Nina von Gallwitz kidnapping case: news on the coded messages to the perpetrators
Encryption played an important role in the kidnapping of elementary school student Nina von Gallwitz in 1981. Five years after my first blog article on this topic, I can now present new information about it.
English version (translated with DeepL)
On December 18, 1981, eight-year-old Nina von Gallwitz was kidnapped on her way to school in the Hahnwald district of Cologne.
Several ransom demands failed. The perpetrators increased their demand several times during the course of the kidnapping; in the end, it amounted to 1.5 million marks. The police got nowhere, and many even thought the kidnapped woman was dead.
Before I return to the topic of the Gallwitz kidnapping, I would like to mention that Elonka Dunin, co-author of my current book, recently gave a TED Talk on cryptology. It is now available on Youtube:
The Gallwitz kidnapping
Back to the kidnapping of Nina von Gallwitz in 1981. After several ransom handovers had failed, the victim’s family called in the journalist Franz Tartarotti, who had previously successfully mediated in the Kronzucker kidnapping. They also hired Hans Fernstädt, a former director of criminal investigation at the BKA.
The kidnappers accepted the two new negotiating partners. They sent them messages, and Tartarotti and Fernstädt responded via encrypted newspaper ads. The encryption method used was referred to in the press as “five-line Caesar.”
In fact, the two negotiators succeeded in gaining the trust of the kidnappers and organizing a successful ransom handover. On May 15, 1982, Nina von Gallwitz was released after 149 days in captivity.
The perpetrators – possibly a married couple – apparently succeeded in committing the perfect crime. The police were never able to identify them. Most of the money also remained missing. In the meantime, the statute of limitations has expired, and the police have destroyed the files. To my knowledge, the Gallwitz case is the only successful kidnapping with ransom extortion in German criminal history.
Among other things, I find it interesting that the house where the girl was held captive could never be located. Yet the victim was later able to describe some peculiarities (including an extension and an unusual window) about this building.
Since the kidnappers used radios to communicate with the parents or their helpers during the attempted ransom handovers, one can assume that at least one of them was a radio amateur – a hobby that is also common among Cipherbrain readers. Assuming a perpetrator couple, it is more likely that the man was the radio specialist, as women are much less common in these circles.
I strongly assume that the police investigated extensively in the radio amateur scene and searched there for a suitable couple from the region in question. After all, the investigators knew numerous details from the house where the perpetrators presumably lived. It might also have been noticeable that the couple in question did not want to receive visitors during the five months of the kidnapping or, for example, postponed a planned trip. But apparently these investigations came to nothing.
If you want to know more about the Gallwitz kidnapping, you can find an overview here and an interview with Tartarotti and Fernstädt here.
In addition, there was recently a very interesting documentary on this case on ZDF Info. It says, among other things, that the perpetrators may have had an informant in the direct environment of the parents who informed them whether and how the police were involved in the respective ransom handover attempts.
While I can certainly understand the claim about the informant, I find another statement from the documentary rather curious: The actual motive of the perpetrators, we learn, was not the ransom money. Instead, it was to take revenge on the victim’s family. However, I can think of a few revenge methods that are much less risky and less elaborate.
The coded messages
Unfortunately, the various sources on the Gallwitz kidnapping say next to nothing about the cryptographic details. In particular, it was originally unclear to me what a “five-line Caesar” was supposed to be (a procedure of that name appears nowhere in the literature).
But then blog reader Rolf Thelen got in touch with me. He introduced himself as a retiree who used to be professionally involved in cryptology. Sometime in 1982, a colleague showed him a clipping with an apparently encrypted text from the daily newspaper “Die Welt”.
