# The Hinterkaifeck Murders: Evidence, Myths, and the Unsolved 1922 Cold Case

- Link: https://thedarksideofhumanity.com/hinterkaifeck-murders/
- Published: 2026-07-15T19:23:44-04:00
- Author: Mandi Martyr

TDSH · CASE FILE · OBERBAYERN · 1922Az. A 169/1922 · StA Neuburg a. D. Case fileGröbern · Gemeinde Wangen · 1922UnsolvedNo trialMyth check Hinterkaifeck Six people killed on a remote Bavarian farm, four days before anyone looked, and a century of theories. What the police files, the reported autopsy findings, the 1922 press and the 2007 review support, and where they stop. Unsolved · file closed 1955 Record boundaryNo one was ever charged at trial or convicted. Several people were arrested or held and then released. The last formal proceedings, against Anton Gump, were dropped in 1954.123 So this file has no verdict to report. What survives is the investigation record: police and prosecution papers, many of them lost in the Second World War, autopsy findings known only from secondary documents, the press of the time and later historians.245 Every suspect theory below is a theory and is marked that way. Where the sources disagree, on ages, dates, the weapon or the skulls, this file shows the disagreement. Offender?UnidentifiedNo culprit named · every theory DISPUTEDNever identifiedMore than 100 people were considered over the decades; none was tried23Place27½HinterkaifeckEinödhof · demolished 1923House no. 27½, Gemeinde WangenAbout 500 m south-west of Gröbern; today in Waidhofen, Lkr. Neuburg-Schrobenhausen13Victim roll6 killed · night of 31 Mar. – 1 Apr. 1922V-01Andreas Gruberage 63–64V-02Cäzilia Gruberage 70–72V-03Viktoria Gabriel, née Gruberage 35V-04Cäzilia Gabrielage 6–9V-05Josef Gabriel (also Gruber)age 2V-06Maria Baumgartnerage 44–45 Docket sheetTDSH-CF-1922-HKF · from the 1922 file and later sourcesVictimsSix: Andreas and Cäzilia Gruber, Viktoria Gabriel, her children Cäzilia and Josef, and the maid Maria Baumgartner67CrimeNight of Fri. 31 Mar. – Sat. 1 Apr. 1922 · head injuries from a farm tool61DiscoveredTue. 4 Apr. 1922 · by Lorenz Schlittenbauer, Michael Pöll and Jakob Sigl18Place thenEinöde Hinterkaifeck, Gemeinde Wangen, Bezirksamt Schrobenhausen6ProsecutorStaatsanwaltschaft Neuburg a. D. · file ref. A 169/19226InvestigatorsGendarmerie Hohenwart; Munich police under Kriminaloberinspektor Georg Reingruber13Reward100,000 Mark · poster dated 8 Apr. 192263Autopsies6–7 Apr. 1922, at the farm · Landgerichtsarzt Dr. Johann Baptist Aumüller53File closed1955 · last interviews reported in 1986243Review2007 project of 15 police students, Fürstenfeldbruck · named no one29EvidenceCaseHinterkaifeckFileA 169/1922Items in the surviving record Reuthaue (grubbing mattock) from the farm’s own tools · found under the attic floor at demolition, 192313 A “Kreuzhacke” named in the first reports of 19221011 Roughly 1,800 Goldmark reported found in a cupboard3 Five scene photographs, 19223 Schlittenbauer’s statement, 5 Apr. 192212 No fingerprints taken213 The victims’ skulls · whereabouts unknown43SRC: StA Neuburg poster · HLB · pressReconstructed evidence tag · illustrative propStatus · checked Sept. 30, 2026 (ET)Illustrative stampUnsolvedClosed 1955The Hinterkaifeck murders are unsolved; the investigation was formally closed in 1955. No one has been charged at trial or convicted. The investigation was formally closed in 1955.24 Physical evidence that could be retested is not known to survive. Many files burned in Augsburg in the Second World War, and the victims’ skulls are lost.24 The Fürstenfeldbruck project leader said in 2012: “Der Tatnachweis ist definitiv nicht mehr zu führen.” (Proof of who did it can definitely no longer be produced.)9 The farm was demolished in 1923. A Marterl stood near the site until 2022, and a new memorial was put up in March 2025.13 No official reopening has been reported in the sources reviewed. Dossier index24 sections · 00–2300What actually happened?01Case snapshot02Key people03The victims04The farm and the place05Before the night06The night07Four days unseen08Discovery09The 1922 investigation10Autopsy findings11The weapon12Timeline13Evidence ledger14Suspect theories15Investigation path162007 review17Archives and losses18Document wall19Myth vs. record20Memory and afterlife21Related case files22FAQ23Source ledger and notes Content & source warningThis file describes the killing of six people, two of them small children, with severe head injuries. It summarizes the reported autopsy findings and discusses an incest conviction (1914–15) within the victims’ family. No crime-scene or autopsy photographs are shown. Many details survive only in later statements or transcriptions, and they are labelled that way. German quotations are given in the original with a translation. Fact-check notesVERIFIED · 12PARTIAL · 21DISPUTED · 12Boxes beside each card check it against the record. Links open the source. PARTIAL means substantially right but imprecise, single-sourced or corrected from the earlier version; DISPUTED means the sources conflict. 00TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §00What actually happened?The compressed answer before the mythology takes overDirect answerWhat actually happened?On the night of 31 March to 1 April 1922, all six people living at Hinterkaifeck, a remote farm about 500 m south-west of Gröbern in Upper Bavaria, were killed with blows to the head.16 Four were found in the barn and two in the house. The killings went unnoticed for four days. Someone fed the animals and ate food in the house during that time.1 Neighbours found the bodies on 4 April. The Munich police, the Neuburg prosecutor and a 100,000-Mark reward produced many suspects but no charge that reached a court, and the file was closed in 1955.62 The murder weapon, a mattock belonging to the farm, turned up under the attic floor when the farm was pulled down in 1923.13 The case is unsolved, and the evidence that might once have solved it is gone.9Key numbersEvery figure from the cited record · derived figures say so 6people killed: four adults, two children674 daysbetween the killings and the discovery, 31 Mar. – 4 Apr. 192212days of autopsies at the farm, 6–7 Apr. 19225100,000 Mreward posted by the Neuburg prosecutor, 8 Apr. 19226 5scene photographs taken30fingerprints secured213~1,800Goldmark reported left in a cupboard31923farm demolished; the mattock found1 100+people considered as suspects over the decades31955investigation formally closed2415police students in the 2007 Fürstenfeldbruck review20trials or convictions12 01TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §01Case snapshotWhat the record establishes, what it does not, and what should stay separateEstablishedSix killed, four days unseenThe 1922 reward poster of the Neuburg prosecutor states the core facts: in the night of 31 March to 1 April 1922 everyone living at the Einödhof Hinterkaifeck, Gemeinde Wangen, Bezirksamt Schrobenhausen, was killed “in bestialischer Weise.”6 The Historisches Lexikon Bayerns adds the four-day gap before discovery, the cared-for livestock and the smoke from the chimney.1VERIFIEDReward poster, Neuburg a. D., 8 Apr. 1922; Historisches Lexikon Bayerns (Bachmann, 2012). The live post said the six were killed “in March 1922.” The record gives the night of 31 March to 1 April; corrected.Not establishedWho, how many, and whyThe number of killers, the order of the killings, the motive and the identity of anyone involved were never established.13 The poster’s word “Raubmord” (robbery-murder) was the first working theory. Later writers doubt it because money and jewellery were left behind.62VERIFIEDHistorisches Lexikon Bayerns (Bachmann, 2012): “kein stichhaltiges Tatmotiv, geschweige denn ein Täter” (no sound motive, let alone a perpetrator) could be proved.Myth checkA culprit is not “known”Books, films and forums often present one suspect as the answer. None of those claims has been tested in court, and the 2007 police review deliberately published no name.29 In this file every suspect is a theory.Layers of the Hinterkaifeck recordLayerWhat it coversBoundary Official recordThe 1922 prosecutor’s poster, police statements, the memorial card, the archive files cited by historians.6121Incomplete. Many files burned in the Second World War and no full autopsy report is known. Reported findingsThe autopsy results, known from a telephone note, a prosecutor’s report and statements made in 1953.5Second-hand and sometimes contradictory. Press and historiansThe 1922 newspapers, the BSB and ÖNB archives, and later journalists and historians.141028The 1922 papers got some ages and names wrong. Theory layerEvery suspect, motive and reconstruction.DISPUTED or unproven. Never stated as fact. 02TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §02Who were the key people in the case?Key-people cards · names and roles from the recordDiscovererP-01Lorenz SchlittenbauerRoleFarmer and Ortsführer (head) of Gröbern, house no. 20; led the men who found the bodies, 4 Apr. 1922LinkAcknowledged himself