Peter Kürten, also known as the Vampire of Dusseldorf, is a warning from history, a prime example of what happens when someone lets their darkest urges run rampant. Kürten was a man whose heinous acts and terrible deeds plunged Düsseldorf into a state of fear and horror during the early 20th century.
From his troubled upbringing to the chilling crimes that left a lasting scar on the city, we’ll explore who Peter Kürten was, the gruesome acts he committed, how he was ultimately brought to justice, and what fate awaited this real-life monster. Readers be warned, there are some disturbing facts ahead.
Who was Peter Kürten?
Born on 26 May 1883, Kürten was one of the most prolific serial killers Europe has ever seen. His actions were worrying from an early age: before he had even reached his teens, he had tried to drown one of his childhood friends, tried to kill two others, and had been taught by a local dog catcher how to torture and kill animals.
Some people believe his nature was the result of abuse at the hands of his alcoholic parents who beat him regularly, even forcing him to watch them having sex. When he was just 13 years old Kürten began having sex with local farmyard animals. Disturbingly he discovered he could only climax if he stabbed the animals.
By the age of 16 Kürten had turned to petty crime. In 1899 he stole all the money from his household in a bid to escape the years of abuse and ran away from home.
The fledgling criminal was quickly caught and served one month for petty theft and four years for fraud. The terrible conditions in the prison served to bring out his inner sadism even further. Soon Kürten would move from animal victims to humans.
In 1904 Kürten was drafted into the German army. He deserted pretty much right away and discovered a fascination with arson. He liked to set buildings ablaze and then watch emergency teams as they fought the fires. It didn’t take long for the authorities to catch up with him again. He was tried for both arson and desertion and ended up in jail for a third time.
This third stint seems to have been what really broke Kürten. In military jail, he claims to have encountered extreme forms of punishment that caused him to develop extreme erotic fantasies. Upon being released from prison in 1913 Kürten had a deep-seated rage against society and had discovered a fascination for brutal sexual acts. A dangerous combination.
Heinous Crimes
In 1913 Kürten was released from prison but as a former convict with no other real skills, Kürten quickly returned to a life of crime. In May of 1913, he burgled the home of one of his neighbors. This would prove to be the least of his crimes.
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While robbing the house he came across the owner’s 10-year-old daughter, Christine Klein. Kürten’s demons showed themselves and, overcome by his darkest fantasies, Kürten sexually assaulted the poor girl while strangling her. He then slit her throat and ejaculated after seeing her blood on the floor.
A true monster, Kürten returned to the scene of the crime the following day. He reveled in hearing the misery he had brought down upon the local community. He found particular pleasure in learning Christine’s uncle had been accused of her murder. Kürten took to visiting the girl’s grave, an act which gave him immense sexual gratification.
Just two months later the Dusseldorf monster was at it again. While burglarizing another home he came across a 17-year-old girl. Once again, he sexually assaulted her, strangled her, and ejaculated after slitting her throat.
Kürten’s reign of terror went into hiatus with the onset of WWI. He was called up for military service but once again deserted. He was quickly caught and tried for desertion. This time he received a much longer sentence and was imprisoned until 1921. The sentence only intensified his rage at the rest of society.
Upon his release, Kürten tried living a normal life. He met and became engaged to Auguste Scharf, a shop owner and former prostitute (who herself had served time for shooting her first fiancé). Kürten picked up his father’s profession as a molder and lived a relatively happy life for four years.
That was until Scharf realized her husband was a cheat. Upon discovering his numerous infidelities with their maids, she coerced one of them into pressing charges against Kürten for sexual assault. He was soon imprisoned for a fifth time, this time for six months.
Upon his release, Kürten went into nothing short of a rampage. His Modus Operandi was to torture and murder his victims via stabbing, preferably with sharpened scissors. As with his first victims he would sexually assault, strangle, and then stab them once they were unconscious. He would sometimes return to the scene of the crime to chat up locals and police officers while pretending to be a concerned citizen.
In the first few months after his release, Kürten assaulted and attempted to strangle four women but all of them got away from the rusty Kürten. One of them, Mari Kuhn, was stabbed at least 24 times but still managed to get away.
Next came the murder of 9-year-old Rosa Ohliger on February 9, 1929. Kürten stabbed her 13 times, climaxed during the frenzied attack, and then hid her body under a hedge. Over the next month, Kürten murdered six people, the first of which was a woman whom he’d hoped to crucify but, thwarted by circumstance, he had to settle for burying. During this time, he also switched from scissors to a knife in hopes of confusing the police.
Kürten next randomly stabbed six people. Breaking his pattern these victims were a mixture of young and old, male, and female. They all escaped but described Kürten differently each time, confusing the police immensely. It was during this time another man was arrested for Kürten’s crimes but then released.
Kürten was only getting started. Just a few days after these random stabbings Kürten murdered a pair of sisters, drinking the blood of the younger after slitting her throat. The next month he beat two servant girls to death with a hammer and stabbed a random child in an alley. Little did he know time was running out.
Catching a Monster
On May 14 Kürten approached and attempted to seduce a local Dusseldorf girl by the name of Maria Budlick. She followed him to his apartment but upon realizing something was very off, fled the scene.
Maria was too shocked to go to the police but did write everything down in a letter to a friend. Fortunately, she incorrectly addressed the envelope, and the letter was opened by a postal worker who passed it on to the police.
Following his failed attack on Maria, Kürten realized time was running out. Amazingly he had been married throughout these attacks and upon discovering there was a reward for his arrest he confessed everything to his obvious wife. He genuinely loved her and suggested she should turn him in and claim the reward.
On May 24, 1930, Kürten’s wife reluctantly handed her husband over to the police at a pre-designated rendezvous, a local church. Kürten surrendered and never tried to resist.
Once under arrest Kürten happily confessed to 68 crimes. These included 10 murders and 31 attempted murders. He justified his monstrous acts by claiming they were revenge for all the horrors that had been inflicted upon him by society since his childhood.
The police were horrified by how calmly Kürten confessed and the relish with which he described his crimes. A psychological evaluation was ordered, and five psychologists ultimately concluded that Kürten was perfectly sane and fit to stand trial.
The End of the Dusseldorf Monster
Kürten went to trial on April 13, 1931. Initially, he tried to recant his confession, claiming he had just wanted his wife to get the money. Over the next two months, however, he was showered with evidence and grilled by magistrates until he confessed.
His final confession was chilling, showing no remorse. Kürten once again blamed everyone but himself and claimed it was society and the German penal system that had turned him into a monster. The jury didn’t seem to agree.
They only took 90 minutes to deem Kürten guilty on all counts. He received 9 death sentences and lost his head to the guillotine on July 2, 1931. His final words? “After my head is chopped off, will I still be able to hear, at least for a moment, the sound of my own blood gushing from the stump of my neck? That would be the pleasure to end all pleasures.”
Top Image: Peter Kürten‘s crimes earned him the nickname the Vampire of Dusseldorf. Source: Moehong / Adobe Stock.
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