Gladbeck: The Hostage Crisis

Actually I wouldn't say there was a syndrome. It was just the first thing that came to my mind (it does sound catchy and yes the pun with Stockholm is obviously intended). It did have repercussions though. The way it was handled and what was allowed to be done since then.

Because it was quite crazy. Now there were no cell phones back then, when this happened, but rich people had car phones. But let's not get too ahead - I just said this to give you an insight what time it was and what was possible technically speaking.

This documentary tells you right from the start that it is edited from the raw material that was shot back then. Mostly video footage but also some photographs too. So you will also get original audio from back then - no commentary or anything to explain or give you an opinion on what is happening.

Of course you can argue the way it is edited is already a commentary itself. Still the happenings speak for themselves. And they tell a bizarre story to say the least. The way the police and the press handled the whole hostage/kidnap situation was ... bad to say the least. Add to that a lot of individuals who were just there to gawk ... to get excited about a horrible situation. It is by the way beyond parody to hear some of those gawkers speak to reporters (who are mostly not better as I already said): they seem unable to see the ignorance when they say no one should be there. One even admits he shouldn't be there either ... gawking and just adding pressure to a situation that was ready to explode any moment anyway. But of course he was still there ... and stayed there.

There seems to be limited series about this too. I may watch this if I get the chance too. But for now, this was more than enough madness - there is only so much a human can take - no pun intended.

The doc show a terrible hostage situation, with media out for blood and just terrible police incompetence.

What's even more sad is that it's not better today. Just look at the police in Uvalde, Texas, that stood in the corridor waiting for an hour while kids were slaughtered.

As "Gladbeck: The Hostage Crisis" (2022 release from Germany; 91 min) opens, it is August 15, 1988" and we are in Gladbeck, Germany. Two deranged criminals have just robbed a small branch of Deutsche Bank, and decide to take the 2 bank employees as hostages. They demand 300,000 Deutsche Mark and a BMW as getaway car. It marks the beginning of a couple of shocking days...

Couple of comments: this is directed by veteran and well-respected German documentarian Volker Heise. As the film notes at the very beginning, the entire movie consists of actual footage and audio from 1988. No talking heads looking back and commenting. This is all happening in real life. And some of it is absolutely surreal. How 2 kidnappers were to in effect hold an entire country hostage, with plenty of help from the media's actions AND the police's inaction it must be said. As we watch these events unfold, I, and I suspect many other viewers, had absolutely no idea how it would all unfold, and that makes this such a compelling documentary. Afterwards both the media and the police were heavily criticized for their roles in the hostage drama.

"Gladbeck: The Hostage Crisis" premiered on Netflix two weeks ago, and I just caught up on it. If you have any interest in true crime documentaries, or in a late 80s time capsule of what West Germany was like at that time (one year before the reunification), I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

I went to school in Bremen before departing for the United States later that year; this happened shortly after summer break. The Italian boy who was shot at the service area was a year younger and from a different district, but many people in my class were badly shaken. Some pupils came up with the idea of a vigil, a novelty at the time, and only then the school realized they had to discuss what happened. We asked the teachers why the police apprehended the criminal's girlfriend without thinking how they might react, and of course they had no answer.

Of course, the media's behavior was the most shocking aspect. Peter Meyer, the AP photographer who asked Rösner for an interview and offered the hostage takers to use his phone, is shown here criticizing the police for not addressing the criminals' demands. Udo Röbel, who guided the criminals out of Cologne later became chief editor of Bild, Germany's largest daily. And Frank Plasberg (not shown), who conducted an interview which was not aired, became one of Germany's main talk show hosts.

Given that dozens of journalists surrounded the criminals in Bremen and Cologne, they had many opportunities to overwhelm or disarm them, but chose to click away instead. And to be fair to the police, what could they do in a situation when the journalists were acting like a human shield? There was an ethics inquest, as a result of which interviews in a live hostage situation were forbidden, but no one expressed remorse at the time. Bremen's Senator of the Interior (responsible for the police) resigned, that was it. In the film, one journalist asks Degowski (who had not slept for three days) to press his gun against Silke Bischoff's neck, the striking 18yo who died during the botched rescue attempt. There were no criminal charges, and the resulting photo is still being used.

So yes, this is painful to watch and a testament to the degradation of news media, which was only beginning. However, the lack of commentary comes across as cheap. Why did they not ask the journalists for comment given how well-known they became through this event?

I never would have expected that a movie / documentary created by only using news snip-its, could be so good.

It is the first time that I see this type of documentary, and the story just captures you. I never before heard of the events so I was really at the edge of my seat, watching how the situation would develop.