as the father of Viktoria Gabriel’s son JosefLaterNamed as a suspect for decades (§14, DISPUTED); won slander suits; died 1941Sources 1213WitnessP-02Albert HofnerRoleMechanic; repaired the motor of the feed-cutter at the farm on 4 Apr. 1922 without seeing anyoneWhy it mattersHis report prompted the searchQuestionedFirst in 1925, by the German Wikipedia accountSources 13WitnessesP-03Michael Pöll · Jakob SiglRoleWent into the farm with Schlittenbauer on 4 Apr. 1922Sources 18InvestigatorP-04Georg ReingruberRoleKriminaloberinspektor, Munich police; led the investigation from 1922Retired28 Feb. 1930; Martin Riedmayer took over in Sept. 1930Sources 3ProsecutionP-05Staatsanwaltschaft Neuburg a. D.RoleRan the case as file A 169/1922; the 1st Staatsanwalt signed the reward poster, 8 Apr. 1922NamedStaatsanwalt Renner reported the autopsy results on 10 Apr. 1922Sources 65MedicalP-06Dr. Johann Baptist AumüllerRoleLandgerichtsarzt (court physician), Neuburg; performed the autopsies at the farm, 6–7 Apr. 1922RecordNo full autopsy report is known to surviveSources 53MedicalP-07Prof. Hermann MerkelRoleHead of forensic medicine in Munich; informed of the autopsy results; examined the 1922 “Kreuzhacke” and the 1923 ReuthaueSources 11Court staffP-08Heinrich NeyRoleKanzleiassistent present at the autopsiesRecordHis statements of 1953 are a main source for the autopsySources 5HistorianP-09Peter LeuschnerRoleJournalist and author; found the police and justice files in 1977 and wrote three books on the caseView“Es gibt bis heute kein wirkliches Motiv.” (To this day there is no real motive.)Sources 29InvestigatorP-10Konrad MüllerRoleRetired Kriminalhauptkommissar who investigated privately for decades; gave his files to the Bayerisches Polizeimuseum, Ingolstadt, in 2018Sources 932007 reviewP-11Michaela Forderberg-ZanklRoleLed the 2007 student project at the police college in FürstenfeldbruckQuote“Der Tatnachweis ist definitiv nicht mehr zu führen.”Sources 29FilmmakerP-12Kurt K. HieberRoleMade documentaries on the case (from 1991) and a 2009 ZDF docudrama with the Fürstenfeldbruck studentsSources 132The names of the six victims are on their own cards (§03). No portraits of suspects or witnesses are used. Spellings follow the 1922 documents where they exist; the project leader is spelled Forderberg-Zankl by BR and the Augsburger Allgemeine, Vorderberg-Zankl by German Wikipedia. 03TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §03The victimsSix people killed in one night: a family of five and a maid who had just arrivedVictim · 63–64V-01AGTypographic placeholder · no photo usedAndreas GruberThe retired farmer (Austrägler) of the household. He and his daughter Viktoria had been convicted of incest in 1914–15; he served a year in a Zuchthaus.Bornb. 9 Nov. 1858, Greinstetten (memorial card) · 1857 (Marterl)KilledNight of 31 Mar. – 1 Apr. 1922FoundIn the barn (Stadel), with three others, near the door from the stable.OutcomeNo one triedSources 76159Victim · 70–72V-02CGTypographic placeholder · no photo usedCäzilia GruberAndreas Gruber’s wife. A daughter from her first marriage, Cäzilia Starringer, inherited half the estate in 1922.Bornb. 27 Nov. 1849, GerolsbachKilledNight of 31 Mar. – 1 Apr. 1922FoundIn the barn, with three others.OutcomeNo one triedSources 763Victim · 35V-03VGTypographic placeholder · no photo usedViktoria Gabriel, née GruberA widow; her husband Karl Gabriel was killed in France in the First World War. A 1930 report calls her the owner (“Besitzerin”) of the farm.Bornb. 6 Feb. 1887, GröbernKilledNight of 31 Mar. – 1 Apr. 1922FoundIn the barn, with three others.OutcomeNo one triedSources 7616Victim · 6–9V-04CGTypographic placeholder · no photo usedCäzilia GabrielViktoria’s daughter, called Cilli. She was absent from school on 1, 3 and 4 April 1922.Bornb. 1915 (Marterl) · “in her 7th year” (memorial card)KilledNight of 31 Mar. – 1 Apr. 1922FoundIn the barn, with three others. The autopsy is reported to have found that she lived for some time after the blow.OutcomeNo one triedSources 71543Victim · 2V-05JGTypographic placeholder · no photo usedJosef Gabriel (also Gruber)Viktoria’s son. Schlittenbauer told police he had acknowledged himself as the boy’s father; rumour named Andreas Gruber.Bornb. 1919 (Marterl) · “in his 3rd year” (memorial card)KilledNight of 31 Mar. – 1 Apr. 1922FoundIn the house, in his pram (Stubenwagen) in his mother’s bedroom.OutcomeNo one triedSources 7151213Victim · 44–45V-06MBTypographic placeholder · no photo usedMaria BaumgartnerThe new maid (Dienstmagd). Her sister brought her to the farm on the afternoon of 31 March 1922, hours before the killings.Bornb. 1 Oct. 1877, KühbachKilledNight of 31 Mar. – 1 Apr. 1922FoundIn the house, in the maid’s chamber.OutcomeNo one triedSources 763Six namesThe record behind each cardEach card gives the name and dates the 1922 memorial card gives, what is known of the person’s life, and where the person was found. No victim photographs are used: none with verified rights was found, and each card carries a typographic placeholder. The household’s family history appears in §05 because investigators and later writers made it part of the case, not to explain the killings.Maria Baumgartner had been at the farm for only a few hours. Any theory has to account for her as well as for the Gruber-Gabriel family.3VERIFIEDBirth dates and places from the 1922 memorial card (Sterbebild for the six victims, 1922); the names and the six killings are in the reward poster (Reward poster, Neuburg a. D., 8 Apr. 1922).DISPUTEDAges differ between sources. The poster gives Andreas 64, Cäzilia Gruber 70, the girl 9 and Maria 45 (Reward poster, Neuburg a. D., 8 Apr. 1922). The memorial card’s birth dates make them 63, 72, 6 and 44. The Marterl gave Andreas’s birth year as 1857 (Marterl inscription (photo 2007)). The Salzburger Wacht of 6 Apr. 1922 also said the girl was nine (Salzburger Wacht, 6 Apr. 1922), and a 1953 statement called her eleven (Hinterkaifeck-Wiki: autopsy findings). Most later accounts say seven (BR Heimat, 28 Mar. 2022; Süddeutsche Zeitung, 11 Mar. 2009). This file gives ranges.PARTIALSpellings. Cäzilia appears as Cezilia (Marterl; BR), Cäcilia (SZ) and Zäzilie (poster); Viktoria as Victoria (SZ). The boy is “Josef” on the memorial card, “Josef Gabriel” in the live post and “Josef Gruber” in transcribed files (Hinterkaifeck-Wiki: autopsy findings). 04TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §04The farm and the placeHinterkaifeck, Gröbern, Wangen, Waidhofen: getting the geography rightThe L-shaped farmWhere the record places each room, redrawnSchematic of the Hinterkaifeck farm buildingsNot to scale and not an architectural plan. An L-shaped building: a long range with the living quarters at one end and the stable next to them, and the barn, or Stadel, at a right angle at the stable end. A continuous attic runs over the whole L. Numbered markers: 1 the maid’s chamber and 2 Viktoria Gabriel’s bedroom in the living quarters; 3 the door from the stable to the barn, in red, near which four victims were found; 4 the barn; 5 the stable; 6 the attic, where the mattock was found under the floor near the chimney in 1923; 7 the machine house, whose padlock had been broken before the crime; 8 the bake oven, position approximate. An arrow points north-east to Gröbern, about 500 metres away.LIVING QUARTERSSTABLE (STALL)BARN(STADEL)MACHINE HOUSEBAKE OVENATTIC (DACHBODEN) OVER THE WHOLE L · DASHEDTO GRÖBERN≈ 500 M NE12345678SCHEMATIC · NOT TO SCALE · NOT AN ARCHITECTURAL PLANPOSITIONS APPROXIMATE · ILLUSTRATIVE1 Maid’s chamber (Magdkammer): Maria Baumgartner found here2 Viktoria Gabriel’s bedroom: Josef found in his pram3 Door from stable to barn: four victims found nearby4 Barn (Stadel)5 Stable (Stall): the animals were fed and milked after the killings6 Attic: hay, hollows, shifted tiles; the mattock under the floor near the chimney (1923)7 Machine house: padlock reported broken before the crime; door open on 1 April8 Bake oven: reported heated in the night after the crime (position approximate)Schematic drawn from published descriptions of the buildings, the discovery and the demolition.134 It is not a survey: the arrangement of rooms, the position of the doors and the location of the machine house and bake oven are approximate.PlaceAn Einöde, not a villageHinterkaifeck was a single farm on its own (an Einödhof), about 500 m south-west of Gröbern and about 6 km from Schrobenhausen.1 It was officially house no. 27½ of the then Gemeinde Wangen, belonging to Gröbern, and is now in the municipality of Waidhofen, Landkreis Neuburg-Schrobenhausen, Upper Bavaria.3 “Hinterkaifeck” was only a house name. The farm did not belong to the hamlet of Kaifeck, about 1 km to the south.34DISPUTEDDistance: 500 m from Gröbern (Historisches Lexikon Bayerns (Bachmann, 2012)) against “etwa 900 Meter” in the Salzburger Wacht of 6 Apr. 1922 (Salzburger Wacht, 6 Apr. 1922). This file follows the Historisches Lexikon Bayerns. The live post placed the farm “near