Fantasies of Violence. German citizens expressing their concepts of violence and ideas about democracy in letters referring to the case of the serial killer Jürgen Bartsch (1966-1971)
Serial killers fascinate people. The fascination becomes visible in different forms, one of those is the focus of this article. After his arrest in 1966 Jürgen Bartsch (1946-1976) confessed the murder of four boys. Local and national media reported extensively about the case. Bartsch’s first sentenc...
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| Argitaratua izan da: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/chs, |
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| Egile nagusia: | |
| Formatua: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Hizkuntza: | Français |
| Argitaratua: |
Crime, Histoire & Sociétés
2010
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| Sarrera elektronikoa: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Gaia: | Serial killers fascinate people. The fascination becomes visible in different forms, one of those is the focus of this article. After his arrest in 1966 Jürgen Bartsch (1946-1976) confessed the murder of four boys. Local and national media reported extensively about the case. Bartsch’s first sentence, passed in 1967, was revised by the Federal Court in 1969. Two years later the final sentence was found. During these years about 250 German citizens sent letters to the responsible institutions. They did not only express opinions and anger but also their proper concepts of violence and ideas about democracy. Moreover, the letters show ways of communication in a media society. The 1960s were the time of significant changes in West German society; the letters highlight currents of persisting stereotypes about the criminals as the ‘others’: Almost regardless of the discussions and explanations in the courtroom, which represent the changing scientific attitudes towards sexual offenders in the 1960s and 1970s, there persisted retaliatory logic and anti-democratic positions within public opinion. |
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