Günter Routhier

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Günter Routhier (born November 4, 1928 , † June 18, 1974 in Essen ), partly wrong Günther Routhier , was an early retiree from Duisburg who died after a police action in June 1974. More than a thousand people who, out of indignation at the circumstances of death, such as the Communist Party of Germany / Marxist-Leninists (KPD / ML), accused the police of murder or who spread the murder allegation in any form, were prosecuted .

The happening

Günter Routhier, who took early retirement, took part in a labor court trial in Duisburg on June 5, 1974, which involved the dismissal of a Mannesmann worker who belonged to the KPD / ML. When his lawsuit for reinstatement was dismissed, unrest arose in the crowded courtroom, whereupon the auditorium was immediately cleared by police officers. Günter Routhier was arrested and led down the steps of the court by the police, banging his head against the wall and the floor. After about two weeks, Günter Routhier died in a hospital from a cerebral haemorrhage . During the later autopsy in a clinic in Essen , an expert determined that this cerebral haemorrhage was not due to the use of force. A second report by the director of the Forensic Medicine Institute in Berlin, Walter Krauland , "came to the opposite conclusion: there is no doubt about the violent cause of Günter Routhier's death, and the date of the crime, based on the findings, could be June 5th, 1974."

Murder charges

The KPD / ML, which had accepted him as a member shortly before his death, responded to Günter Routhier's death in leaflets , in the central organ of Roter Morgen and on wall slogans with accusations of murder against the police and the state. Several other left-wing organizations and individuals also repeated this allegation in speeches, on leaflets or in the distribution of party newspapers. On the occasion of Routhier's funeral on June 24, 1974 in Duisburg there was a ban on demonstrations and clashes, in which, according to official information, 96 demonstrators were arrested and 14 police officers were injured.

The law enforcement response

Because of the public interest , the political department of the police in Duisburg filed criminal charges against spreaders of the murder allegation in each individual case . The most prominent victims of the persecution measures were two professors, the sociologist Christian Sigrist and the literary scholar Gerhard Schneider .

literature

  • Helmut Loeven : Never forget: Günther [!] Routhier , in Der Funke , Hamburg, No. 13/1974, p. 18 (possibly reprint from another magazine, with an illustration of the death notices of the family and the KPD / ML, spelling of the first name : Günter )
  • (anon.): "Not objectionable". The public prosecutor closes the investigation in the Routhier case , in: Kommunistische Volkszeitung (KVZ), No. 10 of March 13, 1975, p. 14
  • (anon.): Suspended from duty , in: KVZ No. 43 of October 30, 1975, p. 10 (Case Professor Gerhard Schneider )
  • (anon.): The truth punished with prison , in: KVZ No. 11 of March 18, 1976, p. 9 (case of a bookseller)
  • Rosemary Callmann: The Sigrist Case . An uncomfortable professor is persecuted in Münster , in: Die Zeit , No. 11 of March 4, 1977, p. 13
  • Selma Schelling: Death of a worker and persecution of an indignant professor , in: Berliner Extra-Dienst , No. 26 / XI of April 1, 1977, pp. 11-12
  • Judgment. Christian Sigrist [...] , in: Der Spiegel . No. 44/1978, S. 284 ( heading "REGISTER")
  • acm .: Prof. Sigrist convicted of “defamation” , in: KVZ No. 15 of April 6, 1981, p. 2
  • Hellmut Brunn, Thomas Kirn: Lawyers - Linksanwälte , Frankfurt am Main (Eichborn) 2004 ( thousands of proceedings , pp. 295–297) ISBN 3-8218-5586-X
  • Andreas Kühn: Stalin's grandchildren, Mao's sons: the world of the K groups in the Federal Republic of the 1970s , Frankfurt / Main (Campus Verlag) 2005 ( Attitude to violence and one's own use of violence , pp. 161–168, with further references in the bibliography) ISBN 3-593-37865-5
  • KPD : Documentation on the Günther Routhier case , self-published, Cologne 1974
  • Communist Party of Germany - Marxist-Leninists (ed.): Comrade Günther Routhier is dead, the police killed him! Documentation , Dortmund 1974

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The death of Günter Routhier in the mirror of the radical left
  2. ↑ KPD / ML and Red Guard: Revenge for the police murder of our comrade Günter Routhier. Down with his murderers! Down with the terror of the police! , (Leaflet), illustration in A. Kühn, p. 162
  3. ↑ The assassination attempt also medically proven , in: RM No. 25 of June 22, 1974, p. 2
  4. ↑ Police murder of Günter Routhier , in: KVZ No. 13 of June 26, 1974, p. 1 (this edition was confiscated like several issues of the Red Morning , see e.g. (dpa) Police confiscated “Red Morning” , in : Rhein-Neckar Zeitung No. 178 of August 5, 1974, p. 9 [Action in Bielefeld])
  5. ↑ Verfassungsschutz Report NRW 1974  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , P. 8@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.im.nrw.de  
  6. ↑ Cf. Evangelical student community in the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin: Amnesty for those convicted in the Routhier trials! Suspension of all preliminary investigations! Documents of the previous course of the initiative to establish the truth in the Routhier trials , Stuttgart 1976; Documentation of the disciplinary proceedings against Prof. Dr. Gerhard Schneider 1974-1978, Frankfurt am Main 1979 (brochure)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Routhier, Günter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Routhier, Günther
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German early retiree whose death in 1974 in connection with a police operation led to protests and legal disputes
DATE OF BIRTH November 4, 1928
DATE OF DEATH June 18, 1974
Place of death eat