Germany’s Federal Prosecutor’s Office has brought new, serious allegations against former Red Army Faction member Daniela Klette, accusing her of crimes tied to attacks in the early 1990s. These latest charges relate to incidents that predate the string of robberies from 1999 to 2016 for which she is already indicted; prosecutors say those robberies financed decades spent living underground.
What prosecutors allege
The 67-year-old faces charges including attempted murder, participation in explosive attacks, kidnapping for extortion and aggravated robbery. A Frankfurt court will determine if and when the new case goes to trial.
Prosecutors contend Klette was part of the RAF’s so-called third generation and took part in operations between 1990 and 1993. Among the accusations are:
– An attempted bombing of a Deutsche Bank building in Eschborn in 1990 that failed to detonate.
– A 1991 shooting at the US Embassy in Bonn, in which investigators say at least 250 rounds were fired and some 57 bullets struck the embassy.
– A 1993 bombing of the newly built prison in Weiterstadt that caused estimated damage of around €73 million. Authorities allege members of the group scaled the prison wall, overpowered and kidnapped guards, and then detonated explosives inside the facility while it was not yet housing inmates.
Background and related proceedings
Klette is alleged to have disappeared from public view by 1990 and to have lived for decades under a false identity in Berlin. Two alleged accomplices, Ernst-Volker Staub and Burkhard Garweg, remain at large.
Separately, Klette has been on trial at Verden District Court since early March 2025 on accusations that she, Staub and Garweg carried out a series of robberies of cash-in-transit vehicles and cash offices across Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein between 1999 and 2016 to fund their life in hiding.
Arrest and discovery
Klette was arrested in Berlin-Kreuzberg on February 26, 2024. Neighbors said they knew her by the name ‘Claudia’ and remembered a friendly, gray-haired tutor. Police who searched her apartment reported finding pistols, ammunition and military-grade weapons.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office now seeks to add the earlier, more violent allegations to the legal cases against her, while a Frankfurt court decides how the new charges will proceed.
Edited by: Sean Sinico