Bachmann was born on 12 October 1944 and grew up in East Germany in a family situation that had been described as difficult. In 1956, he left the GDR with his mother for West Germany and settled in Peine, Lower Saxony. Considered a poor student, he began to finance his lifestyle with a series of break-ins. He moved around frequently and changed jobs multiple times. In 1966 he was convicted for break-ins he committed in France. In 1968 he moved to Munich, searching for work. While in Munich, he had heard of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.. This inspired him to assassinate Dutschke, whom he disliked for "being a communist". In 2009 it emerged that Bachmann had contact with an active cell of Neonazis in Peine starting in 1961 and that he participated in shooting practice with them.
Attack
Bachmann left his place of work in Munich on 10 April 1968 and travelled by train to Berlin. On his departure he told his fellow workers that they would hear about him in the media soon. On the afternoon of 11 April, Bachmann approached the residence of Dutschke on Kurfürstendamm 140. Seeing Dutschke leaving the building at around 4:35pm, Bachmann approached him, inquiring if he was Rudi Dutschke. On Dutschke's confirmation, Bachmann pulled his gun and shot him with three bullets, calling him a "dirty communist pig". Bachmann fled the scene, leaving the seriously injured Dutschke behind. Bachmann went into hiding in a nearby basement, where police tracked him down. Following a shoot-out with police he was arrested. Prior to his arrest, Bachmann attempted to kill himself with sleeping pills. He was taken to a hospital to deal with the poisoning.
Aftermath
Bachmann confessed to the assassination attempt and was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison in 1969. In the attempt on his life, Dutschke suffered brain damage and had to learn to speak again. Being aware that Bachmann had attempted to commit suicide, Dutschke started to converse with Bachmann in a series of letters. In this exchange, Dutschke considered suicide as cowardly. Bachmann apologised for what he had done to Dutschke. In the night of 23-24 February 1970, Bachmann committed suicide by suffocating himself with a plastic bag.
