A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more people, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines serial killing as "a series of two or more murders, committed as separate events, usually, but not always, by one offender acting alone".
Before 1900 Name Years active Victims Status Notes Bingelhelm, Simon 16th-century 26 Executed 1600 Known as "The Thousand Devils of Halberstadt"; robber who confessed to multiple murders in the present-day area of Saxony-Anhalt. Fleischer, Simeon 16th-century 19 Executed 1581 Wool weaver who murdered 19 wives for money; existence is disputed.Dreyerley Neüwezeitung, pp. 11–15. (in German) Genipperteinga, Christman 1568–1581 964 Executed 1581 Possibly fictitious bandit who kept a registry of all the people he had killed, tallying up to 964.Herber, p. 1–2.Wiltenburg ch 1, 2012 Gottfried, Gesche 1813–1827 15 Executed 1831 Poisoned people with arsenic in Bremen and Hanover; last person to be publicly beheaded in Bremen. Willibald Alexis / Julius Eduard Hitzig: Kriminalfälle des neuen Pitaval - Gesche Margaretha Gottfried Hanebuth, Jasper 17th-century 19 Executed 1653 Former mercenary and highwayman who killed people around the Eilenriede forest.Simone Benne: Hanover's robber killer Hanebuth and his legendary fame, HAZ from 19. Niers, Peter 16th-century 544+ Executed 1581 Reputed bandit and gang leader who killed numerous people with his accomplices Stumpp, Peter c. 1564–1589 18 Executed 1589 Known as "The Werewolf of Bedburg"; farmer and accused cannibal who killed people in the 16th-century. Ursinus, Sophie 1796–1803 3 Died 1836 Poisoned her family members with arsenic; her trial led to a method of identifying said type of poisoning. Wittmann, Ferdinand 1860–1865 6 Executed 1868 Poisoned his relatives with arsenic. Zwanziger, Anna Maria 1801–1811 4 Executed 1811 Bavarian poisoner who killed people with arsenic; executed by decapitation in Kulmbach.Dan Norder, Wolf Vanderlinden and Paul Begg, Ripper Notes: Madmen, Myths and Magic, Inklings Press, 2004, p. 17
1900 to 1945 Name Years active Victims Status Notes Denke, Karl 1903–1924 30 (possibly 42+) Committed suicide in police custody Cannibal who killed homeless vagrants and travellers in Prussia; allegedly sold his victims' flesh as meat to unsuspecting customers. Eichhorn, Johann 1931–1939 5 (possibly 5+) Executed 1939 Known as "The Beast of Aubing"; raped numerous women around western Munich, killing and mutilating at least five of them when they resisted him. Großmann, Carl 1918–1921 26 (possibly 100+) Committed suicide while imprisoned Known as "The Berlin Butcher"; killed women and later sold their flesh on the black market. Haarmann, Fritz 1918–1924 24 (possibly 27+) Executed 1925 Known as "The Butcher of Hanover"; murdered young men and boys before dismembering their bodies; allegedly sold some of the flesh as contraband meat. Hopf, Karl 1902–1906 4 Executed 1914 Poisoned family members and attempted to kill others in the Frankfurt area.1913, poisoner Karl Hopf, arsenic in champagne, FAZ from June 24, 2017 Kürten, Peter 1913–1929 9 (possibly 9+) Executed 1931 Known as "The Vampire of Düsseldorf"; responsible for numerous sexual assaults, murders and attempted murders. Mayer, Johann 1918–1919 5 Executed 1923 Known as "Stumpfarm"; disabled man who shot and killed people with a carbine. Ogorzow, Paul 1940–1941 8 (possibly 8+) Executed 1941 Known as "The S-Bahn Murderer"; SA sergeant who killed women in wartime Berlin. Schumann, Friedrich 1909–1920 9 (possibly 25) Executed 1921 Known as "The Terror of Falkenhagen Lake"; criminal who killed people in the Berlin area.Frey, Erich, Ich beantrage Freispruch. Aus den Erinnerungen des Strafverteidigers Prof. Dr. Dr. Erich Frey, Blüchert Verlag, Hamburg 1959, p. 40. Seefeldt, Adolf 1908–1935 12 (possibly 12+) Executed 1936 Known as "The Sandman"; travelling watchmaker who poisoned and then sexually assaulted young boys in their sleep. Sternickel, August 1905–1913 7 Executed 1913 Petty criminal who killed his employer in 1905; while on the run for authorities in the next years, proceeded to kill other people for profit.Maximillian Jacta, A clever capital criminal - The case of August Sternickel, in: Famous criminal processes, Volume Germany II, Goldmann-Verlag, Munich 1967, p. 205. (in German) Tessnow, Ludwig 1898–1901 4 Executed 1904 First criminal in history on whom a blood type test was performed. Wiese, Elisabeth 1902–1903 5 Executed 1905 Known as "The Angel Maker of St. Pauli"; poisoned her grandchild and other children with morphine, burning their bodies in the stove afterwards. Zimmermann, Rudolf 1940 4 Executed 1940 Itinerant labourer who raped and murdered young girls across Germany and Czechoslovakia.
