The last hours of serial killer Peter Kürten, the Düsseldorf Vampire.

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]On the 1st of July, Cotton was transferred to the Klingput prison in Cologne's Alstat North District. There he was informed in the afternoon that his request for clemency had been rejected and that he would be executed the following morning.

[00:00:16]Corton remained composed upon receiving the news and he asked permission to see his confessor whereupon the prison's pastor was assigned to him and that evening his priest from Dusseldorf arrived in Cologne. He also asked to write letters of apology to the relatives of his victims and a final farewell letter to his wife. All of these requests were granted on the evening of the 1st of July 1931. Corton received his final meal. He ordered Vina Schnitzel, a bottle of white wine and fried potatoes. Corton ate the entire meal and then requested a second helping. The prison staff once more granted his request. He spent the night sleepless in the company of the clergy and his lawyer and wrote letters to his wife to surviving victims of his crimes and his relatives. At 5 in the morning, he attended the mass that was read for him.

[00:01:13]Just under one hour later, he was taken to the guillotine. He walked unassisted, flanked by the prison psychiatrist and a priest. Shortly before his head was placed on the guillotine, Horden turned to the prison psychiatrist and asked a question. Tell me, after my head is chopped off, will I still be able to hear, at least for a moment, the sound of my own blood gushing from the stump of my neck? That would be the pleasure to end all pleasures.

[00:01:43]When asked if he had any last words to say, Cotton simply smiled and replied, "No." At 0600, his head was chopped off.

[00:01:53]Despite all the secrecy, a group of reporters gathered in front of the Clingalut's prison before the execution.

[00:02:00]They were not allowed to see the execution, but a justice spokesperson informed them of what had happened.

[00:02:06]Corton's execution received a unanimously positive response in the press.

[00:02:12]Corton's body was handed over to some doctors present for examination and to take specimens. Amongst other things, the scientists also examined the brain for abnormal changes. The body was buried without its head. The mummified head was brought to the United States after World War II and is now on display as an exhibit in the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum in Wisconsin Delta, Wisconsin.

[00:02:38]During the Vaimar Republic, there were not many executions. This was to change once Hitler took power and the number of death penalty offenses increased dramatically. If you'd like to see a longer video on the execution Carl Grippler, who carried out many of these executions despite his advanced age, then click on the link which will soon appear if it has not done so already. If you're interested to know more about the death penalty in Nazi Germany, then subscribe to my channel. for the moment.

[00:03:08]Thanks for listening.