Documentaries about the RAF victims

In the photo above: Gudrun Ensslin (Lilith Stangenberg) at the Stammheim trial.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Stammheim Trial in May 2025, a docudrama and an accompanying documentary provide unusual insights – both into the world of the first generation of the RAF when they stood trial in Stuttgart, and into the perspectives of the victims' families.

The docudrama "Stammheim – Time of Terror" and the documentary "In the Shadow of the Murderers – The Unknown Victims of the RAF" will be shown on ARD from May 17th. Media Library available.

On May 19, Das Erste will show the docudrama at 20:15 p.m. and the accompanying documentary at 21:45 p.m.

The Stammheim trial

It was one of the most complex legal investigations in the Federal Republic of Germany and held the world in suspense: The Stammheim trial against the leadership of the first generation of the RAF, which began on May 21, 1975, was a court case of superlatives.

Countless tapes, 15.000 pages of verbatim transcripts, and rare archival material make the trial one of the best-documented in history. The proceedings turned Stammheim into a landmark for the RAF.

Docudrama “Stammheim – Time of Terror”

The docudrama reconstructs the lives of Andreas Baader (Henning Flüsloh), Gudrun Ensslin (Lilith Stangenberg), Jan-Carl Raspe (Rafael Stachowiak) and Ulrike Meinhof (Tatiana Nekrasov) on the seventh floor of the Stammheim Prison and shows the events on the public stage in the adjacent courtroom.

The film utilizes new, unusual perspectives. For example, the drama is experienced through the eyes of Horst Bubeck, who, as a prison officer in the cell block, had the most intensive contact with the inmates. The storytelling is complemented by the introduction of a second dramatic level: the investigative committee from 1977/78, which retrospectively analyzed the events in the cell block of the prison up to the "night of death in Stammheim."

Original footage of the trial and the investigative committee exists, which is interwoven with staged material in this docudrama. The scenic sections of the docudrama, filmed at the original location on the seventh floor of Stammheim Prison, are based on transcripts, secret messages, and the recollections of those involved at the time.

The screenplay was written by Stefan Aust and Niki Stein. Other roles include Moritz Führmann (Horst Bubeck), Heino Ferch (BKA officer Alfred Klaus), and Hans-Jochen Wagner (chairman of the investigative committee).

“Stammheim – Time of Terror” is a production by Spiegel TV on behalf of SWR (lead), NDR and rbb for ARD.

Previously unknown perspectives

The prominent victims of the first generation of RAF terrorists are remembered—above all, Hanns Martin Schleyer and Alfred Herrhausen. However, the names of those murdered who were not prominent are almost completely forgotten: police officers, drivers, government employees, and a diplomat.

These murdered men, barely known today, were people with their own lives; some of them had children. These children were twelve, thirteen, or only two years old when the RAF made them half-orphans. They grew up in the shadow of their fathers' murders. And they still have to live with the consequences today. This has left a deep mark on their lives.

They have important things to say: about themselves and their fathers, about their families – but not least about how the state and society in Germany dealt with the terrorism of the 70s and what we can learn from this for dealing with terrorism today.

Documentary “In the Shadow of the Murderers”

The accompanying documentary, "In the Shadow of the Murderers – The Unknown Victims of the RAF," tells the story of the children of the murdered victims. It offers an important addition to the history of the RAF, which focuses not on the perpetrators but on the children of the murdered victims.

The central elements of the documentary are the interviews with the bereaved. In addition, the filmmakers accompanied them to places of their shared fate and memories. Furthermore, they opened their photo albums and provided private videos for the documentary.

"In the Shadow of the Murderers – The Unknown Victims of the RAF" is a SWR production. The authors are Holger Schmidt and Thomas Schneider.

Sierks Media / © Photo: SWR, Hendrik Heiden