The 1980 Oktoberfest Bombing: 13 Dead, No Answers

The Bomb Tears Through the Crowd

At 10:19 PM on September 26, 1980, a violent explosion detonates at the main entrance to Munich's Oktoberfest. A homemade pipe bomb filled with nails tears apart the entrance and hurls shrapnel through crowds of people who moments earlier were making their way into the festival's attractions.

Thirteen people die at the scene or shortly after—among them 23-year-old Gundolf Köhler from Thuringia, whose identity would later become linked to the attack. Over 210 people are wounded, nearly half of them seriously. It becomes the deadliest terrorist attack in West Germany's history before September 11, 2001.

Among the dead are young people like 17-year-old Claudia, 19-year-old Hans-Werner, and 18-year-old Gabriele—people who had simply come for an evening of entertainment at the world's most famous beer festival. The bomb strikes without warning at a place symbolizing Bavarian joy and apparent safety. The explosion is so violent that body parts are scattered across the entire area.

Connections to Extremist Networks

Gundolf Köhler worked as a carpenter and was a member of the right-wing extremist organization Wehrsportgruppe Hoffmann (WSG)—a paramilitary group led by Karl-Heinz Hoffmann near Bayreuth. Members learned to handle weapons and explosives. According to police investigations, Köhler had acquired precisely the skills he used to construct the bomb.