Garage No. 5

The search of Garage No. 5, as well as two others on Richard-Zimmermann-Straße, by the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) and the Jena Criminal Investigation Department did not take place until 26 January 1998. In the garages in Lobeda, only spray cans were found — in the presence of Uwe Böhnhardt. Böhnhardt was then able to leave unhindered. “At the sewage treatment plant,” another team was, at the same time, initially unable to open Garage No. 5. A key first had to be fetched from an officer of the Jena Criminal Investigation Department who had rented the garage to Beate Zschäpe. Alongside files and photographs, the investigators discovered six pipe bombs as well as a plastic bag containing yellow powder (TNT), later calculated to weigh 1.4 kilograms. A bomb disposal expert transported the finds to Erfurt. A third team searched the apartments of Böhnhardt, Mundlos and Zschäpe. At that time, all three were unmolested, fleeing to Chemnitz in Ralf Wohlleben’s car. The weapons seized in Zschäpe’s apartment were later presented to the press by the LKA.

(Text and image: Frank Döbert)

External sources

Aust/ Laabs, Heimatschutz, S. 260 ff.