Friedrich Schumann

Case identification

Friedrich Schumann (1 February 1893 – 27 August 1921) was a German serial killer. He was also known as "Massenmörder vom Falkenhagener See" ("Terror of Falkenhagen Lake").

The offence

Schumann murdered six people and raped several women.

Timeline

• 18 August 1919 — Schumann shot 52-year-old forester Wilhelm Nielbock from Spandau.
• 20 August 1919 — Schumann was arrested in Berlin.
• 5 July 1920 — The trial against Schumann started in Berlin.
• 13 July 1920 — Schumann was sentenced to seven death penalties, one life sentence, ten years hard labour and several other sentences in Berlin.
• 27 August 1921 — Schumann was executed at 6 o'clock in the morning in the courtyard of the Plötzensee Prison by Prussian executioner (Scharfrichter) Carl Gröpler using the axe.

Investigation, arrest, and pre-trial

On 20 August 1919, Schumann was arrested in Berlin.

Trial

The trial against Schumann started on 5 July 1920 in Berlin. Schumann was convicted of murder.

He was sentenced in Berlin on 13 July 1920 to seven death penalties, one life sentence, ten years hard labour and several other sentences. He was therefore sentenced to death.

Sentencing

On 13 July 1920, Schumann was sentenced to seven death penalties, one life sentence, ten years hard labour and several other sentences in Berlin.

Outcome

On 27 August 1921, at 6 o'clock in the morning, Schumann was executed in the courtyard of the Plötzensee Prison by Prussian executioner (Scharfrichter) Carl Gröpler, using the axe.

Aftermath

Berlin lawyer Erich Frey recalled his brief encounter with the executioner:

"At the end of the corridor, I had to give way to a broad-shouldered man. He looked like a transportworker, the high-buttoned jacket looked strange (out of place) on him. His closely-cropped skull rested on a plied bullsneck. In spite of the faint light, he looked sun-tanned and healthy. Never before, I had seen executioner Gröpler from Magdeburg. But, as he passed me with a slight bow, I knew, it was him. Anyone who had any business in the Criminal Court of Justice, knew about Gröpler. He had been a horse butcherer before. ... he collected every month a small fixed income, and had in return to be ready with his massive axe and his three skilled assistants, at the demand of the State attourney. He became for every execution, 300 Mark and the extra costs. Gröpler went to see his customers ... 'You can go to him without trouble,' I heard the guard say to Gröpler, 'he has no nerves' (in a Berlin dialect)."