It’s a chilling message. Exciting like that “Crime” series in the ARD media library, dark goosebumps cinema like Netflix. Interpol is looking for the killer of Berlin-Hakenfelde. It’s about the discovery of a dead woman more than 30 years ago near Niederneuendorfer Allee, and the English name of the police investigators could come from a Hollywood thriller: “Operation Identify Me”. And further in police jargon: “Casename: The woman in men’s clothing”. The victim was wearing a brown-beige man’s coat with a stand-up collar and a men’s undershirt. Her name: unknown – to this day.
What happened in Berlin-Spandau in late autumn 1988? At that time, seven forest workers discovered a pit in a dense forest area in the west of the city, about 40 to 50 centimeters deep. “It is believed that the hole had been opened by wild animals,” writes Interpol. Wild animals had probably opened the hole, “Foxes”, i.e. foxes. In any case, the forest workers looked it up – and discovered the remains of a woman’s corpse in Hakenfelde. That was on November 8, 1988.
“Near a parking lot in the continuation of Niederneuendorfer Allee in the Stadtforst Spandau” If the woman was found, Interpol said today and gave details that were previously unknown: “The woman’s body was packed in a jute sack. Two short plastic ropes were knotted around her neck usually in water sports Find use.” The Havel is not quite that far.
Flashback to the year 1988. Berlin was a divided city. The ruler’s name was Eberhard Diepgen. A certain Olaf Höhn had just founded a café called “Florida Eis” on Klosterstraße and Hertha BSC had crashed again badly and kicked in the tired Oberliga against SC Gatow. Nobody could have guessed that a year later the Wall would fall. And the Niederneuendorfer Allee led deep into the dark forest and was one Dead end just before the GDR wall.
So on November 8, 1988, the West Berlin police rushed into the Spandau Forest and began to secure the human remains. A first short report appeared in the Tagesspiegel – but nothing happened, no missing person report matched. A year later, the police hung 18,500 posters in the city on – again: nothing. Doesn’t anyone miss a woman who just disappeared from everyday life like that? Whose bed or apartment empty is?
More than 30 years later, Interpol with police investigators from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands retrieves 22 mysterious murder cases from the archive – including the one from Hakenfelde. “The main goal of the campaign is to identify the women and give them their names back,” according to the Federal Criminal Police Office BKA.
The 5000 German marks, which the West Berlin police offered for tips at the time are still valid today – just in a different currency, i.e. 2500 euros. Above is a drawing of what the woman might have looked like – here are more pictures of the Berlin police.
The woman from the Spandau Forest was rather blond and slim, about 25 to 30 years old and about 165 cm tall. She wore jewelry and a distinctive digital watch.
“22 9 82” was engraved on the back of the watch. Does that mean a date that September 22, 1982? Was this perhaps an important day in the victim’s life?
In addition, the police secured a torn piece of paper with the stamp of the health department of the then Schöneberg district office at the crime scene. On it the imprint: “Counseling center – venereal diseases”. Does all of this mean anything to anyone? Anyone missing a young woman since the 80s? Cold Case Hakenfelde. A scary case to this day.
Would you like to read more from Spandau? Very gladly. In our Spandau newsletter I bundle once a week the most important news for the district, pick up on neighborhood debates, give tips and dates for the district. The Spandau newsletter is available free and uncomplicated under tagesspiegel.de/districts. Here are some of the topics you will find in the current issue.
- “Donate cups, save lives”: For almost 20 years, the fan scene has been collecting Hertha BSC for a good cause. At the last home game in the Olympic Stadium, fans are always asked to donate the cup deposit. On Saturday, May 20, 3:30 p.m., in front of 60,000 spectators against VfL Bochum, an important institution from Berlin-Spandau will be in focus: the “Hospice service Christophorus” in the rural district of Gatow.
- “Operation Identify me”: Interpol is looking for killers from Hakenfelde
- women’s handball VfV Spandau in the final four: Complete team in newsletter interview about fans, successes, Hertha BSC and Falkensee
- Vierfelderhof in Gatow is completely closed
- Start of the season on the Havel: Flyer and Ads against noisemakers
- Sexual assault, water level, BVG bus: City Hall sets Glienicke Lake on the BVV agenda
- Falkenhagen field: Elevator broken on 17th floor – is rescue finally approaching?
- graffiti projects in Staaken, Neustadt and Kladow
- Permanent construction site since 2017: The Garden field school always gets finished later
- Dumped: That “Spandau Horn” will be gone soon
- Kladow: One US wiretapping specialist unpacks
- Excursion tip to German-British Yacht Club
- 1st Monday concert in front of St. Nikolai
- 50 years BBO: Anniversary week at the Bertolt Brecht School
- Open-air family church service to Ascension Day
- Brewhouse: Beer prices are going up
- Jonas Polten is Sportsman of the year – and 13 years old
- Eintracht Spandau celebrates a real club party at the Spandau Kickers
…and much more from the district can be read in the new Spandau newsletter from the Tagesspiegel tagesspiegel.de/districts. We look forward to you!
