This article recounts the story of the Edelweiss Pirates and the Ehrenfeld Group in Cologne – teenagers who dared to resist the Nazi regime and were publicly executed without trial in November 1944. The content is for educational and historical documentation only, based on archival records, witness testimonies, and historical sources. It does not aim to glorify violence or advocate for any political ideology.
The Mass Execution of the Edelweiss Pirates in Cologne: The Death of Teenagers Who Dreamed of Freedom
During World War II, when most German youth were forced to join the Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend) for military training and ideological indoctrination, some small groups dared to resist. The most famous was perhaps the White Rose (Weiße Rose) – university students who distributed anti-Nazi leaflets and paid with their lives under the guillotine. Less known but equally tragic were the Edelweiss Pirates (Edelweisspiraten) – a street youth movement, rebels who simply wanted to be themselves, listen to banned jazz music, and refuse to wear uniforms. In Cologne, one of the most daring Pirate groups evolved into the Ehrenfeld resistance group. And on November 10, 1944, 13 members of the group – including children as young as 16 – were publicly hanged without trial on a massive gallows in front of Ehrenfeld train station. This is the story of the uprising, betrayal, and death of the Edelweiss Pirates.
1. Who Were the Edelweiss Pirates? The Rebels Against Hitler
The Edelweiss Pirates were an informal youth movement that emerged in western Germany in the late 1930s . They consisted of young people, primarily aged 14 to 17, who hated the rigidity, authoritarianism, and militarization of the Hitler Youth . Instead of marching and target practice, they preferred camping, singing forbidden songs, and listening to swing music .
They were easily recognizable by their distinctive fashion: shorts, white socks, checked shirts, and the Edelweiss flower badge . Their unofficial slogan was: “Eternal war on the Hitler Youth” . They frequently brawled with Hitler Youth patrols, rescued those who had been captured, and sabotaged Nazi facilities.
2. The Ehrenfeld Group – When Street Rebels Became Fighters
By 1944, in the Ehrenfeld district of Cologne, a powerful resistance group had formed around the central figure of Hans Steinbrück, 23, nicknamed “Black Hans” . Steinbrück was an escaped prisoner who had broken out of a Cologne subcamp of a concentration camp in July 1943 . He lived in hiding in the rubble of bombed-out buildings, gradually gathering around him a diverse group: communists, Jews in hiding, escaped forced laborers, deserters, and most importantly, young members of the local Edelweiss Pirates .
The group, known as the Ehrenfeld Group (or Steinbrück Group), began with petty theft to survive. They stole food, vehicles, and traded on the black market. The peak of their activity was the so-called “Butter Robbery” (Butterraub) , where they stole 26 hundredweight of butter and sold it for 123,000 Reichsmarks – a huge sum at the time . Using this money, they began stockpiling weapons and planning more audacious actions.
According to Steinbrück’s testimony after his capture, the group’s ultimate goal was to blow up the Gestapo headquarters in Cologne (the EL-DE Haus) and destroy strategic railway lines to bring the front closer and end the war sooner . They hid weapons in cellars and waited for the right moment.
3. The Betrayal and Himmler’s Crackdown
On September 29, 1944, an informant tipped off a military patrol about the group’s weapons cache in a cellar on Körnerstraße . Police raided the location, seized the weapons, and launched a massive manhunt. Steinbrück escaped, but during the pursuit, he and his accomplice Roland Lorent opened fire, killing a watchman, a SA (Sturmabteilung) member, and a Hitler Youth boy . This brazen act crossed the Nazi regime’s line of tolerance.
Heinrich Himmler, the leader of the SS, personally ordered the group’s suppression at all costs . The Gestapo carried out wave after wave of arrests. By October 15, 63 people had been arrested, including 19 teenagers . They were brutally tortured for weeks, but none betrayed their remaining comrades.
4. “The Trial-less Execution” – The Gallows at Ehrenfeld Train Station
After failing to extract information, the Gestapo decided on a exemplary public revenge. A massive gallows, tall enough to be seen from a distance, was erected outside Ehrenfeld train station . On November 10, 1944, 13 men and teenagers were led to the gallows.
There was no trial. No defense lawyers. Only a hastily read death sentence before a crowd of curious onlookers – estimated at around 400 people . Himmler wanted to send a clear message to anyone who dared resist the Reich.
Among the 13 executed that day were six teenagers :
Barthel Schink (age 16)
Günther Schwarz (age 16)
Johann Müller (age 16)
Franz Rheinberger (age 17)
Gustav Bermel (age 17)
Adolf Schütz (age 18)
Three of them – Schink, Schwarz, and Müller – were only 16 years old. They were hanged in public, alongside older members like Hans Steinbrück (23) and Roland Lorent (24). In total, 13 people died on the gallows on charges of “conspiracy to overthrow the government” and “murder” .
5. The Legacy: Barthel Schink Street and Cologne’s Pride
Today, the site of that horrifying 1944 execution is no longer a reminder of fear but a memorial to courage. The street beside the station, where the gallows once stood, is named Bartholomäus-Schink-Straße . Barthel Schink, the 16-year-old boy with blonde hair and blue eyes, became a symbol of youthful resistance.
A large mural on the wall of a bunker on Körnerstraße commemorates the Edelweiss Pirates and the Ehrenfeld Group . Every year, the Edelweißpiraten festival is held at Friedenspark (Peace Park) to honor their indomitable spirit.
It was not until the 1980s that survivors were officially recognized by the German government as “resistance fighters” rather than “criminals,” as Nazi-era judges had labeled them . In 1984, Barthel Schink was recognized by Yad Vashem as “Righteous Among the Nations” for hiding Jews from Nazi persecution .
They were not soldiers, nor politicians. They were merely teenagers who wanted to dance to forbidden music, wear clothes they liked, and refuse to shout “Sieg Heil.” But in a dictatorship, wanting to be yourself was a death sentence. The execution of the 13 Edelweiss Pirates in Cologne is one of the darkest – and also one of the most heroic – chapters in German history. They died young, but their ideals of freedom live on in every cobblestone of the street that bears Barthel Schink’s name.
Primary Sources:
German History in Documents and Images – Reich Ministry of Justice report on “Youth Gangs” (1944)
Wikipedia – Edelweiss Pirates / Ehrenfeld Group / Barthel Schink
KölnTourismus – “Edelweißpiraten by Captain Borderline” (memorial mural)
TracesOfWar – Memorial Execution Location Ehrenfeld