What happened
Six people living at the isolated Hinterkaifeck farmstead in Bavaria were killed in 1922, creating one of Germany’s most famous unsolved murder mysteries.
The investigation
Investigators interviewed neighbors, former employees and relatives while examining reports of strange events around the farm before the killings. The remote scene and delayed discovery complicated the inquiry.
What the courts or investigators concluded
No suspect was ever prosecuted, and the original buildings were later demolished. Modern reviews have revisited the evidence but cannot recreate what was lost in the early investigation.
Why the case remains significant
The case endures because of its isolated setting, unexplained pre-crime details and the absence of a definitive motive or offender more than a century later.
Case context
Crime by Region organizes cases geographically so readers can move from one file to other investigations from the same country. For unresolved or contested cases, the wording above reflects the distinction between confirmed events, investigative theories and findings actually established in court.