1945 to 1989 NameYears activeProven victimsPossible victimsStatusNotesRef Bartsch, Jürgen 1962–1966 4 4 Died during castration surgery Known as "The Carnival Killer"; killed boys aged 8–13 in Langenberg, with one managing to escape Beck, Ernst-Dieter 1961–1968 3 3 Died while imprisoned First murderer in German history on whom a chromosome test was applied Frankfurter Rundschau of November 5, 1968 Gosmann, Klaus 1960–1965 7 7 Released 2015 Known as "The Midday Murderer"; committed robberies and murders at noon, hence his nickname Hagedorn, Erwin 1969–1971 3 3 Executed 1972 Killed three boys in Eberswalde; last civilian to be executed for ordinary crimes in East Germany Holst, Thomas 1987–1989 3 3 Committed to a psychiatric clinic Known as "The Heidemörder"; tortured and then killed women in south Hamburg Honka, Fritz 1970–1975 4 4 Died 1998 Murdered prostitutes in Hamburg's red light district Hößl, Peter 1959–1982 4 6 Died in prison Shot and killed strangers in the Munich district for sexual gratification Imiela, Arwed 1968–1969 4 4 Died in prison Known as "The Bluebeard of Fehmarn"; fraudster who lured and killed women in Fehmarn after gaining access to their bank accounts Kimmritz, Willi 1946–1948 4 4 Executed 1950 Known as "The Horror of the Brandenburg Forest"; raped and robbed women in the forests around Berlin, killing some of his victims Kroll, Joachim 1955–1976 14 14 Died while imprisoned Known as "The Ruhr Cannibal"; raped and killed mostly women in and around the Ruhr region, eating parts of their flesh afterwards Lehmann, Christa 1952–1954 3 3 Released 1977 Poisoned family members and the family dog; initially sentenced to life imprisonment but released after 23 years Ludy, Franz Josef 1952–1968 4 4 Sentenced to life imprisonment Serial child abuser who murdered two children and a couple Julia und Peter Murakami: Lexikon der Serienmörder. 450 Fallstudien einer pathologischen Tötungsart München 2001, S. 117Pinzner, Werner1984–19861313 Committed suicide to avoid apprehensionKnown as "The St. Pauli Killer"; contract killer who murdered various people around Hamburg Pleil, Rudolf 1946–1947 10 25 Committed suicide while imprisoned Known as "The Deadmaker"; killed one salesman and nine women in the Harz mountain range, but confessed to killing more Eye to eye with the Deadmaker on peiner-zeitung.de, retrieved on September 19, 2013 Poehlke, Norbert 1984–1985 6 6 Committed suicide to avoid apprehension Known as "The Hammer-Killer"; police officer and bank robber who killed people during his crimes in Baden-Württemberg; killed his wife, two sons and then himself in Italy to avoid capture Pommerenke, Heinrich 1959 4 4+ Died while imprisoned Killed women around Baden-Württemberg; longest-serving prisoner in Germany until his death Lifelong imprisonment: murderer Pommerenke dies after almost 50 years behind bars. In: tagesspiegel.de, December 30, 2008 Prigan, Bernhard 1947–1952 3 16 Sentenced to life imprisonment Known as "The Strangler"; killed women near controlled-access highways and major roads Schiffer, Egidius 1983–1990 5 5 Died in prison Known as "The Strangler of Aachen"; murdered girls and women, sexually abusing three of them Schmidt, Ulrich1987–198955Sentenced to life imprisonmentKnown as "The Holiday Killer"; Assaulted nine women in Essen, killing five. Steinwegs, Kurt-Friedhelm 1974–1983 6 6 Committed to a psychiatric institution Known as "The Monster from Lower Rhine"; juvenile delinquent who killed six people Stiebitz, Mario 1983–1984 5 5 Sentenced to life imprisonment Sadist who murdered a young man and four children around Neubrandenburg and the surrounding area Swinka, Irmgard 1947–1948 5 5+ Died a year after release from prison Together with two male accomplices, poisoned and robbed elderly women across Allied-occupied Germany; last person to be sentenced to death by a West German court outside of West Berlin Velten, Maria 1963–1982 3 5 Died 2008 Known as "The Poison Witch from Lower Rhine"; poisoned her family members and partners with parathion; released from prison at 93 Wichmann, Kurt-Werner 1989 4 21+ Committed suicide Cemetery gardener thought to be responsible for the Göhrde Murders, and other ones as well Wittmann, Manfred 1968–1969 3 3 Released 2013 Known as "The Staffelstein Killer"; sadist who killed underage girls in Coburg
Post-reunification