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Mar 4, 2020 · In October 1906, a man in a Prussian captain’s uniform arrested the mayor and treasurer of Köpenick, outside Berlin, for “irregularities.” He demanded to see the town’s funds, which were duly handed over to him. He then marched off, ostensibly to inspect them—and just kept on marching.
- Wilhelm Voight – Early Years
- Moving to Berlin
- The Coup
- How ID Ended
- Aftermath
Wilhelm Voigt was born in Tilsit on 13 February 1849 as the son of a shoemaker. Already at the age of 14, Voigt was arrested for stealing, and after this he became a shoemaker who traveled around Germany. However, in the following years, he was arrested several times for various crimes. Between 1864 and 1891 he was convicted four times for theft an...
Thereupon he moved to Rixdorf near Berlin, where he lived with his older sister Bertha and her husband, the bookbinder Menz, and found work in a shoe factory. On 24 August 1906 Wilhelm Voigt was also banned from living in the greater Berlin area, although he did not adhere to it. Instead he stayed as a “Schlafbursche” in an unannounced accommodatio...
Voigt started making plans for a coup. He purchased used parts of a captain uniform of the first regiment and gave orders to several soldiers he found on the streets. Those did not recognize his costume and together they took off for Köpenickand made a short stop for a couple of beers. On their way, he explained that he is going to have the mayor a...
After the end of his action the captain of Köpenick gave his troops the order to keep the town hall occupied for half an hour. He himself went back to the station under the eyes of a curious crowd. According to newspaper reports, he was served a glass of light in the station restaurant, which he emptied in one go, and disappeared on the next train ...
All over Germany, people laughed about this act of desperation and even the court saw that not having any perspective in life after prison caused this kind of behavior. Every newspaper in the country started writing about the false captain, poems, stories and even theater plays were created and kept the political and cultural scene Germany’s busy f...
4 days ago · After a drunken spree, he learns that there is a reward for the arrest of the ‘Captain of Köpenick’, and offers to give himself up in return for a passport. Ready to return to prison, he entertains the police with an account of his deception.
Mar 13, 2024 · The Captain of Köpenick died in 1922 at the age of 72. His grave site fell into disrepair but he was not forgotten. In 1975, the Tourist Office of Luxembourg City refurbished his resting place. As a procession was underway to re-inter his remains it encountered a squad of French soldiers.
The goal was, in a utilitarian spirit, to bring about the greatest possible social protection from repeat offenders. The so-called free law movement grew in part out of Liszt's celebrated seminar; it sprang up with a pamphlet from the Czernowitz professor Eugen Ehrlich in 1903, followed by works from Liszt's students Hermann Kantorowicz and ...
- Benjamin Carter Hett
- 2003
Jun 7, 2020 · He commandeered 10 soldiers on the street, who obeyed him instantly, led them to the town hall, arrested the mayor, and demanded that the city treasury be turned over to him. Everyone complied immediately because he was a captain, and he stole 4,000 Marks. This farce eventually became a stage play. As a side note, Voigt became wildly popular.
The celebration of the “Captain of Köpenick” continued even after the Berlin police finally identified and apprehended the perpetrator ten days later, on October 26. Yet despite Wilhelm Voigt's long criminal record, which included forgery, breaking and entering, and attempted armed robbery, the audacious stunt in Köpenick transformed him ...
