Richard Oetker

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Richard Oetker (born January 4, 1951 in Bielefeld ) is a German entrepreneur and the son of the factory owner Rudolf-August Oetker . After his kidnapping in 1976, he became a member of the board of directors of the Weißer Ring association , which campaigns for crime victims. From 2010 to 2016 he was managing director of the family business Dr. August Oetker KG .

education and profession

Richard Oetker studied brewing and agricultural sciences at the Technical University of Munich . Since 1996 he has been managing director of the food division of Dr. August Oetker KG , the Dr. August Oetker Nahrungsmittel KG . His areas of responsibility include organization and personnel, he also takes care of business in Austria , Italy and Switzerland and drives expansion in Eastern Europe . Richard Oetker has been a personally liable partner of Dr. August Oetker KG. This post had been held by his brother August Oetker since January 1, 1981 , who retired at the age of 65 and took over the chairmanship of the company's advisory board.

kidnapping

The kidnapping of Richard Oetker and the payment of a ransom of DM 21 million made national headlines at the end of 1976 . The case is still used today for comparison with the kidnappings of industrialists and entrepreneurs.

On December 14, 1976 around 6:45 p.m., the then student Richard Oetker was kidnapped by Dieter Zlof from the parking lot of the University of Weihenstephan in Freising . The 1.94 m tall Oetker was held captive in a 1.45 m long and 70 cm wide wooden box that was inside a delivery truck. The delivery truck was parked in a commercial yard on Planegger Strasse in Munich-Pasing . Oetker could only lie in the box in an embryonic position. The box was equipped with an intercom and a baby monitor, and an acoustically controlled device was supposed to give Oetker an electric shock when he called for help or tried to escape using the handcuffs on his hands and feet. When the kidnapper touched the tin roof of the van when opening the garage door in the morning, this device was triggered. Oetker's screams and bumps against the box extended the administration of the electric shocks to about 10 seconds. Richard Oetker was almost killed and suffered fractures of the seventh and eighth thoracic vertebrae and both thigh necks from the muscle spasms that took place . However, the danger to life was mainly due to the damage to Oetker's lungs from the uninterrupted extremely cramped lying position. Oetker's probability of survival was therefore estimated by doctors to be 50 percent immediately after the kidnapping. According to Oetker's own statement, the electric shock saved his life, as he was then allowed to sit up in the open box, thus avoiding even greater damage to the lungs. The condition and urgent treatment of Oetker's lungs delayed treatment of his other injuries, which exacerbated their consequences.

Richard Oetker's father paid a record ransom of DM 21 million in 1000-mark bills. The sum was calculated according to the volume of a standard suitcase that fit into a hidden recess in the transport vehicle to be used. The ransom was handed over on December 16, 1976 at 1:45 p.m. in the basement of the Stachus in Munich thanks to a trick by the kidnapper or the kidnappers who took the ransom suitcase through an emergency exit door to a supply shaft that could only be opened from the inside. The relatives were then informed of the whereabouts of Oetker, who was left lying in a car, in the Kreuzlinger Forst southwest of Munich. The kidnapping had lasted 47 hours. Immediately after the victim was released, an extensive search campaign by the criminal police began. From September 9, 1977, the Deutsche Post in conjunction with the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office switched on a post announcement service for two weeks , where the kidnapper's voice was played in various recordings at the local rate, which at that time was a novelty in the German public investigation. Dieter Zlof was arrested as a perpetrator only after two years. The arrest was achieved by publicly playing the tape with Zlof's voice, which he used for blackmail. Attentive neighbors recognized him. He denied the act, but was sentenced in a sensational circumstantial trial on June 9, 1980 to a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Der Spiegel wrote about Richard Oetker's behavior in the trial against Zlof:

“Richard Oetker's statements are flawless. As difficult as he was drawn, he tries hard not to say anything lightly. As a victim of an act, one cannot behave in a fairer or more humane manner. "

Richard Oetker was only able to walk with crutches for four years, he had to undergo repeated operations until 1994 and is severely handicapped to this day . After the 1980 trial of the kidnapper, he withdrew from the public eye. It was only when Dieter Zlof wanted to capitalize on his late confession with a film adaptation that Oetker supported an alternative film adaptation of the kidnapping, which was broadcast in 2001 as a two-part TV series entitled Der Tanz mit dem Teufel - Die Entführung des Richard Oetker . Only since 2006 has he made public statements about his kidnapping as part of his work for the White Ring.

Awards

literature

documentation

  • German Dynasties - The Oetkers. Documentary, Germany, 2010, 44 min., A film by Manfred Oldenburg, production: WDR , series: Deutsche Dynastien, first broadcast: ARD , November 15, 2010, online video and synopsis ( memento from January 20, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) the ARD.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Richard Oetker fell at home . Focus Online, June 21, 2016
  2. ↑ Company history. In: oetker-gruppe.de. Archived from the original on September 20, 2009 ; accessed on January 6, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Johannes Ritter: From Oetker to Oetker. In: FAZ.net . March 7, 2008, accessed January 6, 2017 .
  4. ↑ Germany's biggest criminal cases , season 1, episode 2. Sent on Kabel 1 on February 12, 2017.
  5. ^ Richard Oetker: Chronicle of a kidnapping - TV. In: Spiegel Online . November 8, 2001, accessed January 6, 2017 .
  6. ↑ a b Interview with Richard Oetker on the radio show "SWR 1 People" on April 15, 2008.
  7. ↑ "The kidnappers have rogued us". In: Der Spiegel , 53/1976 of December 27, 1976.
  8. ↑ File number XY unsolved , shipment 99 of September 9, 1977
  9. ↑ Rüdiger Jungbluth: The Oetkers, shops and secrets of the most famous economic dynasty in Germany . 1st edition. Bastei Lübbe paperback, Bergisch Gladbach 2006, ISBN 978-3-422-02112-9 . P. 279.
personal data
SURNAME Oetker, Richard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur and kidnapping victim
DATE OF BIRTH 4th January 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Bielefeld