The parents’ revolt that drove Madeleine McCann suspect from home
- - The parents’ revolt that drove Madeleine McCann suspect from home
James RothwellSeptember 30, 2025 at 11:00 PM
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Christian Brueckner, the only suspect in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann - Sky News
For the residents of Gutenbergstraße, a housing estate in northwestern Germany, the trouble began when a furtive new neighbour with an ankle tag moved in.
Word quickly spread around the red-brick estate, in the working class city of Neumünster, that a potentially dangerous convict was living among them.
Then came a shocking realisation; this was not just any criminal, but the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann: convicted rapist and paedophile Christian Brueckner.
As Brueckner sought to keep a low profile in his new ground-floor apartment, assigned to him after being released from prison earlier this month, residents leapt into action.
A WhatsApp group was created to coordinate efforts to eject Brueckner from the estate, while some neighbours verbally abused the paedophile whenever he tried to venture outdoors.
The Gutenbergstraße housing estate, where Brueckner was given accommodation by German authorities - Belinda Jiao
Within just a few days, Germany’s most notorious kidnapping suspect was escorted out of the estate by police to a new location after his address was leaked online, creating fears for his security.
When approached by The Telegraph this week, residents denied involvement in the public leaking of the address. Even so, his swift exit marks a resounding victory for the estate’s concerned parents.
“It’s unbelievable that we weren’t warned [that he would be living here],” Cindy Holtz, 31, told The Telegraph from the estate’s garden, which includes a small children’s play area.
“I was asking myself: ‘Why has he been put here? Why in a building with children?’” she added, noting that nearly every block on the estate contained at least one family with youngsters.
Brueckner, the prime suspect in the disappearance of three-year-old Madeleine on May 3, 2007, was given a flat on the Gutenbergstraße estate after registering as homeless with the local authorities.
The 48-year-old vehemently denies any involvement in the British toddler’s disappearance. However, German prosecutors say he is the only suspect in their ongoing investigation.
Lurid details of Brueckner’s previous convictions, which include child sexual abuse and burglary, have been widely publicised in Germany since he was named as a suspect in the McCann case five years ago.
Brueckner has not been charged in the McCann case because of a lack of evidence - Michael Matthey/AFP
It is perhaps no surprise, then, that when his new neighbours found out who he was, they were extremely concerned.
“There are so many children on this estate, always coming out and playing here, playing football,” said Willy, a Gutenbergstraße resident, as he wheeled his bike into his apartment block.
In their close-knit community where the entrances to each block of flats are sometimes left unlocked, residents feared Brueckner might try to attack one of them, Willy said. “We were worried that he might hide in one of the cellars,” he added.
Neighbours who lived on the same staircase as Brueckner – who was placed in a ground-floor flat overlooking the play area – said he was extremely reclusive, but this did nothing to allay their worries about security.
They were also baffled that German authorities thought it would be appropriate to house a convicted paedophile in an estate full of children playing on lawns, riding bicycles in the streets and bouncing on trampolines.
“They [the local authorities] have no head on their shoulders, they had not thought it through at all,” said one 59-year-old resident, a saleswoman who did not wish to be identified.
“Not only children, but young women are also coming in and out early in the morning here because they have work. And there are more vulnerable children, young adults, living in the area too,” she said, referring to drug addiction and homeless support centres in the neighbourhood.
Rising anxiety on the estate
As tensions rose on the estate, and in wider Neumünster, a WhatsApp group was created to discuss how to force the authorities to get rid of Brueckner. Details about Brueckner’s rare sojourns outside of his flat also began to circulate in the German and British press, making the residents even more anxious.
One media report claimed, somewhat outlandishly, that Brueckner had gone into a pizza shop asking for free food while wearing a fake beard. The Sun, meanwhile, reported that he had been seen “creepily” leering out of his flat window, overlooking the children’s play area.
Another report by The Sun showed CCTV images of Brueckner heading into a mobile phone shop, chatting with the owner and dumping his foot on the counter to show his ankle tag.
Some residents began to feel concerned that the mere presence of Brueckner on the estate, even if he dared to leave his flat, could lead to vigilantes coming to throw “Molotov cocktails” at the windows, creating yet more danger for families.
“It became a big issue, as soon as people saw the ankle tag. He did not go out much and he was being verbally abused when he did go out, for example, to get pizza,” said Neumünster resident Nicole Häusler, 42.
Neumunster resident Nicole Hausler (right) said Brueckner was verbally abused when he went out - Belinda Jiao
Then came the final straw: Brueckner’s address was reportedly leaked online, and Brueckner himself is understood to have called the police out of concern for his own safety.
He was then escorted from the apartment by German police, as some parents reportedly shouted “scum!” and “shame on you”.
Residents interviewed by The Telegraph said they were aware of reports that the address had been leaked to force Brueckner out, but denied involvement.
“We are relieved,” said one resident who asked not to be named. “The police came because he apparently felt threatened and they took him out of the house.”
This marked the end of Brueckner’s ill-fated stay at the Gutenbergstraße estate, which came after a short period of him living in a homeless shelter in nearby Neumünster.
Staff and residents at that shelter, on Gasstraße, a run-down industrial zone, declined to comment on Brueckner’s stay. The Telegraph also approached the city of Neumünster for comment about criticism of the decision to house Brueckner in a family orientated neighbourhood.
The case is the latest illustration of a major dilemma for German prosecutors, who made Brueckner one of the most notorious criminal suspects in the world when they identified him at a press conference in June 2020.
Since then, they have been unable to produce enough hard evidence to charge Brueckner over Madeleine’s disappearance, despite publicly declaring they are sure of his guilt.
Madeleine, aged three, disappeared from the apartment where she was on holiday with her family in Portugal, on 3 May 2007 - Real Madrid TV/EPA
Now Brueckner has been released from prison, after completing a rape sentence unrelated to the Madeleine case, he is free to roam within Germany – though the conditions of his release require him to wear an ankle tag and his passport has been confiscated.
This is apparently due to Brueckner’s lawyers suggesting, prior to their client’s release, that he intended to flee Germany to avoid further scrutiny over the Madeleine case.
It is unclear how the investigation into Brueckner will proceed, though UK police have said they are exploring the possibility of extraditing him to Britain for trial.
The question of where exactly Brueckner should be allowed to live in his homeland, and whether it is impossible for him to lead a normal life, has become part of the German national debate.
“He’s got to live somewhere,” noted a headline in Bild, a German tabloid which has closely followed the case, in an op-ed on Sept 28.
“The heart says, protect children at all costs! No one wants their child anywhere near a man whose past is filled with violence,” wrote its author, Jan-Henrik Dobermans. “But the head says, he is a perpetrator who has served his sentence and should have a right to a life of freedom.”
In an interview with Sky News this week, Brueckner said he was being “hounded” by the media and just wants to be left alone. Brueckner’s lawyers have also expressed concerns that a British and German media frenzy over the McCann case has “pre-convicted” him.
Either way, the people of Neumünster can rest a little easier, knowing that a high-profile convicted rapist and paedophile is no longer among them.
Garin Mejlumyan, owner of Langotti Eiscafe in Neumünster, believes people like Brueckner should be ‘isolated’ - Belinda Jiao
“This kind of person must be isolated from others, in my opinion,” said Garin Mejlumyan, 54, the owner of Langotti ice-cream cafe, in central Neumünster.
“How can you be relaxed, knowing they are here? You’re always thinking about it.”
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