Kampusch case thrust Strasshof into media spotlight

The case of kidnapping victim Natascha Kampusch brought the town of Strasshof in the Gänserndorf district into the international media spotlight, ORF reported. Kampusch escaped on August 23, 2006, after being held captive for eight years in a house there.

Kampusch disappeared on March 2, 1998, on her way to school in Vienna-Donaustadt. A classmate said she had seen Kampusch being forced into a white panel van. Numerous searches followed, but all were unsuccessful.

Eight years later, a young woman suddenly appeared in a residential garden settlement in Strasshof an der Nordbahn. It soon emerged that she was the kidnapped Kampusch. Irmgard Hochwarter, who lives almost directly behind the kidnapper’s house, recalled that Kampusch escaped through the garage and ran into the settlement before the gendarmerie arrived.

The young woman was questioned at the police station in Deutsch-Wagram. Initial television footage showed her wrapped in a blue blanket as police officers led her to a car. Further details gradually emerged, including reports that her kidnapper, Wolfgang Priklopil, had taught her.

Priklopil fled, and his car was found at the Donauzentrum shopping centre in Vienna. Erika Geier, the manager of a bakery there, was at the centre with her son. She said she had heard on the news that the escape had taken place in that direction and that the garage doors closed behind her as she drove out. Priklopil later died by suicide.

Reporters and camera crews then descended on Strasshof. Ludwig Deltl, who was deputy mayor at the time and is now mayor, was on holiday abroad. His daughter called him, and he turned on the television to see Strasshof on CNN. He returned home the next day.

The town faced weeks of intense media attention. Geier said residents were shocked that the crime had happened in their own town, while Hochwarter recalled that the garden settlement was surrounded by reporters and that the street was closed.

Maria Kreutzer, a neighbour, said she had thought about what might have happened to her children, who were still playing outside at the time. Deltl recalled that the case was discussed even at local events, including a parish festival in early September, where a reporter approached him while he was queuing for food and drinks.

Only a few weeks after her escape, Kampusch gave a widely watched first interview to ORF presenter Christoph Feurstein. She said she had sworn that she would grow older, stronger and more powerful so she could free herself. She described making a pact with her future self to return and free the small 12-year-old girl.

Kampusch later said that she did not find peace after the interview. In another appearance on the ORF programme Thema 15 years later, she said many people had reacted with hostility and made comments that were deeply hurtful and remained so.

The case remained present in Strasshof for years. Geier recalled that people made “stupid jokes” when someone had a guest room in a basement. Anna Bednarczyk, who moved to the garden settlement with her family three years ago, did not know about the neighbouring house until she asked whether the neighbours were quiet. She said learning that Kampusch had been held there came as a shock, although she believed the negative energy had since disappeared.

The house where Kampusch was held captive for eight years remains unoccupied.