Waidhofen”; Gröbern, in today’s municipality of Waidhofen, is more precise.BuildingsHouse, stable and barn under one roofThe farm was built around 1863. In 1922 it was a long single-storey building with the living quarters and the stable, joined at a right angle by a larger barn, with one high attic running over the whole L.3 The April 1922 photograph below shows the house range and the barn from the south. The farm was pulled down in 1923, and its stones were reused in a neighbouring village.14 The site is now farmland.32PARTIALThe construction date (about 1863) and the layout are from German Wikipedia (gateway), a gateway source; the demolition is confirmed by Historisches Lexikon Bayerns (Bachmann, 2012) and Süddeutsche Zeitung, 11 Mar. 2009.Photo exhibit 01Public domainPhoto. The Hinterkaifeck farm seen from the south, photographed by Andreas Biegleder in April 1922. No people are shown.Photo: Andreas Biegleder (1880–1954) / Wikimedia Commons · public domain (author died 1954)Photo exhibit 02Public domainPhoto. Cadastral map (Flurkarte) after 1870 showing the farm and its fields, with the farm’s plots coloured. The colouring was added later.Map: Königlich Bayerisches Vermessungsamt / Wikimedia Commons · public domain (more than 100 years old) 05TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §05Before the nightFamily history, a paternity dispute and the reported warning signs of March 19221914–1919A family history the investigators wrote downAndreas Gruber and his daughter Viktoria were convicted of incest: he was sentenced to a year in a Zuchthaus and she to a month in prison.93 Viktoria’s husband, Karl Gabriel, was killed as a soldier in France in December 1914.18 After his death Viktoria had a relationship with Lorenz Schlittenbauer, the widowed Ortsführer of Gröbern. He told police on 5 April 1922 that he had acknowledged himself as the father of her two-year-old son.128 The Augsburger Allgemeine reports that Viktoria turned down his proposal of marriage.9DISPUTEDDates. The conviction is dated 1914 (Augsburger Allgemeine, 21 Mar. 2012), “shortly after” Gabriel’s death in Dec. 1914 (Süddeutsche Zeitung, 30 Mar. 2012) and 1915 (German Wikipedia (gateway)). This file uses 1914–15. Schlittenbauer’s 1922 statement says Gabriel fell “im Jahre 15” (Schlittenbauer statement, 5 Apr. 1922); the Historisches Lexikon Bayerns and SZ say December 1914.PARTIALThe paternity dispute (Schlittenbauer reported Gruber in 1919, withdrew the report, then acknowledged paternity “nach langen Hin und Her”) is from Süddeutsche Zeitung, 30 Mar. 2012 and German Wikipedia (gateway). Rumour that Andreas Gruber was Josef’s father is reported as rumour (Abendzeitung München, 17 Nov. 2009).March 1922Reported signs before the crimeLater accounts describe a run of strange events in the weeks before the killings. A copy of a Munich newspaper no one nearby subscribed to was found near the farm. Andreas Gruber found footprints in the snow leading to the farm and none leading away. A house key went missing, the padlock on the machine house was broken, and the family heard footsteps in the attic. Gruber is said to have told several people but refused help from neighbours or the police.3 SZ reports that Viktoria and her father said they saw someone watching the farm from the edge of the wood.8PARTIALThese details survive in witness statements and later accounts gathered by investigators, not in any police report made before the crime (German Wikipedia (gateway); Süddeutsche Zeitung, 30 Mar. 2012). The live post’s “Footprints led in. No tracks led out” is softened to a report attributed to Gruber.1921The maid who leftAn earlier maid left the farm in 1921 “fluchtartig” (as if fleeing), SZ reports, because she felt watched.8 German Wikipedia names a former maid, Kreszenz Rieger, as working at the farm from November 1920 to about September 1921. She later named several men as suspects (§14).3DISPUTEDThe live post said Rieger “complained of attic noises.” The sources reviewed say a maid felt watched and left (Süddeutsche Zeitung, 30 Mar. 2012); the attic footsteps are attributed to the family. German Wikipedia gives Rieger nearly a year at the farm in one passage and says elsewhere she left after four weeks out of fear (German Wikipedia (gateway)). Whether the departing maid was Rieger is not settled in the sources reviewed. 06TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §06The night of 31 March – 1 AprilWhat the reconstruction supports and where it becomes inferenceFri. 31 Mar. 1922 · afternoonA new maid arrivesMaria Baumgartner, from Kühbach, arrived at the farm on the afternoon of Friday, 31 March, brought by her sister. The sister stayed a short time and left. She was very probably the last outsider to see the household alive.36VERIFIEDKühbach and the maid’s age on the poster (Reward poster, Neuburg a. D., 8 Apr. 1922); the arrival from German Wikipedia (gateway). The live post said she arrived “on the day of the murders,” which is consistent.Late eveningFour people in the barnThe Historisches Lexikon Bayerns summarizes the reconstruction: Andreas and Cäzilia Gruber, Viktoria Gabriel and the girl Cäzilia were probably drawn into the barn one after another and killed there. The killer or killers then went from the barn into the house, where the maid and the little boy were killed.1 The order is a reconstruction from where the bodies lay. One version has Viktoria first, then Cäzilia Gruber, Andreas and the girl.3 Tests later showed that screams from the barn could not be heard in the living quarters.3PARTIALHistorisches Lexikon Bayerns (Bachmann, 2012) says “man nimmt an” (it is assumed): the sequence is inferred, not observed. The suggestion that the animals’ restlessness lured the family out comes from the court commission’s 1922 inspection record as quoted by German Wikipedia (gateway).WeaponA tool from the farmThe killings were done with blows to the head. Later analysis found that the weapon belonged to the farm.133 The victims were covered: the four in the barn under a door, the maid under a bedcover.2 Covering the bodies has been read as a sign that the killer knew them, an interpretation, not a finding (§16).2DISPUTEDThe first reports named a “Kreuzhacke” (pickaxe) (Salzburger Wacht, 6 Apr. 1922); BR Heimat, 28 Mar. 2022 says “Spitzhacke”; Augsburger Allgemeine, 21 Mar. 2012 says “Kreuzhacke”; the mattock found in 1923 is a Reuthaue (Historisches Lexikon Bayerns (Bachmann, 2012); Abendzeitung München, 17 Nov. 2009). See §11. 07TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §07Four days unseenVisitors who saw nothing, a farm that kept running, and what that suggestsSomeone stayed or came backFed animals, eaten bread, smokeBetween the killings and the discovery, the livestock were fed and milked and smoke rose from the chimney. The police later found that the whole stock of bread had been eaten and meat in the larder freshly cut.13 The Historisches Lexikon Bayerns concludes that the killer or killers stayed in the house during those four days.1 German Wikipedia puts it more cautiously: they must have stayed or come back at least once.3PARTIALThe facts are in Historisches Lexikon Bayerns (Bachmann, 2012). Whether one person stayed throughout, or someone came and went, is not established; the live post’s caution (“the record cannot prove uninterrupted occupancy”) is kept.PARTIALHofner told investigators he heard the dog barking inside when he arrived and found it tied in front of the house door when he left; it was later found injured in the barn (German Wikipedia (gateway)). He was first questioned in 1925, so this is a statement made three years later.1 Apr., about 3 a.m.Two figuresSimon Reißländer, a farmer and butcher walking home near Brunnen, later said he saw two strangers at the edge of the wood who turned their faces away.3Sat. 1 Apr.The coffee sellersHans and Eduard Schirovsky called to take an order, got no answer and saw the machine-house door open. The same day a coffee seller called at Schlittenbauer’s farm in Gröbern, by his statement.3121, 3 and 4 Apr.SchoolCäzilia Gabriel was absent from school.32Night after the crimeThe bake ovenMichael Plöckl, a craftsman passing the farm, said he saw the bake oven fired by someone who blinded him with a torch, and that the smoke smelled foul.3Sun. 2 Apr.MassThe family did not attend Sunday Mass in Waidhofen.32Mon. 3 Apr.The postmanJosef Mayer, the postman, found the farm apparently deserted.3Tue. 4 Apr.The mechanicAlbert Hofner waited about an hour, repaired the feed-cutter motor for about four and a half hours, and noticed the barn door open as he left.13 08TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §08Discovery, 4 April 1922The mechanic, the Ortsführer and a scene disturbed before the police arrivedTue. 