Get the full EPUB
The EPUB is part of the HistorIQly Plus library. The case file on this page stays free to read.
This EPUB is already in your library. The case file on this page stays free to read.
Download EPUBPlus includes every book in the library. See what Plus includes
Every book in the library is yours to download.
All EPUBs are in English. Translations are coming.
On March 31, 1922, six people were bludgeoned to death with a mattock on a remote Bavarian farmstead called Hinterkaifeck. Four bodies were found in the barn and two in the house. Reports of smoke and surviving livestock suggested that someone may have remained after the killings. The familiar sequence of victims lured to the barn and an offender staying for three days is a reconstruction.
Footprints had appeared in the snow days earlier, leading to the farm but not away. Over a century later, the surviving evidence has not established who killed the household or who was responsible for any activity afterward.
6
Victims killed with a single mattock on one night. Four in the barn, two in the house. The youngest was two years old. A seven-year-old survived the initial attack and lay dying for hours beside her family.
3+
After the murders, someone remained at the farm — feeding animals, eating food, lighting fires. Neighbours saw chimney smoke and suspected nothing.
100+
Over a hundred men were interrogated. Multiple investigations spanned decades. No one was ever charged.
103+
A police college project reconsidered the surviving records in 2007. It did not establish the killer's identity; claims of completed DNA testing require evidence.
The Evidence
The Isolated Farm
Hinterkaifeck sat hidden behind forest, a kilometre from the nearest hamlet. The single-storey complex — house, stable, and barn connected by a narrow passage — was the perfect killing ground. The passage meant victims could be lured one by one. The isolation meant no one would hear.
4 DEAD → 2 DEAD
One by One
Andreas, his wife Cäzilia, Viktoria, and seven-year-old Cäzilia were found in the barn, their bodies covered with hay. Maria Baumgartner and Josef were found in the dwelling. The injuries indicated a heavy implement; the order of the attacks and how each person reached the barn remain uncertain.
The Warning Signs
Days before the murders, Andreas found footprints in the snow leading from the forest to the farm — but none leading away. A Munich newspaper appeared from nowhere. A household key vanished. The previous maid had quit, claiming the house was haunted. Strange footsteps echoed from the empty attic. Someone had been watching.
The Final Days
Warning Signs
Footprints in the snow lead to the farm but not away. A strange newspaper appears. A key vanishes. The attic creaks with invisible footsteps. Someone is inside.
The Murders
New maid Maria Baumgartner arrives that afternoon. That evening, all six inhabitants are killed with a mattock. Four in the barn, two in the house. The youngest victim is two years old.
The Killer Stays
Someone remains at the farm for days. Animals are fed. Fires are lit. Smoke rises from the chimney. Neighbours see nothing unusual. Young Cäzilia misses school. The family misses church.
Discovery
Neighbour Lorenz Schlittenbauer discovers the bodies. By the time investigators arrive from Munich, dozens of people have trampled through the crime scene. The evidence is destroyed before it can be collected.
Cold Case Reopened
Police college students reconsider the historical investigation using modern approaches. The project produces no demonstrated identification. Missing evidence and deceased witnesses limit what can be tested.
Key Elements
Hinterkaifeck
A secluded farmstead in Bavaria, hidden behind forest, connected to the world by a single dirt track. Built around 1863, demolished in 1923. The farm where six people were murdered — and where reported activity after the deaths raised an unresolved question about who remained.
Rural Bavaria
The Gruber family's incestuous secret was known throughout the neighbouring villages. Andreas had been convicted in 1915. The extent of each neighbour's knowledge and response is not established. After the murders, over a hundred local men were questioned. No member of the community was proved responsible.
Still Unanswered
A traditional Bavarian Marterl marks the site where the farm once stood. The inscription names all six victims. The headless bodies rest in Waidhofen cemetery — their skulls were sent to Munich for analysis and lost during World War II.
Still Unsolved
Over a century has passed since someone walked out of the forest, killed six people, and vanished back into the Bavarian countryside. The farm is gone. The suspects are dead. The skulls are lost. The truth is buried.
But the silence of Hinterkaifeck endures — and so does the question: who stayed?
Get the Full Book
Explore the farm, the investigation and the competing explanations for the six murders.