My trip to the place of the Volkhoven Massacre

On June, 11. 1964 a school massacre ( I would not really consider it a shooting, because instead of guns, the perpetrator used a homemade flamethrower) took place in an elementary school in Volkhoven, a suburb of Cologne.
Because I don't live that far away I visited the former school ground with a friend yesterday and took some photos. While the building which mainly was attacked during the massacre was demolished shortly after the attack, there are still the schoolyard and an another building that appears to be a former school building.
For more information about the massacre, look here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

These photos are both made by me and a friend, so don't be confused if the quality may differ a lot (my friends camera is a lot better than mine). If you wonder who is the black person on some of the photos, thats me. I had to hide my appearance due to the board rules.

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The schoolyard were the main part of the attack took place:

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The schoolgate, which the perpetrator Walter Seifert blocked with a piece of wood, so that the children and teachers could not flee.

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The memorial plaque. Translation: "Here on June 11 1964 was commited a Flamethrower-Attack at the school in Cologne-Volkhoven. Many were injured. Eight children and two teachers died. We will not forget them."

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This particular massacre to me just sounds so horrific due to the use of the flamethrower. What a horrible weapon to use. Not that i am trying to imply any other massacre was any less horrific. But the idea of using a flamethrower to me just seems particularly horrific.

The school now looks like a beautiful building. How did it feel for you to go there knowing what happened there? Was there any kind of an atmosphere?

queenfarooq wrote:

This particular massacre to me just sounds so horrific due to the use of the flamethrower. What a horrible weapon to use. Not that i am trying to imply any other massacre was any less horrific. But the idea of using a flamethrower to me just seems particularly horrific.

The school now looks like a beautiful building. How did it feel for you to go there knowing what happened there? Was there any kind of an atmosphere?

Yes, I did find the whole Volkhoven area pretty dismal, particular because of the weather. And especially the school ground looked gloomy.
But that feeling was more slightly but not because of the place, but more because my friend was not interested in staying there longer. After we photographed the whole area, I wanted to stay there for some minutes to "feel" the place, but my friend urged me a bit to go, so were there only for about five minutes. Maybe I once will go there again and stay longer.
I forgot to mention, that now someone seems to live at the former school yard. There were some trailers and we saw a man walking around who stared at us.

And there is something other, that occupies me : My father grew up in an another suburb of Cologne and he was born in 1954, so he was ten at the time of the massacre. He very likely must have memories of it, but I am not sure if it would be a wise thing to ask him about that. He hates everything that is "dark" or "strange". He is that kind of person, who still thinks that it is sick to watch a Horror movie, so I seriously doubt he would be tolerant towards an interest and fascination about a real mass murder.

By the way, here are some photos from the historical event:

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Perpetrator Walter Seifert and the homemade flamethrower:

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More photos of Walter Seifert:

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And in this (pretty bad) german Documentary you can see some historical footage at 13:40

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Continuing here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I think the school grounds do look gloomy as you mentioned, but that could be down to the weather. If you don't live too far away it'd be great to go back and spend more time there, as creepy as that sounds. Sometimes I think it's possible to just "feel" a certain atmosphere in a certain place if you know what has occured there.
I've only ever seen a couple of photos of Walter Seifert before so the others you posted are interesting to see. The two pictures inside the school look awful.

I'll take a look at the documentary also.

I think a flamethrower attack would be particularly horrifying. Ugh.

Wideawake wrote:

I think a flamethrower attack would be particularly horrifying. Ugh.

In the Documentary, I posted a survivor tells, that he wore a Nylon-shirt at the day of the attack and that this shirt melted and merged with the skin. I think I maybe would rather get shot in my arm, than have to feel this.

Hale-Bopp wrote:

Wideawake wrote:

I think a flamethrower attack would be particularly horrifying. Ugh.

In the Documentary, I posted a survivor tells, that he wore a Nylon-shirt at the day of the attack and that this shirt melted and merged with the skin. I think I maybe would rather get shot in my arm, than have to feel this.

I think burns seem like incredibly painful wounds. Even small burns sting for days. On the other hand, a bad enough burn equals nerve damage which means you can't feel the pain. Regardless, it's horrible. I would like to watch the documentary sometime but I've been rather limited on time lately.

Wideawake wrote:

Hale-Bopp wrote:

Wideawake wrote:

I think a flamethrower attack would be particularly horrifying. Ugh.

In the Documentary, I posted a survivor tells, that he wore a Nylon-shirt at the day of the attack and that this shirt melted and merged with the skin. I think I maybe would rather get shot in my arm, than have to feel this.

I think burns seem like incredibly painful wounds. Even small burns sting for days. On the other hand, a bad enough burn equals nerve damage which means you can't feel the pain. Regardless, it's horrible. I would like to watch the documentary sometime but I've been rather limited on time lately.

The Documentary is in german anyway.;) 

Hale-Bopp wrote:

Wideawake wrote:

I think a flamethrower attack would be particularly horrifying. Ugh.

In the Documentary, I posted a survivor tells, that he wore a Nylon-shirt at the day of the attack and that this shirt melted and merged with the skin. I think I maybe would rather get shot in my arm, than have to feel this.

That just sounds so horrifically painful.

Hale-Bopp wrote:

The Documentary is in german anyway.;) 

I noticed this  It is still interesting though (for none German speakers) as far as some of the footage goes. The historical footage at the start of the second clip just looks incredibly creepy to me, and i assume at 0:47 in the second clip that is the flamethrower. What a hideous looking device.

Slightly off topic but it's interesting that they show a mini 'Bowling for Columbine' clip towards the end of the first clip.

queenfarooq wrote:

Hale-Bopp wrote:

Wideawake wrote:

I think a flamethrower attack would be particularly horrifying. Ugh.

In the Documentary, I posted a survivor tells, that he wore a Nylon-shirt at the day of the attack and that this shirt melted and merged with the skin. I think I maybe would rather get shot in my arm, than have to feel this.

That just sounds so horrifically painful.

Hale-Bopp wrote:

The Documentary is in german anyway.;) 

I noticed this  It is still interesting though (for none German speakers) as far as some of the footage goes. The historical footage at the start of the second clip just looks incredibly creepy to me, and i assume at 0:47 in the second clip that is the flamethrower. What a hideous looking device.

Slightly off topic but it's interesting that they show a mini 'Bowling for Columbine' clip towards the end of the first clip.

Yes, at 0:47 they show the Flamethrower and the building besides the school, they show in 0:40, is the building Seifert constructed his weapons in the weeks prior to the attack.

I bump this, because the site, I initially uploaded the picture does not function any more and people who visited this thread in the last months or weeks might not seen the pictures. I did upload them again.

Why is the flamethrower any more horrific than a gun?

Ok, the flamethrower will cause more visual disfigurement, but a gunshot wound can leave you in a chair the rest of your life.

bump.

Thanks for these, always been interested in this event, certainly one of the more disturbing massacres, if i remember correctly he also used a knights lance and was shouting gibberish, what was the reason if any? Thanks again