The Hinterkaifeck Murders is one of the initial serial murder cases in Germany that has not been worked out yet. In March 1922, an entire German family was killed but we don’t know who did it, yet.
Law enforcement officials questioned several individuals in an effort to find the person or persons accountable for the terrible murders of six people. But more than a century later, no one has ever been made to answer for the horrific killings that occurred at the farm in Hinterkaifeck, a little Bavarian hamlet.
This is the story of the Hinterkaifeck murders that began in April 1922, a family and their maid were found dead on their farm in Hinterkaifeck, Germany.
On April 4, 1922, the neighbor Lorenz Schlittenbauer discovered unanswered emails in the remote Hinterkaifeck home. He contacted his neighbors Michael Pöll and Jakob Sigl to investigate.
When the guys got inside, they discovered that the front door was locked. The remains of Cäzilia Gruber, 7, and her parents, Andreas and Cäzilia Gruber, 64, were discovered when they walked to the barn. Cäzilia was the 7-year-old daughter of Viktoria Gabriel (72).
The family was killed because of severe head injuries. The victims were stacked on top of one another and covered with a board and some hay.
Looking around the home, the men found a passageway leading from the main house to the barn. The family’s housekeeper Maria Baumgartner and Victoria’s 2-year-old son Josef were found dead. Josef and Maria had both died from blunt force injuries while they were sleeping.
1. Before the Hinterkaifeck Murders
Even in the days before the attack, strange things were surfacing around Hinterkaifeck. The household maid, Kreszenz Rieger, left her position six months before the crime. According to numerous stories, she left because she thought the house was haunted after hearing unusual noises coming from the attic and murmured voices.
Early in March 1922, Andreas Gruber discovered a peculiar newspaper on the property. It was from Munich, which is 70 kilometers (43 miles) from Waidhofen. Andreas hadn’t bought this newspaper, and when he inquired about it with his neighbors (thinking the mailman could have dropped it by accident), he learned that no one else in the community had either subscribed to or placed an order for it.
A few days before the killings, Andreas also spotted broken locks and tracks in the fresh snow leading from the woodland to the farm’s machine room. He failed to discover any footsteps leaving the farm. Before the deaths, the house’s key had also vanished.
Later that evening, they heard footsteps in the attic, but Andreas scoured the house and couldn’t find anyone. He informed several people about these odd incidents, but he refused to take any assistance, so the odd occurrences were not reported to the police.
Nevertheless, Viktoria and Karl did not have a long-lasting relationship; after only a few weeks, Karl returned to his parents. In addition, Viktoria also had an incestuous relationship with her father Andreas.
Their relationship was well-documented in court records and was well-known in the community, with witnesses that included the former maid and other neighbors. The two were found guilty of having an affair between the years of 1907 and 1910 on May 28th, 1915, and Viktoria was given a month in jail while Andreas Gruber received a year in prison.
They were found guilty of having an affair between September 13, 1919, and September 25, 1919, on December 31, 1919, but were later exonerated. (I know these details are gross and may seem unnecessary, but they play a significant part in terms of the suspect list, so stay with me).
Because Karl died in 1914, and Josef was born in 1920, it is believed that the infant is the son of Viktoria and Andreas (allegedly, more on that later).
2.The Hinterkaifeck Murders
Maria Baumgartner, a new maid, arrived at the farm in the late afternoon of March 31st, 1922. After accompanying Maria there, Maria’s sister left the farm. The last person to see the victims alive was probably Maria’s sister.
Andreas, Cäzilia, Viktoria, and Cäzilia Jr. were all led to the family barn in the evening and brutally murdered one by one. Cäzilia Jr. had ripped her hair out in tufts while lying in the straw, which was evidence that she had been alive for some hours following the assault. She was the only one who did not suffer a fatal head wound; her throat was cut.
The murderer then went inside the residence, where he murdered the housekeeper Maria in her bedroom before killing baby Josef in his cot. All victims were killed by strikes to the head, and the murder weapon is thought to be a family mattock.