4 Apr. 1922The searchIn Gröbern Hofner told Schlittenbauer’s daughters that the repair was done and that he had seen no one; he also told Georg Greger, the mayor of Wangen.3 Schlittenbauer sent his sons Johann and Josef to look, then went in himself that day with Michael Pöll and Jakob Sigl.13 They found four bodies in the barn and two in the house.8 By his own later account Schlittenbauer went into the house alone and unlocked the front door from inside.3VERIFIEDThe three men and the date: Historisches Lexikon Bayerns (Bachmann, 2012); Süddeutsche Zeitung, 30 Mar. 2012.PARTIALSchlittenbauer entering alone, unlocking the door and moving through the house before the police came fed suspicion against him for decades (German Wikipedia (gateway)). It is evidence of opportunity and of a disturbed scene, not of guilt.The statement“Vorgerufen wurde der Lorenz Schlittenbauer”The police took Schlittenbauer’s statement the next day. The typed record is headed “Kaifeck hinter Gröbern 5.4.22” and “Betreff: Mord an der Bauernfamilie Gabriel hinter Kaifeck bei Gröbern.” In it he says he knew the Grubers and the widow Viktoria Gabriel well, that she had a two-year-old illegitimate child whose father he had acknowledged himself to be, and that on Saturday, 1 April, a coffee seller had come to his farm.12VERIFIEDRead from the photographed original (Schlittenbauer statement, 5 Apr. 1922), exhibited at the Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv in 2026.Evening, 4 Apr.Gendarmes, then MunichGendarmes from the Hohenwart station came first, mainly to keep onlookers away. Munich detectives arrived in the night of 4 April.1 German Wikipedia says Kriminaloberinspektor Georg Reingruber and five officers, two with police dogs, reached Wangen at 1:30 a.m. and went to the farm at 5:30 with the court commission from Schrobenhausen.3PARTIALArrival “noch in der Nacht des 4. April” is in Historisches Lexikon Bayerns (Bachmann, 2012); the times are from German Wikipedia (gateway). The filmmaker Kurt Hieber’s claim that “der Kommissar war nur zehn Stunden vor Ort” (the inspector spent only ten hours at the scene) is his assessment (BR Heimat, 28 Mar. 2022). 09TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §09The 1922 investigationA robbery theory, a reward, a medium and the evidence that was never collected8 Apr. 1922“Sechsfacher Raubmord”Four days after the discovery the 1st Staatsanwalt in Neuburg an der Donau put up a poster headed “Sechsfacher Raubmord · 100,000 M. Belohnung!” It offered the reward “für die Ergreifung der Täter oder die sichere Ermöglichung ihrer Ergreifung” (for catching the perpetrators or making their capture certain) and asked for information under file ref. A 169/1922 to the Staatsanwaltschaft Neuburg, the Polizeidirektion München or any Gendarmerie station.6 The Munich press was still calling the case a “Raubmord” weeks later.14VERIFIEDRead from the photographed poster (Reward poster, Neuburg a. D., 8 Apr. 1922). German Wikipedia attributes the reward to the Bavarian interior ministry (German Wikipedia (gateway)); the poster itself is signed by the Neuburg prosecutor.Robbery?Money left behindRobbery was the first working motive, so vagrants, hoarders, pedlars and people with criminal records from the area were checked first.1 The theory never fitted well. No one could establish how much money had been on the farm, and a considerable sum was found even though the killers had had time to search.1 German Wikipedia puts it at about 1,800 Goldmark in a cupboard.3 Peter Leuschner: “Die Akten wurden lange unter dem Betreff Raubmord geführt. Aber man weiß, dass es kein Raubmord war, weil nichts geraubt wurde.” (The files were long kept under the heading robbery-murder. But we know it was not one, because nothing was taken.)2PARTIAL“Eine nicht unerhebliche Summe” (a not inconsiderable sum) (Historisches Lexikon Bayerns (Bachmann, 2012)); the 1,800 Goldmark figure is single-sourced to German Wikipedia (gateway). Leuschner’s “nichts geraubt” is his view; the HLB says only that the amount taken, if any, could not be determined.MethodsWhat was not doneOnly five photographs were taken at the scene.3 No fingerprints were secured, although that was usual practice in 1922.213 Konrad Müller, the retired detective, said the method had been mature since 1909.9 SZ adds that names were sometimes written down wrongly.8 Some witnesses were not questioned until years later: Hofner in 1925.3VERIFIEDNo fingerprints: BR Heimat, 28 Mar. 2022; Abendzeitung München, 17 Nov. 2009; Süddeutsche Zeitung, 30 Mar. 2012; Augsburger Allgemeine, 21 Mar. 2012. The live post’s criticism is kept.SéancesThe skulls and a mediumThe victims’ heads were removed at the autopsy.53 Spiritualist sessions with mediums were held using the skulls, without result.34 At one, a medium identified a photograph of Josef Bärtl as the killer, which made him a suspect (§14).1PARTIALSüddeutsche Zeitung, 11 Mar. 2009 says the police took the skulls “zu einer Wahrsagerin” (to a fortune-teller); Historisches Lexikon Bayerns (Bachmann, 2012) confirms the séance identification of Bärtl. 10TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §10The autopsy findings, as reportedDr. Aumüller’s examinations, known only from secondary documents6–7 Apr. 1922Six autopsies at the farmAll six victims were examined at the farm itself. On Thursday, 6 April, Landgerichtsarzt Dr. Johann Baptist Aumüller of Neuburg examined Cäzilia Gabriel, Cäzilia Gruber and Viktoria Gabriel; on Friday, 7 April, Maria Baumgartner, Josef and Andreas Gruber.5 German Wikipedia says the work was done on a makeshift table in the farmyard.3 No complete autopsy report is known. The findings come from a Munich police telephone note of 7 April, Staatsanwalt Renner’s report of 10 April 1922, and the statements of the court clerk Heinrich Ney in 1953.5PARTIALThese documents are known through the transcriptions on Hinterkaifeck-Wiki: autopsy findings, a volunteer site that publishes archive copies; they are cited here as reported, not as a re-read of the originals.Reported autopsy findings by victimVictimReported findings (summarized)Cäzilia GabrielSkull shattered; a neck wound. Aumüller is reported to have said she could have been saved if found in time, and that she died two to three hours after the blow. She had torn out tufts of her own hair.53Cäzilia GruberSeveral blows to the head, the skull cracked.5Viktoria GabrielNine star-shaped head wounds; the face smashed. Renner reported that she was not pregnant.5Andreas GruberThe right side of the face smashed.5Maria BaumgartnerHead wounds, including a hole about 4 cm wide at the back of the head.5JosefA single blow, through the hood of his pram.5ConflictsWhat the documents disagree onStrangulation marks are reported for one woman, but the documents disagree on which: the telephone note gives them to Cäzilia Gruber, Renner’s report to Viktoria Gabriel. German Wikipedia says the evidence is “nicht eindeutig” (not clear-cut).53 Ney’s 1953 statement speaks of an “11-jährige Viktoria Gabriel,” evidently meaning the girl Cäzilia, which shows how far memory had drifted after 31 years.5DISPUTEDStrangulation marks: Cäzilia Gruber (telephone note) or Viktoria Gabriel (Renner) (Hinterkaifeck-Wiki: autopsy findings).DISPUTEDThe skulls. Ney said the heads went to the pathology institute of Munich University (Hinterkaifeck-Wiki: autopsy findings). German Wikipedia says they were last in a justice building in Augsburg and destroyed in a Second World War air raid (German Wikipedia (gateway)). SZ: “Wo die Köpfe heute sind, weiß kein Mensch” (no one knows where the heads are now) (Süddeutsche Zeitung, 11 Mar. 2009). The live post’s “the skulls sent to Munich were later lost” is replaced with the conflict.BurialBuried without their headsThe six were buried in the cemetery at Waidhofen without their skulls.43 German Wikipedia puts the funeral on 8 April 1922, with several thousand people attending.3 11TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §11The weaponA pickaxe in 1922, a mattock in 1923, and why the difference matters1922The first weapon: a “Kreuzhacke”The first reports said the killers used a “Kreuzhacke” (pickaxe).10 Prof. Hermann Merkel, the Munich forensic pathologist, examined a Kreuzhacke as the suspected weapon in 1922.11 The Augsburger Allgemeine still wrote “Kreuzhacke” in 2012, and BR “Spitzhacke” in 2022.92PARTIALThe 1922 press wording is from the German Wikipedia transcription of the Salzburger Wacht (Salzburger Wacht, 6 Apr. 1922); the Merkel examination from Hinterkaifeck-Wiki: Prof. Merkel.1923The mattock under the attic floorWhen the farm was demolished in 1923, the weapon was found hidden in the attic.1 German Wikipedia describes it as a Reuthaue (a grubbing mattock) belonging to Andreas Gruber, hidden under the floorboards near the chimney and found in or after February 1923, when Karl Gabriel senior, the father of Viktoria’s late husband, began pulling the farm down.3 A protruding screw from a makeshift repair is said to match marks in the wounds.3 Merkel examined it in 1923.11 A Reuthaue was shown as the “mutmaßliche Mordwaffe” (presumed murder weapon) at an exhibition in the Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv in March 2026; the Commons