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Germany

Chronicle of the NSU murders

One of the highest-profile neo-Nazi trials of recent years is slowly drawing to a close. DW gives you the background to an affair that has shaken Germany.

  • Neo-Nazis Uwe Böhnhardt and Ralf Wohlleben

    A mysterious string of murders

    For years, neo-Nazis of the right-wing organization National Socialist Underground (NSU) killed people across Germany. The suspects: Uwe Mundlos, Uwe Böhnhardt (center) and Beate Zschäpe. Their victims: eight people of Turkish origin, one Greek man and a German policewoman. Their motive: xenophobia. Until 2011, the German public was not aware of the scope of their crimes.

  • Burning camper van

    Unsuccessful bank robbery

    The murder spree was uncovered on November 4, 2011, when Mundlos and Böhnhardt robbed a bank in the east German town of Eisenach. For the first time, they failed. Police officers surrounded the caravan in which the two men were holed up. A later investigation concluded that Mundlos first shot and killed Böhnhardt, then set the caravan on fire and killed himself.

  • Beate Zschäpe

    Zschäpe turns herself in

    Shortly after the death of Böhnhardt and Mundlos there was an explosion at Frühlingsstraße 26 in Zwickau, in the state of Saxony. Beate Zschäpe lived at that address together with the two bank robbers. Zschäpe allegedly set the house on fire to destroy evidence. Four days later, she turned herself in to the police. The terror suspect has been custody since that day.

  • Burnt-out house in Zwickau

    The truth comes out

    In the ruins of the Zwickau flat, police officers found a self-made video in which the terror cell claimed responsibility under the name of the NSU, the National-Socialist Underground. The 15-minute video shows crime scenes and pictures of the victims killed by the right-wing terrorist group between 2000 and 2007.

  • Pink Panther in NSU video

    NSU claim responsibility

    Famous cartoon character The Pink Panther hosts the amateur video, which is full of slogans of hatred against people with an immigrant background and which mocks the murder victims. Before her arrest, Zschäpe allegedly sent out copies of the video in which the NSU claimed responsibility for the crimes.

  • Picture of pistol in front of pictures of the murder victims

    Verbal slip-ups

    Until 2011, the term "döner murders" was frequently used when reporting about the killings. Nothing was known about the connection between the individual cases, nor about the motive. There were rumors the victims were linked to the drug scene. But the NSU's video left no doubt. The term "döner murders" was chosen as Germany's "Unwort des Jahres" (doublespeak of the year) in 2011.

  • Aftermath of bomb attack in Cologne

    NSU also behind Cologne pipe bomb

    "The findings made by our security authorities so far show no indication of a terrorist background, but of a criminal milieu," said German Interior Minister Otto Schily on June 10, 2004. A day earlier, a pipe bomb explosion in Cologne left 22 people injured and many shops damaged. In 2011, it became clear: the NSU’s right-wing terrorists were also behind the Cologne bombing.

  • Angela Merkel and Semiya Simsek

    Memorial service in Berlin

    On February 23, 2012, Germany commemorated the victims. At the ceremony at a Berlin concert hall, the focus was on the relatives of the victims. Semiya Simsek (right), the daughter of the murdered flower stand owner Enver Simsek, gave an emotional speech. German Chancellor Angela Merkel made an official apology to the victims and promised them that all questions would be answered.

  • Mehmet Kubasik's widow at memorial in Dortmund

    Memorial for Mehmet Kubasik

    "Dortmund is a colorful, tolerant and welcoming town – and opposes right-wing extremism!" This statement was made by mayor Ullrich Sierau at the unveiling of the memorial stone for NSU victim Mehmet Kubasik in September 2012. The memorial was set up just meters away from the kiosk in which Kubasik was killed on April 4, 2006.

  • Protest against slow progress in dealing with NSU

    Solidarity with the victims

    On November 4, 2012, exactly a year after the terror cell was uncovered, people in many German cities staged solidarity demonstrations against right-wing extremism. The protesters called for thorough investigations into the racially motivated murders - which in their view was not happening fast enough.

  • Hermann Borchert and Beate Zschäpe (picture-alliance/dpa/M. Schrader)

    Maximum of 10 years?

    Believed to be the last survivor of the NSU trio, Zschäpe went on trial in May 2013. Since then, more than 800 witnesses have been heard. Zschäpe did not speak for the first two and a half years of the trial. Her lawyers, one of whom, Hermann Borchert, is seen here next to his client, called in their final plea for a maximum sentence of 10 years, saying she was not guilty of complicity in murder.

  • Federal prosecutors (Getty Images/A. Gebert)

    Or a life sentence?

    Federal prosecutors have called for Zschäpe to be given a life sentence for her role in the killings. She has been charged with joint complicity in 10 counts of murder, arson, robbery, extortion, the formation of a terrorist organization and membership in a terrorist organization. Four others at the trial are also accused of helping the NSU. A final ruling is expected sometime after June 2018.


