Thomas Niedermayer: German businessman remembered in Belfast

Thomas Niedermayer

Thomas Niedermayer's body was found seven years after he was kidnapped

By Brendan Hughes
BBC News NI political reporter

The granddaughter of a German businessman killed by the IRA 50 years ago has planted a tree in Belfast close to where his body was found.

Thomas Niedermayer was manager of the Grundig factory in the city and was the West German honorary consul for Northern Ireland.

He was kidnapped from his home by the Provisional IRA on 27 December 1973 during the Troubles.

His body was found in 1980 in Colin Glen Forest, west Belfast.

Four of his family members, including his widow Ingeborg, his daughters Renate and Gabrielle, and his son-in-law Robin, died by suicide in the years after the killing.

Mr Niedermayer's granddaughter, Tanya Williams-Powell, lost both her parents.

Tanya Williams-Powell said her family was hurting for a long time

During a commemoration on Friday, she laid flowers near the site where Mr Niedermayer's body was discovered.

"The multi-generational trauma that is caused by one incident is something that I think many of us are really not aware of," she said.

"We see the immediate victims but the people around them are the ones who continue to suffer.

"That one event spiralled into all of that tragedy. Our family was hurting for a long, long time."

The commemoration was organised by the victims group SEFF (South East Fermanagh Foundation).

Among those in attendance were the German ambassador to the Republic of Ireland, Cord Meier-Klodt, and the honorary German consul to Northern Ireland, Marion Lübbeke.

Cord Meier-Klodt, German ambassador to the Republic of Ireland, joined the commemoration

Mr Meier-Klodt said it was important to remember and reflect.

"Seeing countless civilian casualties in conflicts and warzones, these become so easily mere statistics, and it's so important to remember and spell out the individual fate," he said.

Alan Simpson, a former Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer who helped find Mr Niedermayer's body, said he was honoured to attend the tree-planting service.

"People talk about closure. If I lost a relative, I don't think I'd ever find closure," he said.

"What I did and what my colleagues did was maybe give answers, but closure is a very strong word for me."

A silver birch tree was planted close to the spot where Thomas Niedermayer's body was found

Ms Williams-Powell works in a primary school and for each day of advent, she paints a new artwork on her face for the pupils.

As Christmas approaches, she said he hoped the silver birch planted in Colin Glen can show the peace and reconciliation her grandfather lived for.

"That's what he really wanted and I'm hoping that this is just a symbol of that, and that the people of Northern Ireland and the land itself can continue to heal."

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