record does not say whether it is the original or a reconstruction. The Fürstenfeldbruck students had a replica made.13VERIFIEDFound in the attic at the 1923 demolition (Historisches Lexikon Bayerns (Bachmann, 2012)). The 2009 Fürstenfeldbruck reconstruction treated the Reuthaue as Gruber’s own tool (Abendzeitung München, 17 Nov. 2009).PARTIALThe live post called it a “mattock-like farm tool.” It was a Reuthaue. The screw match, the attribution to Gruber and the hiding place under the floor are from German Wikipedia (gateway); the 2026 exhibit is labelled only as the presumed weapon.DISPUTEDWas the 1922 Kreuzhacke a second weapon, a misidentification or the same tool described loosely? The sources reviewed do not settle it (Hinterkaifeck-Wiki: Prof. Merkel; Historisches Lexikon Bayerns (Bachmann, 2012)).Photo exhibit 03CC BY-SA 4.0Photo. A Reuthaue displayed as the presumed murder weapon at an exhibition in the Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, March 2026. Whether it is the original or a reconstruction isn’t stated.Photo: Burkhard Mücke / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0Why it mattersA farm tool proves access, not identityBecause the mattock came from the farm, it points to someone who was there and could find it. It doesn’t say who. The hiding place and the screw may have mattered in 1923. Today no one can test it against a person: “Es gibt keine Tatortspuren mehr” (no scene traces remain).9 12TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §12TimelineFrom the farm’s building to the 2026 archive exhibition, dated from the recordRead the sequenceMost of the case happened after the murdersThe killings took one night. The investigation, the suspects, the losses and the myths took a century. The file was closed 33 years after the crime, and the last interviews came 64 years after it (derived).23PARTIALThe live timeline had six undated entries. This one is dated from the record; where a date rests only on German Wikipedia it is cited that way.DISPUTEDThe 1923 demolition: begun in February 1923 (German Wikipedia (gateway)); “ein Jahr später” (a year later) (Süddeutsche Zeitung, 30 Mar. 2012); simply 1923 (Historisches Lexikon Bayerns (Bachmann, 2012); BR Heimat, 28 Mar. 2022).c. 1863The farm is builtAn L-shaped house, stable and barn under one attic, on what had been open fields.3Dec. 1914Karl Gabriel killedViktoria’s husband dies as a soldier in France.181914–15Incest convictionAndreas Gruber gets a year in a Zuchthaus; Viktoria a month in prison.931919Josef is bornSchlittenbauer later acknowledges himself as the father.15121921A maid leavesAn earlier maid leaves “fluchtartig,” saying she felt watched.8Mid-Mar. 1922Reported warning signsA stray Munich newspaper, footprints in the snow, a missing key, a broken padlock, footsteps in the attic, by later accounts.331 Mar. 1922Maria Baumgartner arrivesIn the afternoon; the six are killed that night.311–4 Apr. 1922Four days unseenCoffee sellers, the postman and the mechanic come and go; the animals are fed and smoke rises from the chimney.134 Apr. 1922DiscoverySchlittenbauer, Pöll and Sigl find the bodies; gendarmes and Munich detectives arrive.15 Apr. 1922Schlittenbauer’s statementHe describes his ties to the family and the coffee seller’s visit on 1 April.126–7 Apr. 1922Autopsies at the farmDr. Aumüller examines the six; the heads are removed.58 Apr. 1922Reward and funeralThe Neuburg prosecutor posts 100,000 Mark; the six are buried in Waidhofen.633 Aug. 1922Schreyer brothers arrestedAndreas and Karl Schreyer of Sattelberg are held, then released.1731923DemolitionThe farm is pulled down; the mattock is found under the attic floor.1Jan. 1924Karl Gabriel’s death confirmed againA former NCO of his regiment gives a statement about Gabriel’s death in December 1914.181925Hofner questionedThe mechanic is questioned for the first time, three years on.31926Warrant for BärtlThe Neuburg prosecutor seeks the escaped asylum patient Josef Bärtl; he is never found.31930Eighth anniversaryThe press notes that the killer is still unknown; Reingruber retires and Martin Riedmayer takes over.163Jan. 1935Pfleger arrestedJosef Pfleger is held on his daughter’s report and released days later.31941Schlittenbauer diesHe had won several civil suits against people who called him the murderer.31951–54The Gump proceedingsAnton Gump is held after his sister’s deathbed accusation; the case is dropped in 1954.31955File closedThe investigation is formally closed.241977Leuschner finds the filesThe journalist Peter Leuschner comes across the police and justice files.21986Last interviewsThe last recorded interviews take place.32007Fürstenfeldbruck reviewFifteen police students re-examine the files; they name no one.292022CentenaryThe Marterl near the site is removed.12Mar. 2025New memorialA new memorial is set up where the Marterl stood.3Mar. 2026Archive exhibitionThe poster, the memorial card and statements are shown at the Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv.612 13TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §13Evidence ledgerWhat each kind of record can establish, and where interpretation startsEvidence ledger: what each item supports and its limitsEvidenceWhat it supportsLimitReward poster, 8 Apr. 1922The six victims, the place, the date, the prosecutor’s file reference and the first “Raubmord” framing.6Ages were wrong and the motive was assumed.Memorial card, 1922Names, birth dates and birthplaces.7A devotional print, not a civil register.Schlittenbauer’s statement, 5 Apr. 1922His relationship with the family, the paternity, the coffee seller on 1 April.12An account by the man who found the bodies and later became a suspect.Autopsy documentsThe injuries; the girl’s survival after the blow; the removal of the heads.5Second-hand, partly recorded in 1953, and contradictory on strangulation marks.Five scene photographsHow the bodies lay.3Not reproduced here. Few, and taken after the scene was disturbed.The ReuthaueA farm tool used and hidden by someone who knew the attic.13Found a year later during demolition; no fingerprints.Witnesses, 1–4 Apr.Someone was at the farm after the killings.3Several statements were taken years later; Hofner’s in 1925.Reported warning signsPossible entry or watching before the crime.38Recounted afterwards; no record made at the time.Money left behindWeakens a simple robbery motive.1How much was on the farm was never established.Brummer statement, 1924Karl Gabriel’s death in December 1914.189Given ten years later; consistent with other soldiers’ testimony and his grave.Rumour, séances, deathbed claimsLeads that shaped the investigation.13Not evidence. None was corroborated.2007 police-student reviewA modern reading of the surviving files.29A student project; it names no one and cannot prove anything. 14TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §14Suspect theoriesTen theories from the files and the press, all of them unprovenSuspect theories → what happened → statusEvery row is a theory · none proven · no culprit statedTheoryWhy suspectedWhat happenedAgainst / limitsStatus Lorenz SchlittenbauerOrtsführer, GröbernWhy suspectedRelationship with Viktoria; acknowledged father of Josef128Entered the house alone and unlocked it from inside3Reported remarks about the crime in the first person; a 1925 encounter at the ruins13What happenedGave a statement on 5 Apr. 1922; never charged121Won slander suits; died 19413Against / limitsNo physical evidence links him3The remarks are hearsay; his family described lifelong stigma48StatusDISPUTED unproven Karl GabrielSurvival theoryWhy suspectedRumour that Viktoria’s husband survived the war and took revenge12What happenedSoldiers of his regiment testified to his death; a 1924 statement to the Munich police183Against / limitsHis soldier’s grave in France was found and photographed9StatusDISPUTED unproven · contradicted by the record Josef BärtlEscaped asylum patientWhy suspectedBaker, born 1897 in Geisenfeld; fled the Günzburg asylum in 192113A medium picked his photograph at a séance1What happenedPress suspicion from April 192219Arrest warrant 1926; never found31Against / limitsA séance is not evidence; sightings never confirmed1StatusDISPUTED unproven Adolf and Anton GumpBrothersWhy suspectedWanted notice for Adolf, 9 Apr. 1922, over Freikorps Oberland killings in Upper Silesia31951 deathbed accusation by their sister to a priest3What happenedAnton held in custody 1951; proceedings dropped 1954. Adolf died 19443Against / limitsNo involvement could be shown3StatusDISPUTED unproven Andreas and Karl SchreyerBrothers, SattelbergWhy suspectedKnown as violent; hauled timber past the farm3A 1971 letter recalled their mother’s claim and a lost pocket knife3What happenedArrested 3 Aug. 1922, released173Against / limitsAlibi accepted; the knife was never attributed3StatusDISPUTED unproven Anton and Karl Bichler; Georg SieglNamed by a former maidWhy suspectedRieger said Anton knew the farm and the dog never barked at him3What happenedFollowed up; no