The Vampire of Düsseldorf - The Confession

In the summer of 1930, Peter Kürten sat across from the psychiatrist Karl Berg and talked for months. To the court, he gave one reason for his crimes: revenge on a society that had wronged him. To Berg, he gave another. Same acts, same year, two motives, each fitted to its listener.

This episode turns to the confession that made Berg’s name and has shaped nearly every account of Kürten since. We look at the childhood he described, which no one can check. We follow a medical search for a defect that turned up nothing. And we sit in the courtroom as Berg admits, under oath, that parts of the story were embellished. Then comes a harder question. Kürten knew a book was being written. Who was he really talking to?

Content note: this episode discusses murder, sexual violence, and child abuse. These are handled briefly and without graphic detail.

A free discussion guide for this episode is available at reexaminedpodcast.com.

Music: “Southern Gothic” by Kevin Macleod