Berlin/Heidelberg – After the killing spree at the University of Heidelberg, the motive for the terrible act, in which a 23-year-old was shot dead and three other young people injured last Monday, remains a mystery. After the fact, the 18-year-old shooter killed himself. The police indicated that an “in the room” mental illness of the young man could have been the cause of the crime. Meanwhile, the students at the oldest university in Germany are trying to come to terms with what happened. They want the fact to be processed, said Peter Abelmann, the chairman of the student body.
Mr. Abelmann, how did you experience last Monday?
I was in shock mode. You say it like that sometimes, but in this case you can really use the word like that. I started the day quite normally at first, went to my office on the Bergheim campus – just a kilometer from the crime scene as the crow flies. Suddenly, various chat groups popped up on my cell phone – we’ve all been well connected since Corona. The news of a killing spree spread like wildfire and all I could think was: what’s going on here, what should I do? Should I maybe close my door? And then everything collapsed. Suddenly there was talk of a corpse, the police reported that the possible perpetrator was also dead. Seal off, coordinate press inquiries. I’ve been doing all this since that moment – apart from a few hours of sleep – without a break.
Did you know the affected students?
Now I don’t know the people who sat in the lecture hall before that. You have to say it again clearly: These were freshmen, they sat together in their second tutorial event in person. And then something like this happens. It’s so terrible, young people who aren’t even networked at the university yet have hardly any contacts who, due to the pandemic, have only taken part in digital events at home so far. And now they come to their new university and have to deal with such an act right away.
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Peter Abelmann, 32, was born in Essen and lives in Heidelberg. He has been studying philosophy, European art history and sociology at the University of Heidelberg since the 2017/18 winter semester.
Abelmann has been chairman of the student body since autumn 2020, but was already active in the organization that represents the interests of all students enrolled at the university.
How can you, as chairman of the student body, help?
First of all, it has to be said that most students, especially those who experienced the crime, want to be isolated. With a few exceptions, they don’t want to talk to the media, they’re afraid of saying something wrong or being misquoted. I understand that, they are all still shocked and you have to respect that. We have 30,000 students here in Heidelberg, we are now making suggestions for grieving, we have to take care of that. That the student councils can buy sympathy cards, that there is a place where you can go. There are so many tasks, and it is an exceptional situation that is not planned anywhere and for which there is no secret plan somewhere in the drawer.
How are the students at the university now? They’ve been through a long lockdown and corona restrictions, and now they’re also dealing with a killing spree.
There are those who need help, who want to talk. We make them offers. Some of the relatives and friends who feared for their loved ones in the initial panic also need help. Many of them come to us first.
Where do you send those affected with their grief and their fears?
On the one hand there is the psychosocial counseling of the Studentenwerk, which has already done incredible things during the pandemic. Because as you say, the students also suffer from loneliness because of Corona, they sat at home for so long that enough problems arose. Then we have the Nightline in Heidelberg, which is a listening and information hotline from students for students. And we have the university’s own clinics with their experts.
In addition to psychological support, there should also be funeral events.
A funeral service is planned in the university church, it is to take place on Monday, exactly one week after the crime. In addition, the Studierendenwerk set up a place of mourning with us in the canteen on the Neuenheimer Feld campus – a large, isolated room that was draped with white cloths.
They are also campaigning for a permanent memorial site.
Definitely. The students want the deed to be dealt with, and many would like a permanent place of mourning. However, there must also be permanent offers of support, because for many of those affected, this is the first traumatic experience in their lives. And some will remain traumatized. We won’t be able to brush this aside any time soon.
One hears sympathy from all over the world.
That’s right, it’s just amazing. The University of Heidelberg is networked worldwide, a lot of alumni have contacted us, alumni from all parts of the world. Almost all student bodies have sent messages, Erasmus students, professors. Spontaneous places of remembrance have emerged all over the university campus, people want to show that they mourn and care. Candles are even burning in Heidelberg’s old town. That touched us very emotionally.
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The campus in Heidelberg the day after the killing spree: there is great dismay at the crime.
Your university stands for openness, for an international student body. What’s next, can normal everyday life be back so quickly?
We are already noticing that many students really want to come back to their university after the killing spree. A fellow student said to me that she sat down in a lecture on Tuesday to process what had happened. So yes, we want to and of course we must continue. The life sciences are on hold for the time being, but many students just want to be together right now, to talk to others. At home they are just alone again, as so often recently during the pandemic. For many, this is not an option at all.
What do you wish for in terms of dealing with the crime?
That we don’t forget the deed and learn to deal with our feelings. We can no longer delete what happened, now we have to cultivate a culture of remembrance that reminds us of the victims. To the dead student, to her fellow students who were injured, to the more than 20 traumatized young people who were sitting in the lecture hall when the perpetrator fired his gun. We also have to think of the perpetrator in some way. He was a student with us, he was one of us before he decided to leave our ranks. We still don’t know why he did it – but everyone here would also like an explanation for this act. Maybe we’ll never get such an explanation.
After the killing spree, the question arose as to whether the university should be better protected in the future, with access controls, detectors or the like.
That’s inconceivable. If you know our university, so decentralized with hundreds of buildings, that would not work from a purely organizational and technical point of view. And we students don’t want that at all. We love the openness of our university, that you can sometimes be late for a course, that you can go in and out, that’s part of our self-image. We are not a high-security wing, but an open place of learning for young people. It should stay that way, anything else would not do justice to our academic tradition and the trust in our students.