Aldi's founder, Theo Albrecht, recounts the rescue operation of the abducted man in 1971 - The Founder of Aldi, Theo Albrecht, Discussed
In the evening of November 29, 1971, Theo Albrecht, co-founder of the discount empire Aldi, was kidnapped outside the headquarters of Aldi-Nord in Herten near Essen. This event, which lasted 17 days, would go down as one of the most spectacular criminal cases in German post-war history.
The kidnappers, two criminals, had learned about the Albrecht brothers from the book "The Rich and Super-Rich in Germany". Initially, they had targeted Theo's brother Karl, but they chose Theo instead. The ransom for Theo's release was a then-unimaginable seven million marks, the highest amount ever paid in the Federal Republic.
The hostage-taking ended on December 16, 1971, when the ransom money was delivered on a gloomy country road in Breitscheid near Düsseldorf by the then Bishop of the Ruhr, Franz Hengsbach. The perpetrators were quickly caught, and one of the kidnappers, lawyer Ollenburg, was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison by the Essen Regional Court in 1973.
Despite the public interest in the case, there is no recorded detail on the use or taxation of the ransom money. In 1979, Theo Albrecht sued the Finance Court of Münster, seeking to claim the ransom amount as a business expense, but only partially succeeded. The specific details about how the ransom money was used after payment are not mentioned in the available search results.
The Albrecht family, known for their avoidance of the public eye, especially since the kidnapping, has not spoken publicly about the incident, even on the 50th anniversary in 2021. Theo Albrecht died in 2010 at the age of 88, and his brother Karl died in 2014.
After his release, Theo Albrecht thanked the Essen police with 120 bottles of champagne, two kegs of beer, and twelve bottles of schnapps. Approximately half of the ransom millions remain missing to this day. The kidnapping of Theo Albrecht will likely never be forgotten, as it is part of German criminal and economic history.
The Albrecht family, while maintaining their private nature, attempted to claim a portion of the ransom money as a business expense, with Theo Albrecht taking legal action in 1979. However, the details about how the ransom money was utilized after payment remain unknown, as no specific records detailing the expenses have been made public.
Moreover, the Albrecht brothers, who were entrenched in entrepreneurship, finance, and business, had a community policy that emphasized their avoidance of public attention, and this was particularly evident after the kidnapping incident.
