The vampire of Düsseldorf

Peter Kürten, was born on May 26, 1883 in a very poor and abusive family in Mülheim am Rhein, Germany.

Third out of thirteen children, soon the eldest after the death of his first two siblings at an early age, he had parents that were both alcoholics. Peter's father inflicted torture and violence on the family members, especially when he was drunk. He would force his children to watch as he was having a sexual intercourse with their mother. He eventually got jailed for fifteen months in 1894 for raping his eldest daughter, who was 13 years old at the time. Peter's mother obtained a separation order, moved to Düsseldorf and remarried. There is no doubt that Peter's disturbing childhood had an important influence on him, who at the age of 9 was taught bestiality, how to torture and kill the animals he caught by a dog-catcher that lived in the same building as him. Kürten confessed to have drowned two school friends when he was just a kid. He pushed one of them overboard and when the other boy naively dived in to his friend rescue, Kürten coldly held both of them under water until they had suffocated. As Kürten matured sexually, he started showing sexual interest in sheep, goats and other farmyard animals. The teenager claimed to feel particular pleasure when the animal was stabbed during the intercourse. At the age of 13, Kürten got in a relationship with a girl his age, even though she resisted having sex with him. In order to vent his sexual frustration, Kürten resorted to bestiality with local farm animals. He also admitted that he mutilated the animals to achieve an orgasm. Unfortunately for him, he had to end his behaviour when a local noticed him stabbing a pig. Kürten's crimes soon led to the first of many short prison sentences over the following years. The terrible conditions within the prisons confirmed his sadistic tendencies that he had transferred from farm animals to humans. In the next few years, Kürten stole all the money in his household and ran away from home. He began a relationship with a prostitute and claimed that she willingly participated in acts of sexual perversion. He spent a month in jail for theft, and four years in prison for fraud. As the years passed Kürten's rage against society, and his capacity for depravity, increased. He also found himself being fascinated by brutal sexual acts while in solitary confinement which enhanced his fantasies so much that he began to break prison rules to ensure as much time as possible in solitary confinement. In 1904, Kürten was drafted into the German Army, though he soon deserted. He began committing acts of arson, watching from a distance as the emergency team arrived on the scene; eventually, he was arrested for it and discovered to be a deserter. He got tried by the military system. During his imprisonment, he claimed he encountered severe forms of punishment and developed deranged erotic fantasies which caused him spontaneous ejaculation. Finally, in 1913, he was released from prison. He then moved to Müllheim am Rhein.  In May 1913, Peter Kürten’s needs and urges could no longer be satisfied by prostitutes and farm animals.  His time in prison had not stop him from committing any kind of crime and shortly after his release, he burgled a home in his neighbourhood where he ran into the homeowner’s 9 old daughter, he strangled her and cut her throat with his pocket knife. Upon hearing the girl’s blood drip to the floor, he ejaculated. The next day, he returned to the scene and hearing the locals talk about his crimes was marvellous for him.  Over the next few months, overwhelmed once again by the need to see the effects of his crime, he visited the girl’s grave and touched the place where she was buried getting a strong sexual satisfaction from it.  Two months after killing the young girl, Peter Kürten committed the same crime, this time burglarizing the home of a 17 years old girl. Just days after the murder of Gertrud Franken, on 14 July, Kürten was arrested for a series of arson attacks and housebreaking. He was sentenced to six years of imprisonment, although his repeated instances of insubordination while imprisoned saw his incarceration extended by a further two years. Kürten served this sentence in a military prison in the town of Brieg.

Article by Azzurra Furnari