Germany HINTERKAIFECK MASSACRE - 1922 - Bavaria, Germany - 6 Family Members Murdered at Remote Farm

[Gummyshoe]

Hi everyone,

While digging into unsolved crimes recently, I noticed there wasn’t a dedicated thread on the Hinterkaifeck case, one of the most chilling and mysterious unsolved family murders in European history. I figured it was time we had a dedicated space to discuss it.

They noticed strange footprints in the snow
leading to the house, but never leaving. Their keys vanished. At night, they heard footsteps in the attic. Then, one by one, the family was lured into the barn and murdered with a mattock.

After the massacre, the killer stayed.

They fed the animals, cooked meals, and lived among the corpses for days before vanishing without a trace.

In this thread I will be going over the Hinterkaifeck Massacre.

---

Overview

Date of Murders: March 31, 1922
Location: Hinterkaifeck homestead (Kaifeck, near Gröbern), Bavaria, Germany
Cause of Death: Blunt force trauma from a mattock (pickaxe-like tool)
Status: UNSOLVED


Victims:

• Andreas Gruber (63) – Farm owner
• Cäzilia Gruber (72) – His wife
• Viktoria Gabriel (35) – Their widowed daughter
• Cäzilia Gabriel (7) – Viktoria’s daughter
• Josef Gabriel (2) – Viktoria’s son (rumored paternity)
• Maria Baumgartner (44) – New maid, killed on her first day

Original Case Files & Research Archive:

• Hinterkaifeck.net – Main Website
• Hinterkaifeck Wiki (Community Encyclopedia)
• Timeline of Events
• Victim Profiles
• Crime Scene Photos (Graphic)
• Original Police Files (Digitized)

 

[Gummyshoe]

Here is a good video that goes over this case.

 

[FromGermany1]

Marking ....

 

[FromGermany1]

Today I noticed, that 2 women had inherited a farm, and I think, that wasn't usually contractually agreed at that time. In addition, there were several children in the play so-to-say as real children or stepchildren, partially brought from first marriage to second marriage or maybe even an incest-child, with non-fixed fatherhood (own father or next husband). The motive seems to me today as maybe coupled with inheritence somehow. But of course it is only a feeling (which I never had before). MOO

 

[Gummyshoe]

The motive seems to me today as maybe coupled with inheritence somehow. But of course it is only a feeling (which I never had before). MOO

That’s something that I haven’t heard of before, that’s definitely worth looking into

 

[amandab]

Thank you for starting this thread! As notorious as the killings were, I'm surprised there wasn't already one going.

 

[Gummyshoe]

Thank you for starting this thread! As notorious as the killings were, I'm surprised there wasn't already one going.

The thing that surprised me most was that there are barely even any mentions of this case on the forum!

 

[iamshadow21]

In case anyone is interested, I know about Hinterkaifeck because it's detailed in a chapter of The Man from the Train, an unusual, speculative work of true crime, that touches on a series of similar style family killings that took place across the United States over more than a decade. I know that it's not to everyone's taste, but I enjoyed it for what it was - an investigative work looking for a pattern in what historical records remain, and showing that investigation in all its amorphous, ephemeral nature. The authors propose that at least some of the killings were the work of a serial predator using the railways to arrive and leave the locations of the killings. Hinterkaifeck is mentioned towards the end because despite being half a world away, it bears uncanny similarities in many respects to a number of those killings that took place in the US a decade or so earlier.

MOO