Given that the cattle were fed and food from the kitchen was consumed in the days following the murders, the killer—or killers—lived on the property for at least three days.
The bodies would not be discovered until the next four days later.
Only hours after the killings on the evening of March 31st, a farmer heading home went through Hinterkaifeck at three in the morning on April 1. At the edge of the woodland, the farmer spotted two enigmatic individuals. The strangers turned around when they noticed him so that their faces were hidden.
Two door-to-door salespeople came to the residence the following day, on April 1, to sell coffee. No one answered their knocks at the door or the window, so they walked around the yard in search of them. The only thing the two salesmen observed was that the door to the machine building was open (and that Andreas had noted the lock was broken days earlier).
The same day, between 3 and 5 o’clock, two hunters came to buy something from the farm. They left because they couldn’t see any people, hens, or smoke coming from the chimney.
Michael Plöckl occurred to pass by Hinterkaifeck the same evening at 11:30 on his way home. He halted when he saw the light in the oven and smoke coming from the chimney; he subsequently described the smoke’s scent as being repulsive. A little while later, a man approached Michael holding a lantern/flashlight (mixed sources) in his hand and reaching out his arm. Michael was the recipient of the light as he turned around and returned to the courtyard. Michael then sprinted away in terror.
The family was notably missing from Sunday church on April 2. When two friends went to the farm to meet Viktoria so they could leave together, they found no one there. Viktoria sang in the church choir. Moreover, Cäzilia Jr.’s school reported that she missed class on April 3 and 4 without a valid reason. On April 3, the postman also observed that nobody was present even though he was expecting to see Cäzilia Sr. and infant Josef in the kitchen.
A repairman came to Hinterkaifeck on April 4th to fix the food processor’s engine. He waited for an hour while hearing the farm animals and the dog barking inside the barn but seeing no one. After waiting for an hour, the repairman decided to begin the repair.
On the same day, at 3:30 pm, the neighbor Lorenz Schlittenbauer decided to send his son Johann (16) and stepson Josef (9) to Hinterkaifeck to try and get in touch with the family. After hearing from them that nobody was there, Lorenz and his pals Michael and Jakob went to the farm. Andreas, Cäzilia, Viktoria, and Cäzilia Jr. were found dead by the three men in the barn; Loren later interacted with them, tainting the crime scene. Lorenz produced a key, unlocked the front door, and entered the house by himself as the three men went to check the house (more on that later). Then, someone found Maria and Josef’s dead bodies.
Timeline TLDR
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March 31st – The murders occurred, and two strangers were afterward spotted nearby.
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April 1st – No one is found on Saturday, and Plöckl is alarmed by a probable killer.
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April 2nd – When no one shows up at church, suspicions grow.
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April 3rd – the postman and the school announced a family absence, raising suspicions.
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Tuesday, April 4th– Lorenz, Michael, and Jakob found the bodies.
3. Days After The Murders, Someone Continued To Reside In The House
Police uncovered the murders at the Hinterkaifeck farm on April 4, but they later discovered that the family had all passed away on March 31 in the evening.
This was Maria Baumgartner’s first day of work. When Maria Baumgartner’s sister later went to see her at the farm that afternoon, she was able to check that everyone was still alive.
Two coffee salesmen stopped by the farm the following day, but nobody answered the door. Smoke was flowing from the chimney, and it appeared that someone had fed the family’s livestock. This would imply that the Gruber family’s murderer was indeed living in the house.
Something that intrigues me is why would anyone live in a house where there are dead people. Someone that they possibly killed. Moreover, why would someone take efforts to manage the Hinterkaifeck farm animals?
One possible explanation could be that the murderer took care of the farm in an attempt to hide the crime committed.
On April 4, a repairman also showed up at the residence but was unable to locate anyone.
The mounting mails, the absence of the family from Sunday church, and Cäzilia’s absence from school all contributed to the search of the barn and the eventual finding of the killings.
4. Investigation and Inconsistencies
Georg Reingruber was in charge of this case. The number of people who had interacted with the murder scene, such as moving the bodies and objects about, hindered the first investigations.
