The Baader-Meinhof Complex: The Definitive RAF Account

The Definitive Work on German Terrorism

Journalist Stefan Aust published his 512-page masterpiece "Der Baader Meinhof Komplex" in 1985 with Hamburg publisher Hoffmann und Campe. Since then, the book has served as the standard reference on the Red Army Faction. Aust worked as an editor at Der Spiegel between 1974 and 1994 and later became director of WDR television. His unique access to RAF history stemmed partly from personal connections—he knew Gudrun Ensslin from his university days in Stuttgart during the 1960s and was able to interview her before she went underground.

The book chronologically documents the RAF's emergence and activities from the student uprisings of 1968 through the dramatic German Autumn of 1977. By 2020, approximately 500,000 copies had been sold. An expanded edition appeared in 2005 with new documents and interviews. Germany's Federal Agency for Civic Education continues to recommend the work as the primary source on RAF history.

Exceptional Journalistic Approach

Aust's research drew on unusual sources. As a Spiegel editor, he had access to RAF communications, FBI and BND archives, and police documents from Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Cologne. He interviewed survivors including Peter-Jürgen Boock and used archival material from Hamburg's Institute for Social Research. His personal connection to Ensslin gave him insights that other journalists were denied.