Erwin+Beizmenne

In the novel “The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum” several main characters are presented throughout the entire novel. One of the main characters is Erwin Beizmenne who is the Detective Chief Commissioner in charge of the case and the interrogation of Katharina Blum.

At first glance, the impressions that are formed about Beizmenne are generally negative. One of Beizmenne’s first actions is to tap into Blum’s phone line after the night of the party, which reflects how he has no qualms about invading other people’s privacy. Furthermore, this is not the first time he has tapped phone lines as shown when he states that he needs his “little plugs again”. He is an impatient man which is shown when he decides to raid Blum’s apartment after loosing “both his patience and nerve” when there was no sign of Gotten. When he enters Blum’s apartment he asks her a very crude question when he finds out that Gotten is not there, Blum also states that Beizmenne asked about Gotten “quite roughly”. Later, when she is taken to the police station for questioning, Beizmenne first “insist[s] on handcuffs” to be placed on Blum even though she is just being taken in for questioning. This shows the beginnings of Beizmenne’s antagonistic attitude towards Blum, as he is aggressive towards her in his actions, which is reinforced when Moeding says he does not believe Beizmenne’s theory of a “major conspiracy” in which Blum is involved. There is a lack of trust between Blum and Beizmenne and this often leads to arguments between them and lack of co-operation on Blum’s part:

“feelings of trust were out of the question”

However, it is stated that Beizmenne was “not all that bad” and he may have even tried to create a relationship of “mutual trust” between Blum and himself which obviously fails, perhaps due to the controversial question he asks her in the beginning. Another side of his character may be his seemingly paternal side, which comes out several times in the novel during the interrogation of Blum. This can indicate how Beizmenne is able to change his character to suit the situation:

“not only looked paternal but began to behave paternally” “resumed his paternal role”

Later on in the novel, Beizmenne surprises everyone with a sudden change in his character when he entered the room in “high good humor”. He treats Blum with “great consideration” and even apologizes for his actions, which is the complete opposite to how he acts at the beginning of the novel. He then proceeds to present all the information he has collected in a “mild” voice which “fascinated” and “shocked” everyone who was there. From their reactions it can be inferred that at this point Beizmenne is acting completely out of character. As for the reason why he is acting like this one explanation may be that Beizmenne believes he has found all the information he needs and now only need Blum’s explanation to confirm his theories:

“must have been because Katharina Blum’s information had confirmed one of his theories.”

Another reason is the telephone call between Blum and Gotten which Beizmenne found out about and is the cause of his “relaxed and pleasant mood of leniency”. This can show how Beizmenne’s mood depends on how much information he knows and how confident he is that his theories are correct.

-Sophia Ma-

There are a few major characters in The Lost Honour Of Katharina Blum, one amongst the few is Erwin Beizemenne. Beizemenne plays a significant role in the story, as Detective Chief in charge of the chase after Ludwig Gotten; suspected terrorist. The two characters, Beizemenne and Katharina Blum only meet when Blum is brought to questionings and investigations conducted by Beizemenne about Gotten’s whereabouts.

In the story, he is portrayed as an aggressive and stubborn man. His suspicion of Katharina during the investigations and attempting to put her in handcuffs suggests that he has doubts in trusting women. Nevertheless, his suspicions towards Katharina, or any woman may only be due to his cynical quality, or perhaps gained from former experiences whilst inquiring the opposite sex.

Possibly due to his dissatisfaction regarding Katharina, his behavior is rather negative. Beizemenne’s use of language during the inquiry is crude and violent owing to his frustration that Gotten could have escaped under his strict and thorough surveillance, in which he believed to be brilliant. However, as the story moves on, Beizemenne’s suddenly acts very out of character, his attitude to Katharina becomes pleasant and friendly when he discovers traces of Gotten through Katharina and wants more information from Katharina. Yet his belligerent character and sarcasm returns when Katharina refuses to reveal any information about Gotten.

The Character of Beizemenne, reflects the author’s aim in showing the panic and fear for terrorism in Germany, how Beizemenne’s desire to catch Gotten leads him to go against the rules; as invading Blum’s private life, searching through her apartment without notice and taking Blum’s belongings. It may be concluded that Beizemenne is a non-empathetic, two-faced, and offensive man. On the other hand, he may just be like any other typical police detectives, his unpleasant behavior and attitude is shaped due to the oppressive and distrusting environment he is living under, with terrorists and law-breakers running around freely.

-Antoinette

The novel, The Lost honour of Katharina Blum, is a detective story which was set in Germany. This story is rather confusing as there are a lot of characters, major and minor. There are a few major characters and one of them is Erwin Beizmenne. He is the Detective Chief Commissioner in charge of the case where he suspects a terrorist named Ludwig Gotten behind Katharina Blum. Even though Blum and Beizmenne meet only during the questionings of Blum, his character is well-depicted by the author.

In the beginning, I thought of him as a rather cruel and aggressive man as he evades Blum’s privacy, plus attempting to handcuff her during the questionings when he had no secure proof to suspect her as a criminal, or a ‘non-trustworthy’ woman. On the other hand, he is a security officer therefore it is his job to secure his own country where he had the same theory to support him which shows his stubborn character.

In the later part of the novel, Beizmenne surprisingly, had a sudden change enforcing a kind and pleasant character. I believe it was due to his ambitious attitude in finding Gotten through Blum. It was an intelligent move but not enough for Blum to reveal any information to him as for his violent behavior on their first meeting. Besides, there were much more pleasant people around than Beizmenne like for example his assistant, Walter Moeding, who was generally a good side of Beizmenne as he had did several kind acts towards Katharina like stopping her from being handcuffed.

To conclude, Beizmenne character must be respected as he was the Detective Chief Commissioner therefore he had to be of a more strict character than many of the others to show his authority and his ‘power’. Anyway, he was working for the police force and we could see he had an ambition to protect his country from terrorists’ acts; therefore we cannot blame suspicious view towards Blum even though it was against the law. As he was head, his experience should have been way more than normal police officers where he had seen a lot more terrorists get away with many other crimes and his character could also have been like this due to a rough childhood in Germany so it makes it hard for him to trust anyone.

- Darren

In Heinrich Böll’s novel: //The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum// or //How violence develops and where it can lead//, Chief Crime Commissioner Erwin Beizmenne is firstly introduced to the reader in Chapter 3 wherein Beizmenne is informed by Walter Moeding of the situation—that Katharina Blum shot and killed Werner Tötges in her apartment. Beizmenne is then re-introduced from Chapter 10 onwards where Beizmenne conducts the grueling interrogation with Blum.

Beizmenne is portrayed as aggressive, cruel and overzealous and his interrogation brings this out very well. When Beizmenne first confronts Blum in her apartment, he fires sexually compromising questions at her—‘Did he fuck you?’ This crude, vulgar and irrelevant question reveals his masculine brutality that can easily intimidate Blum; although she responded with casual calmness and serene equanimity—‘No, I wouldn’t call it that.’

Beizmenne’s abrasive procedures of the interrogation, inhumane treatment of Blum through extensive police raids and wiretapping (which are a violation of Blum’s privacy) and Blum being subject of intense scrutiny exemplify Beizmenne’s callous persona.

Along with the corrupt, propagandizing press (as represented by Tötges), Blum’s reputation and well-ordered life are gradually being destroyed and violated (although with Beizmenne it never ventures beyond obscene insinuations) for power, and also for public pleasure. These individuals are symbols of oppression created by the society, and it is from these that the basis of violence flows.

- Cindy