  • Neo-Nazis Uwe Böhnhardt and Ralf Wohlleben

    A mysterious string of murders

    For years, neo-Nazis of the right-wing organization National Socialist Underground (NSU) killed people across Germany. The suspects: Uwe Mundlos, Uwe Böhnhardt (center) and Beate Zschäpe. Their victims: eight people of Turkish origin, one Greek man and a German policewoman. Their motive: xenophobia. Until 2011, the German public was not aware of the scope of their crimes.

  • Burning camper van

    Unsuccessful bank robbery

    The murder spree was uncovered on November 4, 2011, when Mundlos and Böhnhardt robbed a bank in the east German town of Eisenach. For the first time, they failed. Police officers surrounded the caravan in which the two men were holed up. A later investigation concluded that Mundlos first shot and killed Böhnhardt, then set the caravan on fire and killed himself.

  • Beate Zschäpe

    Zschäpe turns herself in

    Shortly after the death of Böhnhardt and Mundlos there was an explosion at Frühlingsstraße 26 in Zwickau, in the state of Saxony. Beate Zschäpe lived at that address together with the two bank robbers. Zschäpe allegedly set the house on fire to destroy evidence. Four days later, she turned herself in to the police. The terror suspect has been custody since that day.

  • Burnt-out house in Zwickau

    The truth comes out

    In the ruins of the Zwickau flat, police officers found a self-made video in which the terror cell claimed responsibility under the name of the NSU, the National-Socialist Underground. The 15-minute video shows crime scenes and pictures of the victims killed by the right-wing terrorist group between 2000 and 2007.

  • Pink Panther in NSU video

    NSU claim responsibility

    Famous cartoon character The Pink Panther hosts the amateur video, which is full of slogans of hatred against people with an immigrant background and which mocks the murder victims. Before her arrest, Zschäpe allegedly sent out copies of the video in which the NSU claimed responsibility for the crimes.

  • Picture of pistol in front of pictures of the murder victims

    Verbal slip-ups

    Until 2011, the term "döner murders" was frequently used when reporting about the killings. Nothing was known about the connection between the individual cases, nor about the motive. There were rumors the victims were linked to the drug scene. But the NSU's video left no doubt. The term "döner murders" was chosen as Germany's "Unwort des Jahres" (doublespeak of the year) in 2011.

  • Aftermath of bomb attack in Cologne

    NSU also behind Cologne pipe bomb

    "The findings made by our security authorities so far show no indication of a terrorist background, but of a criminal milieu," said German Interior Minister Otto Schily on June 10, 2004. A day earlier, a pipe bomb explosion in Cologne left 22 people injured and many shops damaged. In 2011, it became clear: the NSU’s right-wing terrorists were also behind the Cologne bombing.

  • Angela Merkel and Semiya Simsek

    Memorial service in Berlin

    On February 23, 2012, Germany commemorated the victims. At the ceremony at a Berlin concert hall, the focus was on the relatives of the victims. Semiya Simsek (right), the daughter of the murdered flower stand owner Enver Simsek, gave an emotional speech. German Chancellor Angela Merkel made an official apology to the victims and promised them that all questions would be answered.

  • Mehmet Kubasik's widow at memorial in Dortmund

    Memorial for Mehmet Kubasik

    "Dortmund is a colorful, tolerant and welcoming town – and opposes right-wing extremism!" This statement was made by mayor Ullrich Sierau at the unveiling of the memorial stone for NSU victim Mehmet Kubasik in September 2012. The memorial was set up just meters away from the kiosk in which Kubasik was killed on April 4, 2006.

  • Protest against slow progress in dealing with NSU

    Solidarity with the victims

    On November 4, 2012, exactly a year after the terror cell was uncovered, people in many German cities staged solidarity demonstrations against right-wing extremism. The protesters called for thorough investigations into the racially motivated murders - which in their view was not happening fast enough.

  • Hermann Borchert and Beate Zschäpe (picture-alliance/dpa/M. Schrader)

    Maximum of 10 years?

    Believed to be the last survivor of the NSU trio, Zschäpe went on trial in May 2013. Since then, more than 800 witnesses have been heard. Zschäpe did not speak for the first two and a half years of the trial. Her lawyers, one of whom, Hermann Borchert, is seen here next to his client, called in their final plea for a maximum sentence of 10 years, saying she was not guilty of complicity in murder.

  • Federal prosecutors (Getty Images/A. Gebert)

    Or a life sentence?

    Federal prosecutors have called for Zschäpe to be given a life sentence for her role in the killings. She has been charged with joint complicity in 10 counts of murder, arson, robbery, extortion, the formation of a terrorist organization and membership in a terrorist organization. Four others at the trial are also accused of helping the NSU. A final ruling is expected sometime after June 2018.


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