page_title: Fritz Haarmann
section_title: Known and alleged murders
hierarchical_section_title: Fritz Haarmann / Known and alleged murders
context_page_description: Friedrich Heinrich Karl "Fritz" Haarmann was a German serial killer, known as the Butcher of Hanover, the Vampire of Hanover and the Wolf-Man, who committed the sexual assault, murder, mutilation and dismemberment of at least 24 boys and young men between 1918 and 1924 in Hanover, Germany.
  Haarmann was found guilty of 24 of the 27 murders for which he was tried and sentenced to death by beheading in December 1924. In addition, in accordance with German practice, his honorary rights of citizenship were revoked. He was subsequently executed in April 1925.
  Haarmann became known as the Butcher of Hanover due to the extensive mutilation and dismemberment committed upon his victims' bodies and by such titles as the Vampire of Hanover and the Wolf-Man because of his preferred murder method of biting into or through his victims' throats.
context_section_description: Between 1918 and 1924, Haarmann committed at least 24 murders, although he is suspected of murdering a minimum of 27. All of Haarmann's victims were males between the ages of 10 and 22, the majority of whom were in their mid- to late-teens. The victims were lured back to one of three addresses in which Haarmann is known to have resided throughout those years. He is known to have killed upon the promise of assistance, accommodation, work, or under the pretense of arrest. At Haarmann's apartment, the victim was typically given food and drink before Haarmann bit into his Adam's apple, often as he was strangled. Often this caused the victim to die of asphyxiation, but on several occasions Haarmann bit completely through his victims' Adams apple and trachea. (Haarmann referred to the act of biting through his victims' neck as being his "love bite".)
  All of Haarmann's known victims were dismembered before their bodies were discarded, usually in the Leine River, although the dismembered body of his first known victim had simply been buried, and the body of his last victim had been thrown into a lake located at the entrance to the Herrenhausen Gardens.
  Haarmann typically kept his victims' personal possessions, for himself or for his lover, Hans Grans, or they were sold on the black market through criminal contacts both men had established at Hanover Central Station. However, the personal possessions of some victims were sold to legitimate retailers. In several instances, both Haarmann and Grans gave possessions belonging to various victims to acquaintances as gifts.
  Following Haarmann's arrest, rumors circulated that Haarmann ate the flesh of his victims, or sold it on the black market as pork or horse meat. Although no evidence was ever produced to confirm these theories, Haarmann was known to be an active trader in contraband meat, which was invariably boneless, diced and often sold as ground meat. When asked where he got the meat, he sometimes said he had gotten it from a butcher named "Karl".
caption: The Leine River, into which Haarmann disposed of many of his victims' dismembered remains
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