West Germany’s last execution

Collage of prison photo and death certificate (Photo: LABW, StAS Wü 49/15 T 1 No. 346) West Germany’s last execution
Feb 18 1949
Collage of prison photo and death certificate (Photo: LABW, StAS Wü 49/15 T 1 No. 346)

Richard Schuh is executed in Tübingen for robbery and murder

Richard Schuh (born 1920) eked out a living with odd jobs after his release from American captivity after the Second World War. Always short of money, he murdered a lorry driver on 28 January 1948 in order to take the vehicle’s tyres and sell them on the black market. Schuh was soon tracked down, tried and sentenced to death. Appeals both for clemency and a reduction of the sentence to life imprisonment were rejected. Aged 28, Richard Schuh was executed by guillotine in the inner courtyard of Tübingen prison on 18 February 1949.

Three months later, the new Basic Law, which acted as a constitution for West Germany, abolished the death penalty.

Logo des Deutschlandmuseums

About the Deutschlandmuseum

An immersive and innovative experience museum about 2000 years of German history

The whole year at a glance

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Discover history

Visit the unique Deutschlandmuseum and experience immersive history

2000 Jahre
12 Epochen
1 Stunde