Birth of Ulrike Marie Meinhof
Birth of Ulrike Marie Meinhof
Historical biography archive · Updated 2026-11-03
Ulrike Marie Meinhof Biography and Timeline
Follow Ulrike Marie Meinhof through 39 dated historical records for Germany.
Ulrike Marie Meinhof, historical timeline
A chronological timeline drawn from matching World History Database records.
39Distinct records
1 of 1Page
1934–1977Years on this page
1934
1957
Bundeswehr
Joins the Socialist German Student Union, participating in the protests against the rearmament of the Bundeswehr and its involvement with nuclear weapons
Socialist German Student Union
Joins the Socialist German Student Union, participating in the protests against the rearmament of the Bundeswehr and its involvement with nuclear weapons
1959
Communist Party of Germany (KPD)
Joins the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), the banned German Communist Party & begins work at the magazine konkret, serving as chief editor from 1962 until 1964
Konkret
Joins the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), the banned German Communist Party & begins work at the magazine konkret, serving as chief editor from 1962 until 1964
1968
Konkret
The attempted assassination Dutschke provokes Meinhof to write an article in konkret demonstrating her militant attitude, "Protest is when I say this does not please me, Resistance is when I ensure what does not please me occurs no more"
1969
Konkret
Leaves her job at Konkret in the early part of 1969 (later returning to vandalise the offices in May) and begins her life as a guerilla
Marriage
Ulrike Meinhof, having grown increasingly disillusioned with her life, divorces her husband
1970
Arrest of Andreas Baader
In the conservative Springer Press a name is born: "the Baader-Meinhof Gang". Baader was arrested on 3 April 1970, Ensslin, Ulrike Meinhof, who was at that time a well-known leftist polemicist, and two other women freed him on 14 May 1970
Baader-Meinhof Gang
In the conservative Springer Press a name is born: "the Baader-Meinhof Gang"
Red Army Faction
The RAF is formally founded in 1970 by Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, Horst Mahler, Ulrike Meinhof, Irmgard Muller and others
Springer Press
In the conservative Springer Press a name is born: "the Baader-Meinhof Gang"
Red Army Faction
The German Press Agency receive a communique claiming credit for securing Baaders release from prison written by Ulrike Meinhof, the communique is the first time that the group uses the term "Red Army," which becomes "Red Army Faction"
Red Army Faction
Half of the group sneaks into East Berlin, and then heads to the Jordan desert to a Palestinian training camp, to be followed by the rest of the group a week later.
Red Army Faction
The RAF learn how to shoot guns, throw grenades, and thoroughly annoy their Palestinian hosts.
Red Army Faction
after two months the Palestinians are sick of their disrespectful German guests and send them on a plane out of Jordan, they return to Berlin.
Arrest of Ulrike Marie Meinhof
Ulrike Meinhof bolts at a police check point, leaving an ID card with a very recent picture of her newly-peroxided hair style
Arrest of Andreas Baader
Journalist Ulrike Meinhof and two other women were allowed to join Andaes Baader, and aided in his escape by opening a door to admit a masked man who fired shots that wounded a 64-year-old librarian, hitting his liver. Baader is arrested and Ensslin convinces her friend Ulrike Meinhof to be part of a plan to break him out of jail in May of 1970
Manifesto
A manifesto authored by Meinhof uses the name "RAF" and the red-star logo with a Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun for the first time
PLO
Baader, Ensslin, Mahler, and Meinhof go to Jordan where they train for guerrilla warfare with the PLO
Red Army Faction
A manifesto authored by Meinhof uses the name "RAF" and the red-star logo with a Heckler and Koch MP5 submachine gun for the first time.
Red Army Faction
Baader, Ensslin, Mahler, and Meinhof go to Jordan for their brief guerrilla warfare training with the PFLP/Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).
Red Army Faction
This marked the beginning of the "anti-imperialistic fight", with bank robberies to raise money and explosives, and arson attacks against U.S. military facilities, German police stations, and buildings of the Axel Springer press empire.
1971
Manifesto
Ulrike Meinhof is put in charge of writing a manifesto of the group,"The Concept of the Urban Guerrilla," circulated by May. On its cover is a logo: a rifle over a star, with the letters RAF on top of them, the rifle is a Kalashnikov Rifle, the Soviet-Bloc machine gun that they had grown to love in their Jordan training
Red Army Faction
Ulrike Meinhof is put in charge of writing a manifesto of the group,"The Concept of the Urban Guerrilla," circulated by May. Begin what they called "anti-imperialistic fight", with bank robberies to raise money and bomb attacks against U.S. military facilities, German police stations, and buildings of the Axel Springer press empire
The Concept of the Urban Guerrilla
Ulrike Meinhof is put in charge of writing a manifesto of the group,"The Concept of the Urban Guerrilla," circulated by May
1972
Arrest of Ulrike Marie Meinhof
The Read Army Faction members are jailed individually in solitary confinement in the newly constructed high security Stammheim Prison in the north of Stuttgart
Red Army Faction
After an intense manhunt, Baader, Ensslin, Meinhof, Holger Meins, and Jan-Carl Raspe are arrested
Red Army Faction
The Read Army Faction members are jailed individually in solitary confinement in the newly constructed high security Stammheim Prison in the north of Stuttgart
1975
Trial
Opening day of the Stammheim trial of Baader, Ensslin, Meinhof, and Jan-Carl Raspe began, named after a city district of Stuttgart where it takes place
Trial
Meinhof, Baader, Ensslin, and Raspe are charged with four counts of murder, fifty-four of attempted murder, and a single count of forming a criminal association
1976
Death of Ulrike Marie Meinhof
Death of Ulrike Meinhof, found dead in her cell, hanging from a rope made from jail towels, an investigation concludes that she had hanged herself, a result hotly contested at the time, spurring conspiracy theories
Suicide
Death of Ulrike Meinhof, found dead in her cell, hanging from a rope made from jail towels, an investigation concludes that she had hanged herself, a result hotly contested at the time, spurring conspiracy theories
Death of Ulrike Marie Meinhof
An enquiry finds suicide the cause, extremists claim otherwise & make her a martyr
Suicide
An enquiry finds suicide the cause, extremists claim otherwise & make her a martyr
1977
Assassination of Siegfried Buback
Assassination of the federal prosecutor-general Siegfried Buback, claimed by the Ulrike Meinhof Commando, in revenge for the suicide of Ulrike Meinhof
Suicide
Assassination of the federal prosecutor-general Siegfried Buback, claimed by the Ulrike Meinhof Commando, in revenge for the suicide of Ulrike Meinhof
Assassination of Siegfried Buback
Assassination of the federal prosecutor-general Siegfried Buback, claimed by the Ulrike Meinhof Commando, in revenge for the suicide of Ulrike Meinhof
Suicide
Assassination of the federal prosecutor-general Siegfried Buback, claimed by the Ulrike Meinhof Commando, in revenge for the suicide of Ulrike Meinhof
Records, sources and methodology
These dates and descriptions come from the historical_events database. Exact duplicate records have been collapsed. Names are grouped by the country, Name 2 and Name 1 fields; records with missing Name 2 cannot be reliably assigned to an individual biography. Check the underlying sources before formal citation.