Ulrike Marie Meinhof West German terrorist Date of Birth: 17.10.1934 Country: Germany

Biography of Ulrike Marie Meinhof

• Early Life and Education
Ulrike Marie Meinhof was born on October 7, 1934, in Oldenburg, Germany. Her great-grandfather, Friedrich Meinhof, was a Lutheran pastor, and her grandfather was also a pastor. Her cousin, Karl Meinhof, was a missionary in Africa and a pioneer in German African studies. Ulrike's parents were historians and art historians. Her father, Werner Meinhof, was a member of the fascist "Union for the Struggle for German Culture" and joined the Nazi Party in 1933. Ulrike was left without a father at a young age when her father died in 1940. After her mother's death in 1948, she was placed under the care of Renata Riemeck, a well-known historian and educator, who was the founder of the pacifist party "German Peace Union."
• Academic and Journalistic Career

In 1955, Ulrike enrolled at the University of Marburg, where she studied philosophy, sociology, pedagogy, and German studies. Unsatisfied with the conservative atmosphere at the university, she transferred to the University of Münster in 1957. There, she became involved in the university's movement for nuclear disarmament and joined the Socialist Union of German Students (SDS), the youth organization of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). She also started working as a journalist and columnist in the press.
• Activism and Radicalization

In the early 1960s, Ulrike became one of the most prominent journalists in West Germany and gained a reputation as a brilliant writer. During this time, she also became a leader in the anti-fascist and anti-nuclear movements, as well as the movements against the Vietnam War and the adoption of anti-democratic laws in West Germany. As a result of the escalating militarization and repression in West Germany, Ulrike's political position became more radicalized.
• The Red Army Faction and Underground Activities

In 1968, Ulrike separated from her husband and moved from Hamburg to West Berlin. She began teaching at the Free University of Berlin and simultaneously worked on the television film "Bambule," which was completed in February 1970. In the same year, she organized the armed liberation of Andreas Baader from prison, which marked the beginning of her involvement with the Red Army Faction (RAF). Ulrike became one of the founders, leaders, and theorists of the RAF, and she wrote the group's first programmatic document, "The Concept of the Urban Guerrilla."
• Arrest, Imprisonment, and Death

After conducting numerous investigations, Ulrike was arrested on June 15, 1972. She was imprisoned in the "Cologne-Ossendorf" prison, where she became one of the first West German prisoners subjected to the "dead wings" system, a form of total isolation and sensory deprivation torture. In January 1973, she was released from the "dead wings" as a result of a hunger strike protest by RAF prisoners. In November 1974, Ulrike was sentenced to eight years in prison for her involvement in the liberation of Andreas Baader. She became one of the main defendants in the "RAF Big Trial," which started on May 21, 1975. However, on May 9, 1976, she was found dead in her cell at the high-security "Stammheim" prison in Stuttgart under mysterious circumstances. The official cause of death was ruled as suicide, although this version has been disputed by independent experts and her RAF comrades accused the leadership of the Federal Prosecutor's Office of her murder.