Facility Details
Occupant: Fritz Haarmann (1879-1925)
Type: Executed/Victims' Memorial
GPS: 52.4056° N, 9.6707° E (Victims' Memorial)
Rating: ⭐⭐
Get DirectionsWhy It's a "Must-Go"
The "Butcher of Hanover" was beheaded, and his head was also preserved for science (it seems to be a trend). He has no grave, but his victims are buried together in Stöckener Cemetery. We list this not to visit him, but to pay respects to the victims he tried to erase.
Haarmann himself is gone, reduced to a scientific curiosity. His lack of a grave is his final punishment. He has no place in the earth.
The "Experience"
Somber. The memorial is for the victims, so behave yourself. Save your disrespect for the empty space where Haarmann should be.
Why This Listing Exists
Fritz Haarmann, known as the "Butcher of Hanover" and the "Vampire of Hanover," was a German serial killer who sexually assaulted, murdered, and mutilated at least 24 young men and boys between 1918 and 1924.
Haarmann sold the meat of his victims on the black market as pork. He was found guilty of 24 murders and sentenced to death.
He was executed by guillotine in 1925. His head was preserved in formalin and kept at the University of Göttingen medical school until 2014, when it was cremated and buried anonymously. A memorial stone in Stöckener Cemetery honors his victims.