Willi Kimmritz

Willi Kimmritz (26 June 1912 – 26 July 1950), known as The Horror of the Brandenburg Forest (German: Der Schrecken der brandenburgischen Wälder), was a German serial killer, rapist and burglar who robbed and raped women in the forested areas surrounding Berlin from 1946 to 1948, killing four. He was convicted for 13 rapes and three of the murders, sentenced to death and executed in 1950.

Biography Kimmritz was born as the 14th child in a working-class family and attended Volksschule until the seventh grade. After his confirmation, he worked as a farmhand and a coachman in agriculture. His first conviction for rape took place in 1936, where he served three years in Gollnow prison. The search for Kimmritz was initially unsuccessful for several years, although several of the surviving victims identified him early in a facial composite. This was mainly because of the post-war circumstances (insufficient police forces and investigators, obstruction of the search by the Soviet occupation authorities, jurisdictional disputes between the occupying powers and finally the Berlin Blockade), which made the investigation difficult. He was later arrested in the French sector, and confessed to the crimes in the subsequent interrogation. He was extradited to the Soviet sector, where he confessed to 45 rapes, 4 murders and numerous property offences. On 18 February 1949, the trial began in the district court of Potsdam. For procedural reasons, he was only tried for 13 rapes and 3 murders. On the same day, his death sentence was pronounced, which was confirmed in the appeal application. On 26 July 1950, Willi Kimmritz was guillotined in the detention centre of Frankfurt an der Oder.