An American man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and sexual assault after allegedly attacking two women near one of Germany’s most popular tourist attractions and throwing them down a 50-metre ravine.
One of the women, aged 21, died overnight from serious injuries. Her 22-year-old companion was still in hospital with serious injuries. Neither has been identified, but according to German media reports both women were also Americans.
The attack took place on Wednesday afternoon at the 19th-century Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, the state prosecutor Thomas Hörmann told reporters.
The two women had met the man on a trail close to Marienbrücke, a bridge over a gorge close to the castle that offers a famous view of Neuschwanstein.
The three of them then went “over a trail path to a viewing point, where he then physically attacked the 21-year-old,” Hörmann said. Investigators were working on the assumption that the attack was sexually motivated, he added.
“The 22-year-old wanted to help, whereupon he strangled her and pushed her down the incline.” The 21-year-old also plunged into the ravine.
Witnesses reported seeing the women lying side by side 50 metres below. The women were recovered by a mountain rescue team from Füssen and were flown by helicopter to a nearby clinic.
The man fled the scene and a suspect was arrested shortly afterwards, following a large police operation. A witness video posted online showed a man in a T-shirt, jeans and a baseball cap being led away in handcuffs by police.
Criminal investigative police from Kempten have launched an investigation into murder, attempted murder and sexual assault, assisted by officers from a local alpine taskforce who have expert knowledge of the terrain.
The alleged attacker appeared before a judge in Kempten and is being held in custody.
A spokesperson for the castle said it was operating normally and the Marienbrücke, a popular place from which to view the picturesque castle, was also accessible.
Neuschwanstein was built on top of a rock ledge above the Pöllat Gorge in the Bavarian Alps on the orders of Bavaria’s King Ludwig II, who wanted a reproduction of a medieval castle. Building work began in 1868 but it was never completed. It now draws an estimated 1.4 million tourists a year.
• This article was amended on 15 June 2023 because it was Ludwig II, not Louis II as an earlier version said, who ordered the castle’s construction.
