Isabella Mueller (crime writer)
One of the most dangerous criminal gangs of the postwar era, which terrorized all of Munich, was the Panther Gang. The leader of this ruthless gang was Hugo Werner, a 21-year-old Munich bricklayer’s apprentice and former model student who, as a bookworm, loved to devour Westerns. These fascinated him so much that, at the age of 13, he founded the Panther League together with four other friends and taught them how to sneak up on people, read tracks, and ambush them. No one suspected at the time that this gang of boys would become one of the most brutal criminal gangs of the post-war era. Since Hugo Werner was obsessed with the idea of forming a large-scale gangster gang, he brought 24-year-old Albrecht Stein on board. Together, they carried out their first major robbery on November 23, 1946, at a large gas station on Brienner Street. Their goal was to steal gasoline coupons and tools, but they failed because a night watchman caught one of the gang members. Although Hugo Werner managed to escape, he was shot in the chest during the commotion—ironically, by Albrecht Stein himself. The Panther Gang, however, managed to drag their 15-year-old leader into a war ruin on Habsburger Platz. He did not believe that Albrecht Stein had shot him by accident. Since betrayal was punishable by death, Stein was killed and buried under the rubble in the war ruin. Just after he had been buried, the American military police showed up and arrested the Panther Gang. Miraculously, the body remained undiscovered. The Panther Gang was sentenced to two years in a juvenile detention center in Niederschönfeld for various burglaries. In 1949, the gang was released and, under the guise of a respectable identity with a steady income, committed further burglaries. A portion of the loot was always distributed fairly, while the larger portion was saved in a so-called “gang fund.” Hugo Werner worked as a bricklayer and was constantly looking for new members. He recruited the 17-year-old, previously convicted Alois Lechhart into the gang. He gave Lechhart 30 marks, as the latter lacked the fare to register with the Foreign Legion. When he saw Lechhart in Munich a few months later instead of in the Foreign Legion, it became clear to him that Lechhart was a traitor. For as early as 1946, Lechhart had been taken to the criminal investigation department by the gas station night watchman—on the very evening the Panther gang was apprehended. Lechhart was lured to the Isar floodplains on August 13, 1949, where Werner shot him. On February 20, 1951, the Panther Gang ambushed money courier Martin Plenagl from the main customs office on Landsberger Straße. But he fought back, so Werner shot him in the back. When they opened the money courier’s stolen briefcase, however, it was empty. Werner had killed the money courier for nothing. Previously, on January 30, 1951, they had attacked cigar dealer Josef Gassner in his Schwabing kiosk, shooting him in the thigh. They then fled without any significant loot. Afterward, 20-year-old mechanic Erich Reutner joined the Panther Gang; he had once served time with Hugo Werner in a juvenile detention center. This new recruit suggested robbing his 70-year-old uncle, retired master gardener Matthias Augustin, who kept 10,000 marks in his home in Munich-Harling. On October 14, 1951, Hugo Werner, Erich Reutner, and another gang member went to Augustin’s house. Augustin briefly opened the door but immediately braced himself against it when he saw his nephew. His son Oskar rushed to his aid. But a shot had already been fired, fatally striking Matthias Augustin in the head. The gang then fled. While on the run, Erich Reutner attempted to take his own life during an intermission at a movie theater in Augsburg while watching the Ingrid Bergmann film “Weißes Gift” (White Poison); he fired three shots at himself in the men’s restroom. However, the doctors were able to save his life. The police determined that the bullet matched the one that had killed pensioner Matthias Augustin on October 14, 1951. Subsequently, Officer Schmid visited Erich Reutner, who told him everything about the Panther Gang. As a result, the Panther Gang was arrested. On May 11, 1953, the trial began at the Munich I Regional Court against the eight surviving young men for three murders, two attempted murders, aggravated robberies, and extortion. On Pentecost Saturday 1953, the cool gangster boss Hugo Werner and two other principal perpetrators were sentenced to life imprisonment. The five remaining defendants received prison terms ranging from two to ten years. After more than 20 years in prison, Hugo Werner was pardoned by Minister President Alfons Goppel in 1973 and released from custody. The Panther Gang has been immortalized in numerous books and films. One of the first feature films about this gang was released in 1960 under the title “Am Tag, als der Regen kam” (The Day the Rain Came). The role of Hugo Werner was played by none other than Mario Adorf.
