Herman Lamm

Herman Karl Lamm (April 19, 1890 – December 16, 1930 ), known as Baron Lamm, was a German-American bank robber. A former Prussian Army soldier who emigrated to the United States, Lamm believed a heist required all the planning of a military operation. He pioneered the concepts of "casing" a bank and developing escape routes before conducting the robbery. Using a meticulous planning system called "The Lamm Technique", he conducted dozens of successful bank robberies from the end of World War I.

In 1930, Lamm committed suicide when surrounded by a law-enforcement party in Sidell, Illinois, after a botched heist. Lamm's techniques were studied and imitated by other bank robbers across the country, including the infamous John Dillinger.

Criminal career Lamm was a member of the Prussian Army, but was cashiered by his regiment after he was caught cheating at cards. Lamm became a holdup man, and quickly started adapting his military training, his study of tactics, and his precision and discipline into the commission of crimes. He theorized that a heist required all the planning of a military operation, which included the development of contingency options in the event of unforeseen problems. Lamm was arrested in 1917 after a botched holdup and served a brief stint in a Utah prison, where he developed what became known as "The Lamm Technique", Lamm assigned each gang member a specific job, along with a specific zone of the bank they were charged with surveying and a strict timetable to complete their stage of the robbery. This was the alias he was originally identified as upon his death in 1930. In May 1929, Lamm was arrested in Benton, Illinois, and it was discovered he was a suspect in robbery of the Northwestern National Bank of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Death John Dillinger (pictured) studied and used the bank robbery techniques developed by Lamm.

Lamm died on December 16, 1930, after a botched bank robbery in Clinton, Indiana. The driver panicked and pulled a fast U-turn, causing the Buick sedan to blow a tire after jumping a curb. Lamm and his men seized a second car, but were forced to abandon it after they realized it could go no more than because it was fitted with a governor, which the car's owner had installed to prevent his elderly father from driving recklessly. By his death in 1930, the Lamm Technique had already been widely imitated by other bank robbers across the country. Infamous bank robber John Dillinger studied Lamm's meticulous bank-robbing system and used it extensively throughout his criminal career. Dietrich and Clark met Dillinger during their stint in the Indiana state prison following Lamm's death. The pair were permitted to join Dillinger's gang on the condition they taught him everything they knew about the Lamm Technique.