Bruno Richard Hauptmann
A German immigrant carpenter whose conviction for the Lindbergh baby kidnapping became the 'crime of the century' and remains fiercely debated.
1899–1936 (age 37)·German-American executed for kidnapping and murder·Birthday: November 26·The Lost Generation
Biography
Bruno Hauptmann's life is a dark American parable. An immigrant carpenter struggling through the Depression, he was catapacted into infamy when a bundle of gold certificates from the Lindbergh ransom was linked to him. The trial that followed was a media circus, the public and press having already tried and convicted him for the murder of aviation hero Charles Lindbergh's son. The evidence was largely circumstantial—the ransom money in his garage, his handwriting allegedly matching the ransom notes—but the atmosphere was hysterical. Hauptmann maintained his innocence until his execution in the electric chair in 1936, a claim his wife Anna fought to prove for decades. The case exposed flaws in forensic science and police procedure, and Hauptmann's guilt is still contested by historians, leaving a permanent stain on the American justice system.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Bruno was born in 1899, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Bruno Was Born
The biggest hits of 1899
Bruno's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1899Born
President: William McKinley
1904Started school
New York City opens its first subway line
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1912Became a teenager
Titanic sinks on its maiden voyage
President: William Howard Taft
1915Could drive
The Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat
President: Woodrow Wilson
1917Could vote
Russian Revolution overthrows the tsar; US enters WWI
President: Woodrow Wilson
1920Turned 21
Women gain the right to vote in the US
Home: $3,395President: Woodrow Wilson"Swanee" — Al Jolson
1929Turned 30
Wall Street crashes, triggering the Great Depression
Gas: $0.21/galPresident: Herbert Hoover"Singin' in the Rain" — Cliff EdwardsBest Picture: The Broadway Melody
1936Died at 37
Jesse Owens wins four golds at the Berlin Olympics
Gas: $0.19/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"The Way You Look Tonight" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: The Great Ziegfeld
Key Achievements
- Was the central figure convicted in the Lindbergh kidnapping case, dubbed the 'crime of the century'.
- His trial was one of the first major media sensations of the modern era.
- The case led to the passage of the Federal Kidnapping Act, making transporting a kidnapping victim across state lines a federal crime.
Did You Know?
He was a veteran of the German Army in World War I.
After his arrest, over 100,000 people visited the police station where he was held, treating it like a tourist attraction.
The ladder used in the kidnapping was clumsily constructed, with part of it traced to lumber from Hauptmann's employer.
His wife, Anna, spent the rest of her life attempting to clear his name, filing multiple unsuccessful appeals.
“I am absolutely innocent of the charge for which I am to die.”
