The Abandoned Chocolate Factory on Gaußstraße is the setting of a discovery that turns a neglected courtyard into a forensic scene: in November 1971, a caretaker uncovered human remains among leaves, decaying cartons, and discarded objects. The location mattered not as an established place of death, but as the place where investigators found the remains and began to examine what had happened.

Setting

The abandoned factory stood close to Zeißstraße. In its courtyard, two tables were stacked one on top of the other, while empty, partly rotted cardboard boxes lay nearby. The remains were found in a cluttered area at the southern end of a corrugated-metal garage, beside a large wine barrel and immediately inside the property’s boundary fence.

Discovery

At about 2 p.m. on November 2, 1971, caretaker Mr Engel was raking leaves in the courtyard near an empty wooden barrel. A head emerged from beneath the cartons, between the leaves and loose earth. After he noticed a hand as well, he called the police. A patrol car was ordered to the construction site on Gaußstraße at 2:30 p.m.; the homicide squad arrived shortly afterward.

Examination of the Remains

Investigators found six body parts, partly wrapped in newspaper and partly in plastic. They included the head, the left thigh with part of the lower leg still attached, both arms, and the right foot. The latest newspaper issue identified among the wrappings was Bildzeitung dated November 4, 1970. The remains were badly decomposed, and their time at the site was estimated at about a year.

The examination recorded details that might aid identification: the skin was predominantly dirty brown or brownish yellow; the scalp retained remnants of medium- to dark-blond hair, cut roughly to about three centimetres; and the upper lip may have had fine hair in life. Despite the precision of these observations, the factory grounds did not settle where the woman had died. Investigators considered it likely that the discovery site was not the place of death.