RAF — Red Army Faction

Founding and ideology

The Red Army Faction was founded in 1970 by Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhof, Gudrun Ensslin and Horst Mahler in response to what they saw as the continuation of fascist structures in post-war West Germany. The group, widely referred to in the media as the Baader-Meinhof Group, regarded itself as an urban guerrilla organisation of the far left, fighting against capitalism, imperialism and what it described as American occupation.

The RAF's ideological foundation was a blend of Marxism-Leninism, Maoism and revolutionary theory inspired by liberation movements in the developing world. The group viewed violent insurrection as the only path to systemic change and saw itself as a vanguard that would awaken the German working class to revolution.

The first generation

The first generation of the RAF, led by Baader and Meinhof, carried out a series of bank robberies to finance their activities. In May 1972 the group conducted a campaign of five bombings within the space of a few days, targeting American military installations, police stations and the headquarters of the Axel Springer publishing house. The attack on the Springer building in Hamburg wounded 17 people, while bomb attacks on American bases killed four soldiers.

In June 1972 the majority of the first generation were arrested, including Baader, Meinhof and Ensslin. While imprisoned, they were held in solitary confinement conditions that drew international criticism and sparked debate about prisoners' human rights. Ulrike Meinhof was found hanged in her cell in 1976 in what was officially ruled a suicide, while Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin and Jan-Carl Raspe died under mysterious circumstances at Stammheim Prison in October 1977 in what became known as the "Todesnacht von Stammheim" — the death night of Stammheim.

The German Autumn of 1977

The RAF's second generation attempted to pressure the authorities into releasing the imprisoned members through an escalating campaign of violence. The crisis reached its peak in the autumn of 1977, known as the "German Autumn" (Deutscher Herbst), which became West Germany's most severe security crisis since the Second World War.

In April 1977 the RAF murdered Siegfried Buback, the Federal Prosecutor General, along with his companions. In July, bank director Jürgen Ponto was shot dead during a kidnapping attempt. On 5 September 1977, RAF members kidnapped Hanns Martin Schleyer, president of the Confederation of German Employers' Associations, in Köln, during which his driver and three bodyguards were executed.

The kidnapping of Schleyer — who had a past as an SS officer — was coordinated with a hijacking carried out by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. On 13 October, four terrorists seized Lufthansa Flight 181 from Mallorca with 86 passengers on board, demanding the release of the imprisoned RAF members. After a five-day odyssey across the Mediterranean, the aircraft was stormed by the West German special forces unit GSG 9 in Mogadishu, Somalia. That same night, Baader, Ensslin and Raspe died in their cells, and the following day Schleyer was found murdered in the boot of a car in Mulhouse, France.

Later generations and dissolution

The RAF's third generation continued its terrorist activities throughout the 1980s and 1990s, though with fewer and less spectacular operations. Among the most notable attacks were the assassination of Deutsche Bank chief Alfred Herrhausen in 1989 and the killing of Treuhand director Detlev Rohwedder in 1991, both carried out using sophisticated explosive devices.

On 10 October 1986, Gerold von Braunmühl, political director of the West German Foreign Office, was shot dead outside his home in Bonn in an attack claimed by the RAF.

During these years the group struggled to recruit new members, and after German reunification in 1990 the RAF's anti-capitalist message lost further resonance with the public. Several members went into exile in East Germany, where they lived under false identities with the assistance of the Stasi.

On 20 April 1998, the RAF sent an eight-page letter to the Reuters news agency declaring the organisation dissolved: "The armed struggle is historically over… The RAF ceases to exist." This marked the official end of nearly three decades of terrorism that had cost more than 30 lives and left hundreds wounded.

Investigations and prosecutions

West German authorities conducted extensive investigations into the RAF's activities, and numerous members were convicted for their roles within the organisation. The legal proceedings raised important questions about the rule of law, the rights of defence counsel and the role of the media — particularly during the highly publicised trials of first-generation members.

Several RAF murders remained unsolved for decades. As late as the 2010s, former RAF members were still being arrested and prosecuted for crimes committed in the 1970s and 1980s. Ernst-Volker Staub and Burkhard Garweg are among the last wanted RAF members still at large.

The RAF's legacy

The RAF left a complex cultural and political imprint on Germany. The group drew international attention to far-left terrorism and influenced security policy across Europe. The West German state's response to the RAF — including expanded surveillance powers and anti-terrorism legislation — shaped modern German security law.

The history of the RAF has inspired countless books, films and works of art, among them Uli Edel's 2008 film Der Baader Meinhof Komplex. Debate about the group's motives, methods and the authorities' response continues to engage historians, political scientists and the general public. For some, the RAF represents the corruption of revolutionary idealism; for others, a warning about the abuse of state power — but there is broad consensus that the group's violent methods were unjustified and counterproductive.