Marianne Bachmeier Biography)

Bachmeier grew up in Sarstedt after her parents fled from East Prussia. Her father had been a member of the Waffen-SS. She was raised in a conservative home with devoutly religious parents. Her father was the stereotypical authoritative figure, who was a heavy drinker and spent much of his time at a pub close to the house. Their household was not pleasant, and drinking made her father more aggressive.

Her parents divorced, and her mother later remarried. Marianne was a troubled adolescent with a dictatorial stepdad. Her mother expelled her from the house and blamed her for all the strife.

In 1966, aged 16, Bachmeier had her first child, who she placed for adoption as an infant. She became pregnant again at the age of 18 by her then-boyfriend. Shortly before the birth of her second child, Bachmeier was raped. Her second child was also placed for adoption as an infant.

In 1972, she started dating the bar’s manager, Christian Berthold, and they both worked at Tipasa. She became pregnant for the third time at the age of 22. On 14 November 1972, Bachmeier’s third daughter, Anna, was born, and she was raised alone since Christian was not prepared to enter a committed partnership. She brought Anna with her to work as a result, and it was said that she never felt a need to rush home after her job behind the bar. Anna’s mother treated her like a little adult, and from a young age, she was expected to take care of many things on her own. People recalled that the small child frequently slept off as her mother partied. Anna was a vibrant youngster who never truly had a pleasant family life, according to a friend of Marianne’s.

The murder of her daughter

On 5 May 1980, when Anna Bachmeier was seven years old, she had an argument with her mother and decided to skip school. Anna was abducted by Klaus Grabowski, a 35-year-old butcher whose home she had visited to play with his cats. He held Anna for several hours at his home, sexually assaulted her, and ultimately strangled her with a pair of his fiancée’s tights. According to the prosecutor, he tied the girl up and packed her into a box, which he left on the canal bank. His fiancée turned him in to the police.

Klaus Grabowski was a convicted sex offender and had previously been sentenced for the sexual abuse of two girls. In 1976, he voluntarily submitted to chemical castration, though it was later revealed that he underwent hormone treatment to try to reverse the castration. Once arrested, Grabowski stated that the girl had wanted to tell her mother that he had touched her inappropriately, to extort money from him. His fear of going back to prison prompted him to kill her.

Vigilante justice in the courtroom

On 6 March 1981, the third day of the trial and around 10 a.m, Marianne Bachmeier smuggled a Beretta 70 into the courtroom of Lübeck District Court, room 157, and shot the confessed killer of her daughter, Klaus Grabowski, in the back. She aimed the gun at Grabowski’s back and pulled the trigger seven times. Six of the shots hit him, and the 35-year-old defendant was killed almost instantly. Bachmeier then lowered her gun, without any attempt to flee, and was arrested without resistance.

Public reaction

This is likely the most well-known case of vigilante justice in West Germany. It sparked extensive media coverage, and television crews from all over the world traveled to Lübeck to report on this case. Bachmeier sold her life story for about 100,000 Deutsche Mark to the news magazine Stern. With the fee, she covered her legal costs.

While she was held in custody, many sent her messages of support, gifts, and flowers to indicate their understanding of her conduct. However, after Stern published her life story, and details about her first two children and her father’s connection to the Waffen-SS came to light, public opinion shifted as she no longer appeared to fit the “innocent mother” image. Many blame the judiciary for allowing a man who had already molested two girls to use hormones to restore his sex drive. Others accused Bachmeier of having neglected Anna and doubted the credibility of her grief. Still, many openly express their sympathy for the act of revenge.

Sentence for manslaughter

On 2 November 1982, Bachmeier was initially charged in court with murder. Later the prosecution dropped the murder charge. After 28 days of negotiations, the Board agreed on the verdict. Four months after the opening of proceedings, she was convicted on 2 March 1983 by the Circuit Court Chamber of the District Court Lübeck for manslaughter and unlawful possession of a firearm. The court largely followed the defense’s argument that the act was not planned. She was sentenced to six years in prison but was released after serving three years.

Moving abroad

Marianne Bachmeier married a teacher in 1985, and in 1988 they moved to Accra, Ghana. They lived in a German camp where her husband taught at a German school. They were divorced in 1990, and she moved to Sicily, where she worked as a euthanasia assistant in a hospice in Palermo. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in Sicily, and then returned to Germany.

Subsequent public coverage

In 1994, 13 years after her act, Marianne Bachmeier gave an interview to Deutschlandfunk 7 radio. The same year, her autobiography appeared with the German publisher Schneekluth-Verlag. On 21 September 1995, she appeared on the talk show Fliege on the Das Erste TV channel. She admitted that she had shot the killer of her daughter after careful consideration, to enforce the law on him, and to prevent him from further spreading lies about her daughter Anna. In an ARD documentary from 2006, a former friend also said that Marianne Bachmeier practiced shooting in the basement under her pub after Anna’s murder. Marianne Bachmeier has never publicly regretted her act of revenge.

Death (Marianne Bachmeier Biography)

Before her death, she asked the Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) reporter, Lukas Maria Böhmer, to accompany her and film the last stages of her life. The fact that she made her ‘slow’ death public was perceived by some as consistent with Bachmeier’s seeking for public attention and sympathy since her crime, even when the public interest in her had long since ebbed.

On 17 September 1996, Bachmeier died at the age of 46 from pancreatic cancer in a hospital in Lübeck. She was buried next to her daughter, Anna, in a Burgtor Cemetery in Lübeck.

In popular culture

Plays

In the early 1980s, the Anna Collective, a group made up of Aida Jordão, Suzanne Odette Khuri, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Patricia Nichols, Baņuta Rubess, Tori Smith, Barb Taylor, and Maureen White, began work on a theatre piece about Bachmeier and her vigilante act. A short version of the play premiered in 1983. The completed play, This is for You, Anna, premiered in 1984.

Cinema

• 1984: Anna’s Mother [de] (German: Annas Mutter), film by Burkhard Driest (with Gudrun Landgrebe)
• 1984: No Time for Tears: The Bachmeier Case [de] (German: Der Fall Bachmeier – Keine Zeit für Tränen), film by Hark Bohm (with Marie Colbin [de])
• 1996: The slow death of Marianne Bachmeier (German: Das langsame Sterben der Marianne Bachmeier), film by Lukas Maria Böhmer.

Documentaries

• 1993: Vigilante justice of a mother: The case of Marianne Bachmeier (German: Selbstjustiz einer Mutter: Der Fall Marianne Bachmeier) an interview with Marianne by Mirror TV
• 2006: Marianne Bachmeier’s revenge (German: Die Rache der Marianne Bachmeier), documentary of the show Die großen Kriminalfälle (season 5, episode 28) on the ARD channel.
• 2017: When women kill: Marianne Bachmeier (German: Wenn Frauen töten: Marianne Bachmeier), a documentary of the show Spectacular criminal cases on ZDF channel.
• 2021: Deadly gunshots in the courtroom – The case of Marianne Bachmeier (German: Tödliche Schüsse im Gerichtssaal – Der Fall Marianne Bachmeier).

Books

• Bachmeier, Marianne (1994). Palermo, Amore mio : [Roman] (in Italian). München: Schneekluth.

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