charge3Against / limitsSingle-witness suspicion3StatusDISPUTED unproven The Thaler brothersNamed by a former maidWhy suspectedRieger said one questioned her at night about the family and their money3What happenedNo charge3Against / limitsSingle-witness suspicion3StatusDISPUTED unproven Peter WeberNamed by a co-workerWhy suspectedJosef Betz said Weber spoke of killing the old man for gold, 1919–203What happenedNo charge3Against / limitsSecond-hand account3StatusDISPUTED unproven Josef PertlWanted 1927Why suspectedSought by wanted poster in early 19273What happenedNo charge reported3Against / limitsBasis for suspicion not documented in the sources reviewedStatusDISPUTED unproven Josef PflegerArrested 1935Why suspectedHis daughter said he had confessed to her3What happenedArrested Jan. 1935; denied it; released within days3Against / limitsNo evidence found3StatusDISPUTED unproven Reading the matrixA list of suspicions, not a line-upMore than 100 people were considered over the years.3 The ten theories here are those the published sources discuss most. None reached a court, and the investigators of 1922, the prosecutors of the 1950s and the police students of 2007 all stopped short of naming a culprit.12 Popular books and forums often point at one name. That is opinion, and it is presented here as opinion.DISPUTEDEvery row is a theory. The record supports suspicion, arrests or questioning for some of these people and nothing more for any of them (Historisches Lexikon Bayerns (Bachmann, 2012); BR Heimat, 28 Mar. 2022).PARTIALMost of the detail in the matrix is single-sourced to German Wikipedia (gateway), which quotes archive files and the Salzburg and Bavarian press. The live post said Anton Gump was detained “in the early 1950s”: it was 1951, and the proceedings were dropped in 1954. It said soldiers “identified Karl Gabriel’s body”: they testified to his death. 15TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §15The investigation pathPolice, prosecutors, courts and reviewers: who handled the case, 1922–2026The investigation path · 1922 → 2026Read left to right, row by row · every stop sourcedPolice and prosecutionCourts and court officialsExperts and reviewsLatest014 Apr. 1922Gendarmerie HohenwartFirst on the scene; keep onlookers away.1024–5 Apr. 1922Polizeidirektion MünchenReingruber’s team arrives in the night; investigation led from Munich.13036 Apr. 1922Gerichtskommission SchrobenhausenInspection record (Augenscheinprotokoll) of Oberamtsrichter Konrad Wiessner.5046–7 Apr. 1922Landgerichtsarzt, NeuburgDr. Aumüller’s autopsies at the farm.5058 Apr. 1922Staatsanwaltschaft Neuburg a. D.Reward poster, file ref. A 169/1922.6061922 · 1923Forensic medicine, MunichProf. Merkel examines the Kreuzhacke and then the Reuthaue.1107Aug. 1922ArrestsThe Schreyer brothers are held and released.17308Jan. 1924Gendarmerie Rottenburg → MunichBrummer’s statement on Karl Gabriel’s death.18091926Staatsanwaltschaft NeuburgArrest warrant for Josef Bärtl.310Before 1941Civil courtsSchlittenbauer wins slander suits against people who called him the killer.3111951–1954StaatsanwaltschaftProceedings against Anton Gump; dropped 1954.3121955Investigation closedFormally closed without a charge reaching court.24132007Police college, FürstenfeldbruckStudent case analysis of the surviving files.29142018 · 2026Polizeimuseum · HauptstaatsarchivMüller’s files go to the Ingolstadt police museum; archive exhibition in Munich.36No legal pathWhy there is no appeal recordBecause no one was tried, there is no indictment, verdict or appeal to cite. The legal record consists of the prosecutor’s file, the arrests and releases, and the decision to close the investigation in 1955.62 The only court rulings connected with the case are civil: Schlittenbauer’s slander suits, and the plagiarism suit over the novel Tannöd, which the Landgericht München and the Oberlandesgericht rejected (§20).32VERIFIEDNo trial: Historisches Lexikon Bayerns (Bachmann, 2012); BR Heimat, 28 Mar. 2022; Süddeutsche Zeitung, 11 Mar. 2009. 16TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §16The 2007 Fürstenfeldbruck reviewWhat the police students found, what they declined to say, and why it proves nothing2007Fifteen police students and the old filesIn 2007 fifteen trainee police officers at the Fachhochschule für öffentliche Verwaltung und Rechtspflege in Bayern, in Fürstenfeldbruck, re-examined the case as a study project, working through the surviving documents again.28 German Wikipedia describes the result as a 188-page report.3 The project was led by Polizeihauptmeisterin Michaela Forderberg-Zankl.2PARTIALThe college name and the number of students: BR Heimat, 28 Mar. 2022; “15 angehende Kriminalbeamte” (Süddeutsche Zeitung, 30 Mar. 2012). The page count, the class and the title “Hinterkaifeck. Ein Mordfall und kein Ende” are from German Wikipedia (gateway) only. The live post called it a “modern review”; it was a student project, not an official reinvestigation.FindingsSloppy work in 1922, no name in 2007The students showed how carelessly the case had been investigated: “Nicht einmal Fingerabdrücke wurden genommen, obwohl das 1922 durchaus üblich war.” (Not even fingerprints were taken, although that was quite usual in 1922.)2 Their case analysis concluded that “Auslöser für die Tat war ein persönlicher, emotionaler Konflikt” (the trigger for the crime was a personal, emotional conflict).9 SZ reports their view that with today’s forensic methods the killer or killers would very probably have been caught.8 The report names no murderer. Its June 2007 conclusion, quoted by BR, says that one name “wird immer im Zusammenhang mit diesem mehrfachen Mord von Hinterkaifeck in unseren Köpfen auftauchen” (will always come to mind in connection with this multiple murder).2VERIFIEDQuotations from BR Heimat, 28 Mar. 2022 and Augsburger Allgemeine, 21 Mar. 2012. The live post’s “Police secretly solved it” myth is answered here: the project expressed a shared opinion and deliberately published no name.DISPUTEDIs the report public? BR (2022) says it “ist zwar öffentlich einsehbar” (can be viewed publicly). The Abendzeitung (2009) said the result was “unter Verschluss” (kept under wraps) (Abendzeitung München, 17 Nov. 2009).Limits“Der Tatnachweis ist definitiv nicht mehr zu führen”Forderberg-Zankl summed up in 2012: proof of the crime can definitely no longer be produced. “Es gibt keine Tatortspuren mehr. Das ist das Problem.” (There are no scene traces any more. That is the problem.) For the same reason, the Augsburger Allgemeine noted, DNA analysis doesn’t help.9 In 2022 she told BR that the covered bodies suggested the killer knew the victims and wanted to make some kind of amends, an interpretation, not a finding.2PARTIALGerman Wikipedia says that 15 years after the project its leader questioned its results and said she believed the main suspect was innocent, citing idowa, 2022 (paywalled).20 That article is paywalled and could not be read for this file, so the claim isn’t stated as fact.DISPUTEDCommentators often say which person the students had in mind. The report itself names no one, and this file doesn’t either. 17TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §17Archives and lossesWhich files survive, where the sources place them, and what is gone for goodWhere the files areStaatsarchiv München, Pol. Dir. 8091 bThe Historisches Lexikon Bayerns cites the Hinterkaifeck file as Staatsarchiv München, Polizeidirektion 8091 b, and credits its images of the farm, a police special bulletin and a wanted poster to that file.1 The Augsburger Allgemeine says the files Peter Leuschner used came from the Staatsarchive in Augsburg and Munich and are now online.9 The prosecuting office was the Staatsanwaltschaft Neuburg an der Donau.6VERIFIEDSignature from Historisches Lexikon Bayerns (Bachmann, 2012); the two archives from Augsburger Allgemeine, 21 Mar. 2012.PARTIALThe brief for this file mentioned Landeskriminalamt files. None of the sources reviewed places Hinterkaifeck records at the Bayerisches Landeskriminalamt, so this file doesn’t claim it. Which papers sit in Augsburg and which in Munich is given only as the sources cite it.What was lostFire, bombs and missing reportsMany files burned in Augsburg during the Second World War.24 No full autopsy report is known; it may have been lost or never written.5 The skulls are lost (§10).4 Witnesses were often questioned decades later; the last interviews are reported in 1986.3PARTIALGerman Wikipedia dates the Augsburg losses to a 1944 bombing raid (German Wikipedia (gateway)); BR and SZ say only that files burned in the war.What survivesCopies, a museum and an exhibitionKonrad Müller, a retired Kriminalhauptkommissar who kept investigating on his own, gave his collected files to the Bayerisches Polizeimuseum in Ingolstadt in 2018.3 In 2012 he said it still pained him that his colleagues of 1922 took no fingerprints.9 In March 2026 trainee archivists showed originals at the Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv