Jürgen Schumann

Memorial plate at the grave of Jürgen Schumann

The late 70s were a time in Germany marked by the terrorism of the RAF (Red Army Faction). One of the famous people from this time was Jürgen Schumann from Babenhausen, whose grave is on the cemetery of Babenhausen. A street in the eastern part of the town was also named after him.


Schumann was pilot of the German Lufthansa and flight captain of the Lufthansa aircraft "Landshut", which was hijacked on 13 October 1977. 


During a stopover in Dubai he was able to report the number of hijackers of the "Landshut". Based on an interview with the Minister of Defence of Dubai, the kidnappers were also informed of this, whereupon the leader of the hijackers kneeled down Schumann and threatened to shoot him in another incident. 


After landing at Aden airport in Yemen, he left the plane with the hijackers' permission to check the landing gear. He also took the opportunity to speak in an airport building about the possibility of releasing the hostages. He voluntarily returned to the plane and was shot in the head. 

In Somali Mogadishu, two days later, the hostages were liberated by the GSG9, an elite unit of the German Federal Border Guard.

The grave of flight captain Jürgen Schumann at the cemetery of Babenhausen