Brigitte Mohnhaupt
Brigitte Margret Ida Mohnhaupt is a German convicted former terrorist associated with the second generation of the Red Army Faction members. She was also part of the Socialist Patients' Collective. From 1971 until 1982 she was active within the RAF.
Early life
Mohnhaupt was born in Rheinberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, the daughter of an employee in a publishing house.After her parents' divorce in 1960 she stayed with her mother. She took her abitur in 1967 in Bruchsal, and later that year enrolled with the philosophy department at the University of Munich. She was married to Rolf Heissler from 1968 to 1970. While in Munich, she joined the local commune scene, where she met core figures of the 1960s student movement such as Rainer Langhans, Fritz Teufel and Uschi Obermaier. In 1969, she participated in a demonstration in the USA cultural centre in Munich to protest against the Vietnam War. She was reportedly influenced by Carlos Marighella's Manual of the Urban Guerilla.
Activities as a member of the RAF
Mohnhaupt was first a member of the Socialist Patients' Collective, known by its German acronym, SPK. Together with fellow commune member Irmgard Möller, she joined the Red Army Faction around 1971 after the SPK dissolved, and helped with organization, logistics, and weapon procurement. Below is a timeline of Mohnhaupt's major acts as a member of the RAF.- 9 June 1972: Mohnhaupt was arrested in Berlin in connection with the RAF and sentenced to prison for involvement with a criminal organization, identity document forgery, and illegal weapon possession.
- Shortly after Ulrike Meinhof's death in prison in 1976, Mohnhaupt was, on her own request, transferred to Stammheim Prison where the majority of other RAF prisoners were held captive. In Stammheim Prison she met Gudrun Ensslin, Andreas Baader, and Jan-Carl Raspe, and was reportedly trained by them to become a leader of the RAF.
- She was released on 8 February 1977, and immediately went underground and continued her work with the RAF.
- Mohnhaupt was a major player in the German Autumn: she was involved in the 1977 assassinations of chief federal prosecutor Siegfried Buback in Karlsruhe and banker Jürgen Ponto, chairman of the Dresdner Bank board of directors, in Oberursel, Taunus. She was also involved in the kidnapping and murder of employer representative Hanns Martin Schleyer.
- 11 May 1978 Mohnhaupt, Sieglinde Hofmann, Rolf Clemens Wagner, and Peter-Jürgen Boock were arrested in Zagreb, Yugoslavia.
- 17 November 1978 – Mohnhaupt and three other RAF members were allowed to leave Yugoslavia for a country of their choice because West Germany turned down an offer from Yugoslavia to extradite them in exchange for eight Croatian political fugitives in West Germany.
- 15 September 1981 Mohnhaupt took part in an assassination attempt on U.S. General Frederick Kroesen using an RPG-7 anti-tank rocket.
Arrest and imprisonment
Her arrest was a massive blow to the RAF.
On 12 February 2007 amidst widespread media controversy, the appellate court of Stuttgart gave Mohnhaupt parole effective of 27 March 2007. She routinely qualified for early release after serving her mandatory sentence.
Parole was granted since she was no longer a danger to society according to a psychological expert and the Attorney [General of Germany|Federal Attorney General]. Unlike other RAF members, Mohnhaupt had never applied for clemency.
She was released from Aichach prison on 25 March 2007.