in Munich, among them the reward poster, the memorial card and the Schlittenbauer and Brummer statements reproduced in §18.671218 18TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §18Document wallArchival exhibits: the poster, the memorial card and two police statementsThe record, not the spectacle. The pages below are photographs of the 1922–24 originals shown at the Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv in 2026, plus the inscription of the former Marterl. No crime-scene, autopsy or victim photographs are used. Commons also has a 2026 photograph of the exhibited scene photographs, which is deliberately left out.Document wall · CF-1 to CF-5Archival originals as photographed · tap a page to open the Commons recordExhibit CF-1Reward poster, 8 Apr. 1922“Sechsfacher Raubmord · 100,000 M. Belohnung!” Signed by the 1st Staatsanwalt, Neuburg a. D.; file ref. A 169/1922. Photo: Burkhard Mücke, CC BY-SA 4.0; 1922 official notice. Open sourceExhibit CF-2Memorial card, 1922The six victims with birth dates and birthplaces; printed in Hohenwart. No photographs of the victims. Photo: Burkhard Mücke, CC BY-SA 4.0; 1922 print. Open sourceExhibit CF-3Schlittenbauer statement, 5 Apr. 1922“Kaifeck hinter Gröbern 5.4.22 · Betreff: Mord an der Bauernfamilie Gabriel.” First of four typed pages (cropped). Photo: Burkhard Mücke, CC BY-SA 4.0; 1922 police record. Open sourceExhibit CF-4Brummer statement, Jan. 1924Gendarmerie-Hauptstation Rottenburg i. Ndb. to the Polizeidirektion München: a former NCO on Karl Gabriel and December 1914 (first sheet, cropped). Photo: Burkhard Mücke, CC BY-SA 4.0; 1924 police record. Open sourceExhibit CF-5Marterl inscription“Gottloser Mörderhand fiel am 31. März 1922 die Familie Gabriel-Gruber von hier zum Opfer,” with the victims’ birth years. Photo: Christian Greller, 2007, CC BY 2.0. Open source 19TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §19Myth vs. recordA century of retelling has turned reports into certaintiesMythThe killer is knownNo. No one was tried, and no court, prosecutor or official review has named a culprit. The 2007 students agreed on an opinion and deliberately withheld it.12MythThe police secretly solved itNo. The 2007 project was a student study, and its leader said proof “ist definitiv nicht mehr zu führen.”9MythFootprints led in and none led outThis is a report attributed to Andreas Gruber by later witnesses, about days before the crime. It isn’t a police finding.3MythThe killer lived in the attic for daysUnproven. Hollows in the hay and shifted tiles were noted, and have also been read as traces of the incest relationship. Someone was at the farm after the killings, but whether they stayed throughout is unknown.31MythIt was a robbery-murderThat was the 1922 working theory and the poster’s headline. A considerable sum was found, so most later writers doubt it.612MythKarl Gabriel came back from the warContradicted. Soldiers testified to his death in December 1914, and his grave in France has been found.189MythModern DNA could solve itNot without material. The scene traces and the skulls are gone; the AA’s summary is that DNA analysis “hilft nicht weiter.”94Record“Tannöd” is a novelAndrea Maria Schenkel’s 2006 novel transposes the case into fiction. A plagiarism suit by Peter Leuschner was rejected by the Landgericht München and the Oberlandesgericht.2 20TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §20Memory and afterlifeThe Marterl, the memorial, the novel and the tourismMemorialsMarterl, grave and a new memorialA Marterl (wayside shrine) near the site read “Gottloser Mörderhand fiel am 31. März 1922 die Familie Gabriel-Gruber von hier zum Opfer” (by a godless murderer’s hand the Gabriel-Gruber family of this place fell victim on 31 March 1922), followed by the six names.15 It stood until 2022.1 A new memorial was set up at the end of March 2025 where the Marterl had been.3 The victims lie in the cemetery at Waidhofen.4PARTIALThe Marterl gives 31 March as the date; the crime spanned the night of 31 March to 1 April (Reward poster, Neuburg a. D., 8 Apr. 1922). The 2025 memorial is dated only by German Wikipedia (gateway) and a 2025 Commons photograph.AfterlifeNovel, films and night walksThe case has been the subject of many books, plays and films: Esther Gronenborn’s film Hinter Kaifeck (2009), Bettina Oberli’s Tannöd (2009), based on Andrea Maria Schenkel’s novel, and Kurt Hieber’s documentaries.1134 SZ noted in 2012 that the crime was being “touristisch ausgeschlachtet” (exploited for tourism), with guided night walks to the site.8 Schlittenbauer’s daughter, Regina Weichselbaumer, told SZ how the suspicion weighed on the family.4Victim-first ruleSix people, not a haunted farmThe fame of the case has made the farm a horror brand. The six people killed, among them two children and a woman who had arrived that afternoon, are the reason the case matters. For another unsolved family killing see the Villisca axe murders, and for another European cold case Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?.Photo exhibit 04Free usePhoto. The Marterl near the former farm site, April 2007. It was removed in 2022.Photo: Andreas Keller / Wikimedia Commons · free use (Bild-frei)Photo exhibit 05CC0Photo. The new memorial near Gröbern, April 2025.Photo: Kililuki / Wikimedia Commons · CC0 21TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §21Related case filesOther unsolved cases and the site’s case-file seriesVillisca axe murdersAnother unsolved family massacre: eight killed in an Iowa house in 1912.Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?A European cold case where rumour outlived the evidence.Jack the RipperThe unsolved Whitechapel murders of 1888 and a century of named suspects.The Black Dahlia autopsyWhat an autopsy record can and cannot settle in an unsolved case.Unsolved casesThe site’s hub for open files.Charles Manson case fileThe previous case file in the series.Hillside Stranglers case fileAnother dossier-format case file.Christa Pike case fileThe case file that set this dossier format.Crime Dossier archiveEvery dossier-format file.The DocketCase files and court coverage.InfographicsThe section this post is filed under. 22TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §22Hinterkaifeck FAQDirect answers, without turning theory into factWho killed the Hinterkaifeck family?No one knows. No one was ever tried or convicted, and no court, prosecutor or official review has named a culprit. More than 100 people were considered as suspects. Every named theory, including those about Lorenz Schlittenbauer, Karl Gabriel, Josef Bärtl and the Gump brothers, remains unproven.12When did the Hinterkaifeck murders happen?In the night of 31 March to 1 April 1922. The bodies were found on 4 April 1922.61Who were the victims?Andreas Gruber, his wife Cäzilia Gruber, their widowed daughter Viktoria Gabriel, her children Cäzilia and Josef, and the maid Maria Baumgartner, who had arrived that afternoon. The sources give different ages for some of them.67Where was Hinterkaifeck?A single farm about 500 metres south-west of Gröbern, house no. 27½ of the then Gemeinde Wangen, near Schrobenhausen in Upper Bavaria. The area is now part of the municipality of Waidhofen, Landkreis Neuburg-Schrobenhausen. The farm was demolished in 1923.13What was the murder weapon?A Reuthaue, a grubbing mattock belonging to the farm, found hidden under the attic floor when the farm was demolished in 1923. The first reports in 1922 spoke of a pickaxe.13Did the killer stay at the farm after the murders?Someone did. In the four days before the discovery the animals were fed, the bread was eaten and smoke rose from the chimney. Whether one person stayed throughout or someone came back is not known.1What did the 2007 police review conclude?Fifteen police students in Fürstenfeldbruck found that the 1922 investigation was badly run and that no fingerprints were taken. They agreed among themselves on a likely culprit but published no name, and their project leader said proof can no longer be produced.29Can DNA solve the Hinterkaifeck case?Very unlikely. No scene traces are known to survive and the victims’ skulls are lost, so there is nothing reliable to test.94 23TDSH-CF-1922-HKF · §23Source ledgerArchival originals and the state lexicon first; press and historians second; Wikipedia only as a gatewayArchival original“Sechsfacher Raubmord – 100,000 M. Belohnung!”, reward poster of the 1st Staatsanwalt, Neuburg a. D., 8 April 1922, file ref. A 169/1922 (archival original, photographed at the Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv exhibition, 27 March 2026, by Burkhard Mücke, CC BY-SA 4.0)The Neuburg prosecutor’s reward poster: the victims, the place, the file reference and the reward.Notes 6Open source ↗Archival originalSterbebild (memorial card) “Gedenket im Gebete der sechs Todesopfer …”, printed by Buchdruckerei Ed. Pollinger, Hohenwart, 1922 (archival original, photographed 27 March 2026 by Burkhard Mücke, CC BY-SA 4.0)The 