Carl Großmann

Carl Großmann
Background information
Birth name	Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Großmann
Born	December 13, 1863(1863-12-13) Neuruppin, Germany
Died	July 5, 1922(1922-07-05) (aged 58)
Cause of death	Suicide by hanging
Conviction	Assault, child molestation, murder, trespassing
Sentence	Death
Killings
Number of victims	26–50+
Span of killings	1918–21 August 1921
Country	Germany
State(s)	Berlin
Date apprehended	21 August 1921

Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Großmann, who commonly called himself just Carl Großmann (13 December 1863 – 5 July 1922), was a German serial killer. He committed suicide while awaiting execution without giving a full confession leaving the extent of his crimes and motives largely unknown.

Not a great deal is known about his early life, except that he had sadistic sexual tastes and soon picked up a number of convictions for child molestation. On 21 August in 1921, Großmann was arrested at his apartment in Berlin after neighbours heard screams and banging noises, followed by silence. The police burst in and searched the place, finding a young woman's freshly murdered body on the bed. Großmann was taken into custody by the police and charged with 1st degree murder. Neighbours reported that he seemed to have had a steady supply of female companions, mostly destitute-looking young women, over the last few years. Many went into the apartment but few emerged from it. During World War I, Großmann sold a lot of meat on the black market, and even had a hot dog stand at the nearby train station. It is believed the meat was the remains of his victims, their bones and other inedible parts being thrown into the river. How many victims Großmann claimed is not known. Only the body of his final victim was found, along with bloodstains in the apartment that indicated at least three other persons had been butchered in the recent weeks. Some have suggested as many as 50 young women entered Großmann's apartment and ended up being murdered, dismembered and eaten by unwitting customers of Großmann's meat business. Convicted of murder, Großmann was sentenced to death. Before his sentence could be carried out, he hung himself in his cell.

Bibliography

• Matthias Blazek (2009), Carl Großmann und Friedrich Schumann – Zwei Serienmörder in den zwanziger Jahren, ibidem-Verlag, Stuttgart ISBN 978-3-8382-0027-9
• Horst Bosetzky (2004), Die Bestie vom Schlesischen Bahnhof, Jaron-Verlag, Berlin ISBN 3-89773-078-2
• Peter Haining (2005), Cannibal Killers Murderers who kill and eat their victims, chapter: "The Bread And Butter Brides", Magpie Books, UK ISBN 978-1-84529-792-3
• Maria Tatar (1995), Lustmord: Sexual Murder in Weimar Germany, Princeton, NJ (English) ISBN 0-69101-590-2