The Grunewald crime scene: On June 24, 1922, Walther Rathenau was murdered on his way from his villa to the Federal Foreign Office. For months, all the daily newspapers ran front-page stories in their morning and evening editions about the crime and the search for the perpetrators. After the assassination, over 100,000 people gathered in front of the Reichstag alone. It was the last major, impressive demonstration in support of the Republic before power was handed over to the National Socialists in 1933.

This tour of Berlin-Grunewald paints a portrait of the extraordinary figure of Walther Rathenau. He was as much at home in the world of culture, painting, literature, and philosophy as he was in business and politics. In our search for clues, we will consider, among other things, the perpetrators, the course of events, and the background to the crime – as well as what the crime reveals about the fragility of democracy.