Peter M. had not walked far from his flat. It is perhaps 300 metres from the spot in Danziger Straße where he was found dying on the pavement shortly after 2 p.m. on Tuesday, August 2, all the way to his flat in Hindenburgstraße.
The 79-year-old knew the neighbourhood well. He was deeply rooted there. Peter M. lived in Hindenburgstraße for over 50 years. First with his parents, later when they died, he used the flat alone. “We were good neighbours,” says a man who lives in the house opposite and often met with Peter M.. In the residential neighbourhood on Danzigerstrasse and Hindenburgstrasse, where there are many apartment buildings from the post-war period, people are stunned by the crime. Also about the way the victim was treated. Many are disturbed by the silence, the lack of condolences and the inadequate information from the public prosecutor’s office about the crime and the perpetrator.
“Sometimes we went to the tennis hall and had a beer,” says the neighbour. He would talk to Peter M. about various things. Most recently, especially about the rising prices, but also about the traffic or the lack of parking spaces in Ludwigsburg. “Peter couldn’t harm anyone. We are all shocked about what happened. After all, he got along well with everyone.” Although Peter M. lived alone, he had contact with many neighbours and also relatives.
According to his acquaintances, Peter M. was a slim, sporty pensioner. He liked to go hiking and was often on foot in the neighbourhood. “He liked to have breakfast at Café Lutz in Oststraße.
The Military Historical Society, which like Peter M.’s relatives published an obituary, also remembers the quiet, reserved 79-year-old fondly. “He regularly supported us with exhibits for our exhibitions,” says a member of the society. Peter M. had a large military history collection, including many postcards. “Peter, we will miss you very much. We will not forget you,” reads the obituary of the Military Historical Society.
“The victim has been buried and now we hear nothing more about this inconceivable crime,” another neighbour of Peter M. writes to us. The reticence of the public prosecutor’s office in this case is indeed extraordinary. For the past two weeks, most of the answers to our newspaper’s questions have been that no information can be given to the outside world because of the investigations. Therefore, almost nothing is known about the crime, the perpetrator and the victim.
Only the following details have been made public by the public prosecutor’s office in Stuttgart: The alleged perpetrator, who was arrested on the evening of the day of the crime, is a 43-year-old refugee from Somalia who was accommodated in Ludwigsburg.
The public prosecutor’s office does not give any information on when he came to Germany and what kind of residence permit he has. The man is known to the police and remains silent about the crime. There are no indications of a motive. The refugee and Peter M. did not know each other, according to the public prosecutor’s office. The pensioner was therefore a haphazard victim. In principle, that is all the information we have.
The public prosecutor’s office has released even less information about Peter M.. Only that the victim was a 79-year-old man who lived in Ludwigsburg.
On Tuesday afternoon, there is a heavy heat across the residential neighbourhood in the eastern part of the city. The air is stagnant. Children play in the green courtyards. From a distance, you can hear the traffic from Friedrichstraße. Two flowers, a candle and a memorial stone in the shape of a book commemorate the crime at the spot where Peter M. was found. His name is still written on the letterbox of his flat. It will probably be gone soon.
Note: For this report we talked to four of Peter M.’s neighbours and acquaintances. They are very frustrated that the murdered man is hardly remembered.
May he rest in peace