The autopsy was carried out in the barn by the court doctor the day after the bodies were discovered. Even though the actual murder weapon was not there at the time, it was determined that a mattock was the most likely choice.
The victims’ skulls were taken out and transferred to Munich for additional examination; unfortunately, the skulls vanished during World War II and were never found.
There was never a proven reason for the killings. The police initially believed the crime to be the result of a robbery, therefore they questioned homeless people as well as several nearby villagers’ residents and traveling craftsmen.
They gave up on this motivation hypothesis when a sizable sum of cash was discovered inside the residence. As stated before, it was evident that the murderer(s) had been at the farm for several days because someone had fed the animals, consumed all of the kitchen’s bread, and freshly cut meat from the cupboard.
According to the court commission’s inspection report, the victims were likely drawn to the barn by noises made by the animals in the stable due to their restlessness. However, a second trial showed that the living space was not audible to human screams coming from the barn.
There was no determination made as to what had been cooked that night in the oven or burned in the fire, or as to who the man might have been, based on the claims made by Michael Plöckl, who visited Hinterkaifeck the night after the murders and reported the person who approached him, the recently used oven, and the lit fire.
The police started to compile a list of suspects because the crime scene did not reveal any obvious motives. There was no concreated evidence to conclude the numerous arrest. The case was eventually closed in 1955. Yet, before retiring in 1986, Chief Detective Konrad Müller conducted the final interrogations.
5. Suspects of The Hinterkaifeck Murders
5.1. Suspect 1 of The Hinterkaifeck Murders – Karl Gabriel
Karl, Viktoria’s dead husband, was a suspect in this investigation. He was murdered eight years before the crimes committed in France during World War I, yet his body was never found during that period. This gave rise to the theory that he was never actually dead and had committed the killings there again. The police chief in Schrobenhausen, Ludwig Meixl, shared this notion and thought it was probable that Karl had gone back to Hinterkaifeck to exact retribution for Viktoria’s incestuous relationship.
Karl being the murderer may be an amusing notion, but it is by far the most improbable one in this case, which we can immediately dismiss. Karl was officially thrown out as a suspect on December 12th, 1923, nine years after his passing, when the Central Prosecution Office for War Losses and War Graves confirmed his passing. Karl is interred in St. Laurent-Blangy in a comrade’s tomb.
5.2. Suspect 2 of The Hinterkaifeck Murders – Lorenz Schlittenbauer
Remember the neighbor who on April 4th sent his sons to Hinterkaifeck to see how the family was doing? The same person who entered the house alone, disturbed the bodies in the barn, and had a house key? Indeed, that person is a suspect in this investigation.
They were skeptical of Lorenz early on in the inquiry because of several questionable measures he took soon after the bodies were found. After finding the four dead in the barn, Lorenz used his key to open the front door of the house. Even though his buddies Michael and Jakob were present, Lorenz then entered the residence alone. Lorenz stated that he went to look for his son Josef when others questioned why he had entered the house by himself when it was uncertain whether the killer might still be inside.
Now, I didn’t understand that response. Why would he claim to be seeking his son Josef since his 9-year-old stepson Josef had already returned from Hinterkaifeck to inform Lorenz that he and his older brother had found no one there?
The complete statement by Lorenz Schlittenbauer is available here.
5.3. Suspects 3 of The Hinterkaifeck Murders – Anton and Adolf Gump
On her deathbed in 1951, Kreszentia Mayer told Pastor Anton Hauber and Pastor August Ritzl that her brothers Adolf and Anton were responsible for the killings. By informing two pastors at various points and bringing up her suspicions during their father’s funeral in 1938, it is reasonable to believe that Kreszentia was certain of her brother’s involvement in the killings.
Andreas Popp, a public prosecutor, looked into the Gump brothers (who were descendants of the legendary robber Ferdinand Gump). Popp had no doubts that Adolf had a relationship with Viktoria and is even Josef’s father, despite the absence of proof. He thinks Adolf killed the victims and left no witnesses because he was motivated by retaliation after discovering Viktoria’s incest with her father. This is what Kreszentia also asserts, claiming that Adolf had an intimate relationship with Viktoria and was enraged violently when he learned of the relationship.
