Rolf Bossi

Rolf Bossi (10 September 1923, Karlsruhe – 22 December 2015, Düsseldorf) was a German criminal defense lawyer. He was known for defending prominent actors such as Ingrid van Bergen and Romy Schneider, as well as criminals such as Jürgen Bartsch, Dieter Zlof, and Dieter Degowski. He defended four former East German border guards who were accused of having killed Chris Gueffroy, who was trying to escape over the Berlin Wall. He was considered to be one of Germany's best-known defense lawyers. He wrote an autobiography, appeared in talk shows and even had two film roles.

Career

After his father was executed by the Nazi regime, Bossi decided to pursue a career in law. He began his legal career in Munich in 1952, where he lived and worked for many years. One of his earliest cases involved the defence of a postal worker who had embezzled registered mail in order to pay for the care of his disabled child.

His public profile increased significantly around 1970 following a successful appeal in the case of Jürgen Bartsch. Bartsch, who had committed multiple murders as a minor and was initially sentenced to life imprisonment, had his conviction revised after Bossi argued for the application of juvenile criminal law, resulting in a reduced sentence combined with institutional placement.

Bossi became nationally known through his role as defence counsel in a series of high-profile criminal trials, which contributed significantly to the public visibility of criminal defence law in the Federal Republic of Germany. Among his most notable cases were the defence of actress Ingrid van Bergen, who had killed her partner, the Oetker kidnapper Dieter Zlof, and the Gladbeck hostage-taker Dieter Degowski.