Wolfgang Grams


Wolfgang Werner 'Gaks' Grams was a member of the Red Army Faction, a German far-left terrorist organization. Grams went underground in 1984 and subsequently belonged to the command level of the RAF's third generation. During an attempt to arrest him by GSG 9, the counter‑terrorism unit of the Federal Border Guard, in Bad Kleinen, he was shot and, according to the findings of the Staatsanwaltschaft Schwerin —reviewed multiple times by the courts—died by suicide. The exact circumstances of his death remain disputed. Within parts of the political left, the view persists that Grams was deliberately killed by officers involved in the operation.

Life

Wolfgang Grams was born in Wiesbaden, West Germany. His father, Werner, had volunteered for service in the Waffen-SS during the Second World War. After 1945, he and his wife Ruth fled from the eastern territories. Wolfgang also had a brother named Rainer.
In his youth, the family lived near the Wiesbaden Army Airfield, and Grams took part in protests against the Vietnam War.
While living in a commune, he was given the nickname "Gaks." After the arrest of Andreas Baader and Gudrun Ensslin, he began visiting Red Army Faction prisoners, believing the conditions of solitary confinement to be inhumane.
Grams's name was later found in the notebook of an RAF member who was killed during an arrest attempt. He was held in custody for 153 days and received compensation in 1980 for his wrongful detention. He subsequently met Birgit Hogefeld, a leading member of the Red Army Faction, with whom he began a relationship, and the two eventually moved in together.
On 15 February 1987, the Tagesschau on ARD broadcast a bulletin on Grams and Hogefeld. He was described as tall, with blue-green eyes and a distinctive dark skin discoloration on his face. From 1984 onward, he lived underground. He returned home only once, in the autumn of 1990, to meet his parents in the Taunus region.
Later DNA evidence linked Grams to the 1991 killing of Detlev Karsten Rohwedder.

Bad Kleinen operation

Shooting and death

On 27 June 1993, officers from the Federal Criminal Police Office and the GSG 9 counter‑terrorism unit of the Federal Border Guard were deployed to arrest Grams and Hogefeld at the Bad Kleinen railway station. During the attempted arrest, Grams ran up the stairs toward the tracks, pursued by six GSG 9 officers. He turned and fired ten shots at the officers on the platform, who returned fire. Two officers were injured, and GSG 9 officer Michael Newrzella was struck by four bullets and died on the platform. Grams fell backward onto the track after being shot in the abdomen and remained lying there. In the immediate aftermath, he reportedly attempted to take his own life; he was airlifted to the Medizinische Universität zu Lübeck, where he died later that day.

Controversy and investigations

Shortly after the operation, allegations emerged that Grams had not shot himself but had been executed with a close‑range shot to the head by a GSG 9 officer. Doubts later arose about the reliability of this claim and of an anonymous witness statement. Independent investigators from Switzerland concluded that the fatal shot had come from Grams' own weapon, suggesting suicide. Some forensic traces had been compromised; for example, the right hand of the deceased had been cleaned to obtain clear fingerprints, removing possible gunshot residue that could have supported a suicide finding. Despite these issues, the Staatsanwaltschaft Schwerin investigated the allegations and concluded in January 1994 that there were no indications supporting the execution claim. Grams' parents challenged this conclusion in court, but it was upheld by five different courts, including the European Court of Human Rights in 1999.

Political consequences

Interior Minister Rudolf Seiters took responsibility for the poor conduct and handling of the operation and resigned in July of that year, as did Chief Federal Prosecutor Alexander von Stahl. Chancellor Helmut Kohl visited the GSG 9 unit, praised Officer Newrzella, and discouraged "attempts to portray Grams — who had killed Newrzella — as a martyr."

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