5.4. Suspects 4 of The Hinterkaifeck Murders – Anton Bichler, Karl Bichler, and Georg Siegl
Do you remember Kreszenz Rieger? The housekeeper who left six months before the killings? She believes that their friends Georg, Anton, and Karl Bichler are responsible for the crimes.
Since Anton Bichler assisted with the potato harvest on Hinterkaifeck, he should be familiar with the location. Kreszenz claimed that Anton frequently spoke to her about the house’s family and implied that they should all be dead. The farm dog barked at everyone but never at Anton, Kreszenz emphasized during her interrogation.
A stranger once knocked on Kreszenz’s window and started speaking with her. According to Anton’s police statement, Kreszenz and Anton were having a “love affair,” and he frequently visited her window at night. Kreszenz believes it was Karl this specific night because it wasn’t Anton’s voice. Viktoria allegedly refused to answer “Karl’s” questions concerning the family, including whether or not Andreas was with her that evening.
Georg enters the picture when we learn that, despite his denials, he had previously broken into the residence in November 1920 and stolen a variety of valuables. Nonetheless, Georg did assert that he carved the murder weapon’s handle while he was employed at the farm and was aware of where the mattock tool would have been kept.
5.5. Suspects 5 of The Hinterkaifeck Murders – Karl Schreier(KS) and Andreas Schreier(AS)
Therese T. revealed in 1971 that the mother of the two Hinterkaifeck murders had visited her mother when she was 12 years old. The brothers Karl and Andreas Schreier from Sattelberg were named as the two guys who are thought to have perpetrated the murder during the chat.
However, Therese had her mother’s notes, which stated that AS grieved that he lost his pocket knife, even though she supposedly gave the police a pretty muddled impression. Curiously, the murder weapons—a pocket knife and a mattock—were not found in the attic above the residential wing for almost a full year and were finally uncovered in 1923, after the farm site had been dismantled. There is sufficient evidence to assume that this knife did indeed belong to AS, yet the vast majority of sources also state that Andreas Gruber personally owned it. The origin of the pocket knife has never been made clear as a result.
On August 4th, 1922, the New Free People’s Newspaper published an article that read as follows: “Following the [murders], [KS and AS] were unable to conceal their involvement from their mother, who was desperate to let the confessional information relieve her burdened conscience. She thus told the neighbor about her boys’ horrific act, which ultimately resulted in the gend”. (I don’t know what “gend” means). The two brothers, described in the article as being well-known and dreaded for their violent behavior, were at the time busy removing wood from the forest close to Waidhofen and drove past Hinterkaifeck every day to be fully aware of the conditions there.
Hence, if we consider everything and assume it to be true, it goes like this:
- Two dreaded and dangerous men, KS and AS
- They investigated the area daily before killing the people.
- Perhaps their mother was informed or she found out.
- Therese hears Mrs. Schreier instructing on parenting techniques.
- As a result of her guilt, Mrs. Schreier commits suicide.
It makes sense when you look at it like that. There isn’t any solid data to support this, though. The brothers’ investigation was closed months after the arrest order against them was revoked in September 1922. This ultimately comes down to conjecture and a lack of evidence.
6. Authorities Have Repeatedly Re-Investigated This Case
Police were informed by an elderly woman in 1999 that her former landlord had asserted knowledge of the Hinterkaifeck killings. The landlord supposedly made this claim in 1935, but it was too late because the prospective suspect mentioned in the tip had already passed away, according to the investigation conducted by the authorities.
In 2007, students at the Fürstenfeldbruck Police School used cutting-edge techniques to investigate the unsolved case, which occurred more than 80 years after the murders of the Gruber family and their maid.
The students removed all but one of the suspects they believed to be accountable for the crimes at the Hinterkaifeck farm out of respect for the suspect’s living relatives and the memories of the victims. They opted not to publicly name the suspect, though, as he or she is now dead.
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