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Ludwig TESSNOW

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

   


A.K.A.: "The Mad Carpenter"
 
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Rape - Mutilation
Number of victims: 4
Date of murders: September 9, 1898/July 1, 1901
Date of birth: 1872
Victims profile: Two young girls, aged 7 and 10 years / Hermann Stubbe, 8, and Peter Stubbe, 6
Method of murder: Stabbing with knife
Location: Lower Saxony/Rugen Island, Germany
Status: Tessnow was allegedly beheaded in the courtyard of the Greifswald prison in 1904
 
 
 
 
 
 

German Ludwig Tessnow's first known killings occurred in 1895 in Lechtingen when he abducted and killed two young girls, leaving their bodies dismembered and butchered in some nearby woods. Tessnow was identified as having been in the vicinity of the murder scene but when questioned about the stains on his clothing Tessnow claimed the spots were from wood dye. Not unusual for a man who's trade was carpentry. Tessnow was let go.

Tessnow was also quickly retained and questioned in 1901 concerning the murders of two brothers, aged six and eight, who were found in the woods of Rugen Island. The two youngsters, who were dismebowelled and gruesomly dismembered, were last seen talking to Tessnow the day they disappeared. As with the earlier case authorities noted large stains on Tessnow's clothes but were rebuffed with the slayer's now-standard explanation that the stains were the result of wood dye he used in his work.

The police were not so easily fooled this time, however. Tessnow had also been recently identified as the man caught hacking a local farmer's sheep to death. It was all too obvious and they had the stains tested to see if they were in fact blood, a very knew scientific procedure at the time. When the results came back positive for both human and sheep blood, Tessnow was arrested. He was convicted and executed in 1904.

 
 

The Mad Carpenter

By Katherine Ramsland

It was the brutal murder and dismembering of two young boys on the island of Rugen, off the coast of Germany, that turned the authorities' attention toward Ludwig Tessnow, a carpenter from Baabe.  The year was 1901, and the two boys had run out to play.  When they failed to return, a search was organized.  It wasn't long before their body parts were found scattered over a wide area, and eventually the searchers located their disemboweled remains.

Earlier that day, Tessnow had been seen talking to them, and although he denied any involvement, a search of his home turned up recently-laundered clothing that had suspicious stains.  He claimed that they were from wood dye, which he used almost daily in his profession.  Unable to prove otherwise or to find other incriminating evidence, the police left him alone...until one investigator recalled a similar crime.

Three years earlier in Osnabruck, Germany, two young girls had been found in the woods, butchered in a style similar to the boys.  The man seen loitering near the woods, his clothing stained, was Tessnow.  At that time, too, he had claimed that the stains were from wood dye.

The local prosecutor then heard a farmer's report that a man who looked like Tessnow was seen fleeing from his field, and he then found seven of his sheep slaughtered.  Their legs had been severed and tossed about the field.  Tessnow was brought in for a line-up and the farmer had no trouble picking him out as the man who had run from his field.

Still, the police needed better evidence to tie Tessnow to the murders.  Then they heard about a test recently developed by a biologist, Paul Uhlenhuth, that could distinguish blood from other substances, as well as mark the difference between human and animal blood.  Tessnow's clothing was given to Uhlenhuth for thorough examination and his conclusions marked a turning point in the history of forensic science.  He found dye, but he also detected traces of both sheep and human blood.

With this evidence, Tessnow was charged, tried, convicted, and executed.

CrimeLibrary.com

 
 

Ludwig Tessnow

Ladyofspiders.wordpress.com

The murder and dismembering of two young boys in 1901 on the island of Rugen, off the coast of Germany, turned the attention of local authorities toward a strange, reclusive man named Ludwig Tessnow, a carpenter from Baabe. The two boys had failed to return from their play, so a search was organized. It wasn’t long before searchers came across some of their parts, which had been scattered over a wide area in the woods near their home. When their heads were found, the skulls were shattered, and from the eight-year-old, the heart was missing. A blood-stained stone proved to be the murder weapon.

Earlier that day, someone recalled, Tessnow had been talking to them. Authorities went to interview him, but he denied any involvement. Still, they searched his home, which produced recently-laundered clothing that bore suspicious stains. He claimed that they were from wood dye, which he used daily in his profession. There was not much anyone could do to prove otherwise. But then a magistrate recalled a similar crime, also associated with Tessnow.

Three years earlier in Osnabruck, Germany, two young girls had been found in the woods, butchered and disemboweled in the same manner as the boys. The man seen loitering near the woods, his clothing stained, was Tessnow. At that time, too, he had claimed that the stains were from wood dye. So he’d had a ready excuse then, which had worked, and he now knew he had a good cover. It helped him as well when a local farmer reported that a man who looked like Tessnow had fled from his field, leaving behind seven slaughtered sheep. Their legs had been torn or cut off and tossed about the field. Tessnow was brought in for a line-up and the farmer had no trouble picking him out.

Still, the police needed real evidence to tie Tessnow to the murders. Then they heard about the test that biologist Paul Uhlenhuth had developed only four months before that could distinguish blood from other substances (such as wood dye), as well as distinguish animal blood from human. The authorities contacted him and asked him to test Tessnow’s clothing and the blood-stained stone. Uhlenhuth was ready for such a test, and he applied his method to more than one hundred spots. He then announced the results: While he did find wood dye, he also detected traces of both sheep and human blood. They were quite distinct from one another, and his tests proved it.

With this evidence, Tessnow was tried, convicted, and executed.

No one called Tessnow a werewolf, but his compulsive ripping apart of animal and human corpses was similar to the “werewolves” from earlier eras. There was actually a period of time in which such killers were considered fairly common.

 
 

Case Study: Ludwig Tessnow

July 1, 1901- On the island of Rugen just off the northern coast of Germany, Hermann Stubbe, 8, and Peter Stubbe, 6, set out to play. Little did they know when they left their home on that fateful day that they would never return again. The hours passed and the young brothers did not return. Their family grew immensely concerned and a search party was organized the following morning. Several of the searchers stumbled upon dismembered body parts scattered among the woods. They followed the trail and made a macabre discovery: the eviscerated bodies of the two little boys.

A witness reported seeing a man by the name of Ludwig Tessnow conversing with the children on the day of their disappearence. Tessnow was a local carpenter who lived in the neighboring town of Baabe. He was interrogated by the police and claimed to have no knowledge of or involvement in the deaths of the two boys. As per the protocol of the time, Tessnow's home was searched. Upon searching the quarters, the police discovered several articles of clothing and shoes that were covered in dark stains. The man had a viable explanation: he claimed that the stains were from wood dye, a substance commonly used in his profession.

For some reason unbeknownst to him, Johann Schmidt (the examining magistrate) was very suspicious of Tessnow. Upon doing a background check, some disturbing information was uncovered. Three years prior, two young girls had been found disemboweled in the wooded area by their home. A man was seen lurking in the area where the bodies were discovered. His clothes were riddled with dark stains and he was detained and questioned by police officers. His name was Ludwig Tessnow and he claimed that the stains on his clothes were from wood dye. The officers accepted his explanation and Tessnow was not further investigated.

Associatedcontent.com

 

 

 
 
 
 
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