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1969 - The brilliant lawyer Horst Mahler begins to explore way to turn his socialist theories into "praxis." His plan: to start an Urban Guerrilla group modeled after Uruguay's Tupamaros.

1969

27 February, Berlin

American president Richard Nixon visits Berlin. Among the many Berliners waiting to greet him are Kommune I members Dieter Kunzelmann and Rainer Langhans. They attempt to bomb Nixon's motorcade, but the bomb is discovered before it can be triggered. Kunzelmann and Langhans, apparently now members West Berlin Tupamaros (a precursor of Movement 2 June), are arrested.

Spring, Berlin

Ulrike Meinhof, having grown increasingly disillusioned with her life, divorces her husband, Klaus Rainer Röhl, and moves to Berlin. She continues to write for a while for Röhl's konkret, but soon quits. Her fashionable Berlin apartment becomes a hangout for many in the left-wing Berlin scene.

13 June, Frankfurt

The four convicted arsonists Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, Horst Söhnlein, and Thorwald Proll are released from prison pending review of their cases. Baader and Ensslin begin working at an "apprentices' collective" -- which is a youth home. Baader spends much of his time teaching the kids how to steal motorcycles.

November, Frankfurt

The Federal Court ends the temporary freedom of the four arsonists and demands they return to prison. Söhnlein complies but the other three flee Frankfurt and head to Paris. They stay at the apartment of Regis Debray, millionaire revolutionary who is serving a 30-year sentence in Bolivia for helping the efforts of Ché Guevara (Debray will be released the next year, 28 years early). Proll's sister Astrid turns up to join the band. A few days later, in Strasbourg, the groups dumps Thorwald Proll; his days as a terrorist are over. The group sneaks into Italy and lays low.

December 1969 - Filming begins on Ulrike Meinhof's (at right) telefilm "Bambule."

December, Berlin

Filming begins on "Bambule," a television film scripted by Ulrike Meinhof. The film is about a riot among the residents of a girls youth home.

Elsewhere in Berlin the brilliant leftist lawyer Horst Mahler begins to formulate a plan: he wants to create an Urban Guerrilla group modeled on Uruguay's Tupamaros. Unlike the West Berlin Tupamaros that are active at the time, Mahler's new group will be completely underground and would eschew pranks for real praxis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1969: Flight

In 1969, the convicted arsonists Gudrun Ensslin and Andreas Baader were given a temporary amnesty from prison, but failed to return to jail when the amnesty ended. They took flight to Paris, living the high life in Marxist journalist Regis Debray's fashionable apartment.