This archive report was first published on 20 November 2019.
On November 20, 2019, a tragic event unfolded in the west Berlin neighborhood of Charlottenburg, where Fritz von Weizsaecker, a 59-year-old doctor and son of former German President Richard von Weizsaecker, was stabbed in the neck while delivering a lecture on liver diseases at the Schlosspark hospital.
Despite efforts to save him, Fritz von Weizsaecker died at the scene, leaving behind a family of four.
His assailant, a 57-year-old man with a history of acute mental illness, was overpowered by other people present, one of whom was severely injured in the process.
Prosecutors revealed that the attacker had traveled to Berlin by train from his home state of Rhineland-Palatinate, where he had purchased the knife used in the crime.
The suspect's motives were linked to a deep-seated dislike of the Weizsaecker family, which was reportedly fueled by research into the family's past, including Richard von Weizsaecker's role on the board of chemicals giant Boehringer Ingelheim during the 1960s.
Boehringer Ingelheim had supplied the United States with chemicals used in Agent Orange, a powerful defoliant used in the Vietnam War that caused severe health problems for humans exposed to it.
Richard von Weizsaecker was a respected post-war political figure in Germany, serving as president of West Germany from 1984 to 1990 and then united Germany from 1990 to 1994.
He was also a deputy in the lower house of parliament and mayor of West Berlin before his death in 2015.
Christian Lindner, leader of the liberal FDP party, expressed his grief over the loss of his friend, saying, "once again we ask ourselves what sort of world are we living in."
Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, described the killing as "a terrible moment for the von Weizsaecker family."
