Wilhelm Voigt

Friedrich Wilhelm Voigt (German pronunciation: [ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈfoːkt]; 13 February 1849 – 3 January 1922) was a German con man and impostor. In his most famous exploit, Voigt masqueraded as a military officer of the elite Prussian Guards in 1906, rounding up a number of Imperial German Army soldiers under his command, arresting the Mayor of Köpenick, and confiscating 4,002 marks from the city treasury. Voigt then changed back into civilian clothing and disappeared with the money. The case was exploited for British propaganda about German militarism, but the German people overwhelmingly considered Voigt's exploit to be both clever and hilarious. Although Voigt was soon caught and served 20 months in prison, he became a folk hero as "the Captain of Köpenick" (German: der Hauptmann von Köpenick [ˈhaʊptman fɔn ˈkøːpənɪk] ^ⓘ) and was granted a full pardon by Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Voigt was born in Tilsit, Prussia (now Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast). In 1863, aged 14, he was sentenced to 14 days in prison for theft, which led to his expulsion from school. He learned shoemaking from his father.

Between 1864 and 1891, Voigt was sentenced to prison for a total of 25 years for thefts, forgery and burglary. The longest sentence was a 15-year conviction for an unsuccessful burglary of a court cashier's office. He was released on 12 February 1906.

Voigt drifted from place to place until he went to live with his sister in Rixdorf near Berlin. He was briefly employed by a well-reputed shoemaker until the local police expelled him from Berlin as an undesirable, based solely on his being an ex-convict, on 24 August 1906. Officially he left for Hamburg, although he remained in Berlin as an unregistered resident.

On 16 October 1906, Voigt was ready for his next caper. He had purchased parts of used Prussian Guards captain's uniforms from different shops and tested their effect on soldiers. He had resigned from the shoe factory ten days previously. He took the uniform out of baggage storage, put it on and went to the local army barracks, stopped four grenadiers and a sergeant on their way back to barracks and told them to come with him and they followed. He dismissed the commanding sergeant to report to his superiors and later commandeered six more soldiers from a shooting range. Then he took a train to Köpenick, east of Berlin, occupied the local city hall with his soldiers and told them to cover all exits. He told the local police to "care for law and order" and to "prevent calls to Berlin for one hour" at the local post office.

He had the treasurer von Wiltberg and mayor Georg Langerhans arrested for political corruption, and confiscated 4002 marks and 37 pfennigs, issuing a receipt for the money signed with his former prison warden's name. Then he commandeered two carriages and told the grenadiers to take the arrested men to the Neue Wache in Berlin for interrogation. He told the remaining soldiers to stand in their places for half an hour and then left for the train station, where he changed back into civilian clothes and disappeared with the money.

In the following days, the German press speculated on what had really happened. At the same time the Imperial German Army ran its own investigation. The German people admired both the cleverness and daring of the culprit.

Voigt was arrested on 26 October 1906 after a former cellmate who knew about Voigt's plans had tipped off the police, hoping for a high reward. On 1 December Voigt was sentenced to four years in prison for forgery, impersonating an officer, and false imprisonment. However, much of public opinion was on his side. German Kaiser Wilhelm II pardoned him on 16 August 1908. There are claims that even the Kaiser was amused by the incident, referring to him as an amiable scoundrel, and being pleased with the authority and feelings of reverence that his military obviously commanded in the general population.