Quelle/Source: Die Welt
Today it is clear that it was a (the first?) message from the two intermediaries to the Gallwitz kidnappers. Thelen managed to decode the message. I blogged about this in 2016. Here is the full message:
11513 21513 33724 42306 53916 61017 71525 83010 92030 01038 13022
21223 32822 40817 53424 61015 72027 82433 92423 01935 12908 22641
33510 42427 525;42 62407 71336 62316 91729 03828 10930 21724
32818 41210 53622 61412 72843 82410 92420 01028 13423 22537 32312
41113 53825 62230 72614 83316 91710 02728 01408 22631 32415 42632
51928 63423 71039 83624 92127 02327 11313 21910:
1) 11417 22119 32536 41816 53325 62808 72224 82406 92126 02441
12409 22337 32314 40513 53422 62417 72111 84029 91024 02719 12812
21322 32415 43121 51021 62018 71139 82815 91613 02933 10630 22310
33329 40720 52219 61118 71125 83310 92030 01037 12809 22319 32828
40822 52424 61015 72014 83916 91614 02328 11524 22639 32806 41917
51120 62322 71223 82010 91126 04234 11914 21714 33820 41809 52334
61821 72332 82606 91813 01337 11716 21027 31629 42213 53423 60635
72110 82320 92214 03850 12112 21334 33105 41917 51120 62723 70826
81928 91929 03840 10330 21708 32720 40507 52215 62317 72225 84023
91730 01028 12906 20636 31923 41723 52539 61019
2) 12032 21323 33931 41606 53817 62212 72839 82022 91417 02321
12016 21740 32314 42127 52924 60317 72626 84120 92225 03615 13008
22239 34116 42424 52128 62719 72533 82517 92415 02824 12026 23323
32636 42411 53932 62518 72020
3) 11533 22417 32238 40914 52137 61412 71143 82410 91535 01028
– 12713 21036 32830 41520 52342 60621 71308 82735
4) 10733 23014 32733 40907 52332 61406 71634 84015 91915 01027
12917 21432 32810 40616 52133 61933 71824 83916 92225 02119 11717
22129 33307 42433 51234 61723 70639 81614 92117 02327 12032 21714
32618 42511 53928 61516 71734 82110 93117 02338 13509 22336 32930
42313 53435 62226 72325 84220 91819 02332 13016 21935 33115 41324
52434 61709 71227 82823 90410 02631 11017 21910 33324 41223 52332
62718 72940 82404 92517 01425 13618 21131 32323 41709 52327 60226
73026 82515
5) 91721 02420 13934 20512 33932 42424 52825 63222 73131 81432
93618 01633 12829 22123 33231 41333 51825 63716 72518 83719 91817
00922 13816 22433 32530 43018 52536 62921 71513: 83228 91521
01719 13220 20716 32328 41708 51733- 63016 73621 81238 93813
01938 11927 21709 32327 41527 53009 62429 70614 83221 91417-
01724 13821 21721 31933 41607 51337 63513 70822 84137 90233 02519
12820 20810 33627 41417 51229 62617 72714 81724 92907 00919 11732
21227 32327 40626 51317 63120 72324 81935 91108 02620
6) 10733 23024 32818 41210 53622 61412 72827 82015 91535 01422
12324 21425 33329 40426 54034 60926 71716 83429 92423 03326 12118
22135 32613 42115 51333 63622 72733 83228 92422 03924 12133 21410
33722 40507 52335 62222 72934 83806 93216 00633 12909 21938 31814
40619 52533 62226 72520 82627 91308 02633 12904 22640 34007 42433
51233 61607 71337 83523 92213 04021 11921 22612 33921 41626 52533
61806 71625 83709 91721 02532 12416 21438 31514 42129 53634 61320
72119 83920 92226 03233 11708 22620
7) 10913 21410 34120 42225 53615 63008 72226 84019 91917 01728
12911 21032 33523 41222 52130 60626 72610 83318 92517 02332 12308
22222 32821 43217 51724 61709 71937 81714 91211 02824 11530 21708
32735 40710 52734 61810 73035 83702 92332 01434 12904
In 1982, Rolf Thelen did not yet have access to a computer to solve the encryption problem. He therefore had to determine the letter frequencies, search for parallel positions and do other things by hand. His work was nevertheless successful.
The encryption method, which was called “five-line Caesar” in the press, is actually a (slightly modified) Vigenère cipher. The key ALLES ODER NICHTS (ALL OR NOTHING) was used. To decode it, one must first delete the first number from each group of five (it has no meaning). The remaining four numbers are considered as two pairs each. The actual ciphertext therefore starts with the numbers 15 13 15 13 37 24. The key ALLES ODER NICHTS is subtracted from it (it is valid A=01, B=02, C=03 etc.):
Geheimtext: 15 13 15 13 37 24 ... Schlüssel: 01 12 12 05 19 15 ... Entschlüsselter Text: 14 01 03 08 18 09 ... In Buchstaben: N A C H R I ...
In total, the following text resulted (original information is highlighted in yellow, the underscore stands for a space, I have blacked out part of the phone number contained):
Quelle/Source: Rolf Thelen
As you can see, no umlauts were used, but in each case the corresponding vowel (e.g. FUNF). Instead of the Z, the C is written in each case. Unlike shown here, there are no spaces between words in the original text.
Although the abduction case was already over, Rolf Thelen handed over the deciphered text to the police. The text contained information (in particular, a telephone number) that he did not know if it was known to investigators.
In addition to this message, there were others that the negotiators sent to the kidnappers by newspaper advertisement. These were not initially available to me. ENDE GUT ALLES GUT was used as another key.
More encrypted messages
When I recently watched the documentary in question on ZDF Info, I was very pleased to find that it showed some encrypted messages that I did not know about (starting at about 32:00). For example, here is another newspaper ad (the date is not visible):
Quelle/Source: ZDF Info
Can any reader decipher this ad?
The following screenshot shows another message. Apparently, it was published on April 8, 1982. This is the fourth advertisement:
Quelle/Source: ZDF Info
Can a reader solve it?
The fifth ad is below (the date could be April 30, 1982):
Quelle/Source: ZDF InfoUnfortunately, this message is hard to read. Can a reader nevertheless recognize something?
And finally, here is a note on which one of the ciphertexts has been decoded:
Quelle/Source: ZDF Info
The key is ALLES ODER NICHTS.
Whoever can decipher one of the new messages presented today, please get in touch. Of course I am also interested in further information about this case. It should still be possible to find all ads. I would be pleased about corresponding hints.
If you want to add a comment, you need to add it to the German version here.
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Further reading: Four cryptograms from a 1926 crime story series
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