1922 memorial card: names, birth dates and birthplaces.Notes 7Open source ↗Archival originalWitness-statement record of Lorenz Schlittenbauer, Ortsführer of Gröbern, headed “Kaifeck hinter Gröbern 5.4.22” (archival original, photographed 27 March 2026 by Burkhard Mücke, CC BY-SA 4.0)Schlittenbauer’s statement of 5 April 1922.Notes 12Open source ↗Archival originalStatement of Josef Brummer on Karl Gabriel’s death, Gendarmerie-Hauptstation Rottenburg i. Ndb. to the Polizeidirektion München, 25 January 1924 (archival original, photographed 27 March 2026 by Burkhard Mücke, CC BY-SA 4.0)The 1924 Rottenburg statement on Karl Gabriel’s death.Notes 18Open source ↗State reference workChristoph Bachmann, “Kriminalfälle (19./20. Jahrhundert)”, Historisches Lexikon Bayerns, published 30 July 2012, section “Hinterkaifeck” (sources: Staatsarchiv München, Polizeidirektion 8091 b)The Bavarian state historical lexicon: the case summary and the archive signature.Notes 1Open source ↗Transcribed recordsDas Hinterkaifeck-Wiki, “Sachverhalte: Ergebnisse der Obduktion” (transcribed excerpts of the Polizeipräsidium München telephone note of 7 April 1922, Staatsanwalt Renner’s report of 10 April 1922 and Heinrich Ney’s statements of 1953; a volunteer transcription site, not an official archive)The autopsy findings, as transcribed from the 1922 and 1953 documents.Notes 5Open source ↗Transcribed recordsDas Hinterkaifeck-Wiki, “Ermittler: Merkel Hermann Prof. Dr.” (file references for the 1922 and 1923 weapon examinations)The weapon examinations of 1922 and 1923.Notes 11Open source ↗Contemporary pressMünchner Neueste Nachrichten, Abendblatt, 26 April 1922 (“Zum Raubmord in Hinterkaifeck”), digiPress, Bayerische StaatsbibliothekMunich press, April 1922: still a “Raubmord.”Notes 14Open source ↗Contemporary pressMünchner Neueste Nachrichten, Morgenblatt, 4 August 1922 (report on the Schreyer arrests), digiPress, Bayerische StaatsbibliothekMunich press on the August 1922 arrests.Notes 17Open source ↗Contemporary pressIngolstädter Anzeiger, Nr. 82, 9 April 1930 (eighth anniversary report), digiPress, Bayerische StaatsbibliothekThe eighth anniversary, 1930.Notes 16Open source ↗Contemporary pressSalzburger Wacht, 6 April 1922, p. 6, “Sechsfacher Mord” (ANNO, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek; quoted from the German Wikipedia transcription, not re-read for this file)The first Austrian report, April 1922, as transcribed.Notes 10Open source ↗Contemporary pressSalzburger Volksblatt, 22 April 1922, p. 6, “Der sechsfache Raubmörder ein Geisteskranker?” (ANNO; quoted from the German Wikipedia transcription, not re-read for this file)The Bärtl report, April 1922, as transcribed.Notes 19Open source ↗Public broadcasterPetra Martin, “100 Jahre danach: Der Mordfall von Hinterkaifeck”, BR Heimat (Bayerischer Rundfunk), 28 March 2022The centenary report: Leuschner, Hieber, the 2007 review.Notes 2Open source ↗NewspaperManuela Mayr, “Kriminalgeschichte: Hinterkaifeck oder der Reiz des Ungewissen”, Augsburger Allgemeine, 21 March 2012The 2007 review’s conclusions, Müller and the fingerprints.Notes 9Open source ↗NewspaperHans Kratzer, “90 Jahre nach der Tat von Hinterkaifeck: Mörderisches Mysterium”, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 30 March 2012The 90th anniversary: the discovery, the 2007 conclusion, the maid of 1921.Notes 8Open source ↗NewspaperStefan Mayr, “Mysteriöser Mord 1922: Geheimnis um eine siebte Leiche”, Süddeutsche Zeitung, print 11 March 2009 (online page dated 17 May 2010)The skulls, the burial and Schlittenbauer’s daughter.Notes 4Open source ↗NewspaperAngelika Kahl, “Der wahre Fall hinter ‘Tannöd’”, Abendzeitung München, 17 November 2009Hieber’s 2009 docudrama and the Fürstenfeldbruck reconstruction.Notes 13Open source ↗Memorial recordInscription on the former Marterl near Hinterkaifeck, photographed 16 January 2007 by Christian Greller (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0)The Marterl inscription with the victims’ birth years.Notes 15Open source ↗Gateway only“Hinterkaifeck”, German-language Wikipedia (consulted 30 September 2026 as a gateway to archive-quoted detail; every use is flagged)Archive-quoted detail not available elsewhere; every use flagged.Notes 3Open source ↗Not verified“Wie die Polizei heute im Mordfall Hinterkaifeck ermitteln würde”, idowa, 2022 (paywalled; only the teaser was readable)The 2022 claim about the project leader’s later view; paywalled, not used as fact.Notes 20Open source ↗Numbered notesChristoph Bachmann, “Kriminalfälle (19./20. Jahrhundert)”, Historisches Lexikon Bayerns, published 30 July 2012, section “Hinterkaifeck” (sources: Staatsarchiv München, Polizeidirektion 8091 b). www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.dePetra Martin, “100 Jahre danach: Der Mordfall von Hinterkaifeck”, BR Heimat (Bayerischer Rundfunk), 28 March 2022. www.br.de“Hinterkaifeck”, German-language Wikipedia (consulted 30 September 2026 as a gateway to archive-quoted detail; every use is flagged). de.wikipedia.orgStefan Mayr, “Mysteriöser Mord 1922: Geheimnis um eine siebte Leiche”, Süddeutsche Zeitung, print 11 March 2009 (online page dated 17 May 2010). www.sueddeutsche.deDas Hinterkaifeck-Wiki, “Sachverhalte: Ergebnisse der Obduktion” (transcribed excerpts of the Polizeipräsidium München telephone note of 7 April 1922, Staatsanwalt Renner’s report of 10 April 1922 and Heinrich Ney’s statements of 1953; a volunteer transcription site, not an official archive). wiki.hinterkaifeck.net“Sechsfacher Raubmord – 100,000 M. Belohnung!”, reward poster of the 1st Staatsanwalt, Neuburg a. D., 8 April 1922, file ref. A 169/1922 (archival original, photographed at the Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv exhibition, 27 March 2026, by Burkhard Mücke, CC BY-SA 4.0). commons.wikimedia.orgSterbebild (memorial card) “Gedenket im Gebete der sechs Todesopfer …”, printed by Buchdruckerei Ed. Pollinger, Hohenwart, 1922 (archival original, photographed 27 March 2026 by Burkhard Mücke, CC BY-SA 4.0). commons.wikimedia.orgHans Kratzer, “90 Jahre nach der Tat von Hinterkaifeck: Mörderisches Mysterium”, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 30 March 2012. www.sueddeutsche.deManuela Mayr, “Kriminalgeschichte: Hinterkaifeck oder der Reiz des Ungewissen”, Augsburger Allgemeine, 21 March 2012. www.augsburger-allgemeine.deSalzburger Wacht, 6 April 1922, p. 6, “Sechsfacher Mord” (ANNO, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek; quoted from the German Wikipedia transcription, not re-read for this file). anno.onb.ac.atDas Hinterkaifeck-Wiki, “Ermittler: Merkel Hermann Prof. Dr.” (file references for the 1922 and 1923 weapon examinations). wiki.hinterkaifeck.netWitness-statement record of Lorenz Schlittenbauer, Ortsführer of Gröbern, headed “Kaifeck hinter Gröbern 5.4.22” (archival original, photographed 27 March 2026 by Burkhard Mücke, CC BY-SA 4.0). commons.wikimedia.orgAngelika Kahl, “Der wahre Fall hinter ‘Tannöd’”, Abendzeitung München, 17 November 2009. www.abendzeitung-muenchen.deMünchner Neueste Nachrichten, Abendblatt, 26 April 1922 (“Zum Raubmord in Hinterkaifeck”), digiPress, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. digipress.digitale-sammlungen.deInscription on the former Marterl near Hinterkaifeck, photographed 16 January 2007 by Christian Greller (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0). commons.wikimedia.orgIngolstädter Anzeiger, Nr. 82, 9 April 1930 (eighth anniversary report), digiPress, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. digipress.digitale-sammlungen.deMünchner Neueste Nachrichten, Morgenblatt, 4 August 1922 (report on the Schreyer arrests), digiPress, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. digipress.digitale-sammlungen.deStatement of Josef Brummer on Karl Gabriel’s death, Gendarmerie-Hauptstation Rottenburg i. Ndb. to the Polizeidirektion München, 25 January 1924 (archival original, photographed 27 March 2026 by Burkhard Mücke, CC BY-SA 4.0). commons.wikimedia.orgSalzburger Volksblatt, 22 April 1922, p. 6, “Der sechsfache Raubmörder ein Geisteskranker?” (ANNO; quoted from the German Wikipedia transcription, not re-read for this file). anno.onb.ac.at“Wie die Polizei heute im Mordfall Hinterkaifeck ermitteln würde”, idowa, 2022 (paywalled; only the teaser was readable). www.idowa.de Revised case file prepared Sept. 30, 2026 (ET) from TDSH’s “The Hinterkaifeck Murders: Evidence, Myths, and the Unsolved 1922 Cold Case” (published July 15, 2026), with fact-check corrections applied. Editorial standard: the surviving 1922–24 originals, the state archive references cited by the Historisches Lexikon Bayerns, the reported autopsy findings and contemporary press come before later retellings. The case was never tried, so every suspect theory is marked as unproven, and no culprit is named. Source conflicts on ages, dates, the weapon and the skulls are shown rather than resolved. German Wikipedia is used only as a gateway and is flagged wherever it is the sole source.