Niels Högel has often been in the large ballroom of the Weser-Ems-Halle, into which he will be led shortly before ten o'clock on Tuesday morning.

The big trial against him took place in the hall, at the end of which he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2019 for 85 murders.

Now Högel appears in a new role before judge Sebastian Bührmann.

The worst serial killer in Germany, whose real number of victims is probably in the three-digit range, is a witness in a court case that could also make judicial history: Seven former superiors of Niels Högel from the two hospitals in Oldenburg and Delmenhorst are in the dock - doctors, nursing management , Managing directors.

They are accused of having suspicions, if not knowledge, of Högel's murders.

Reinhard Bingener

Political correspondent for Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Bremen based in Hanover.

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There are several indications of this from the years 1999 to 2005, when Högel worked in the two hospitals.

There is the tally sheet for the question of which nurse died the most patients: Niels Högel, who was given nicknames such as "Rettungsrambo" or "Todes-Högel" by his colleagues, led the list by a clear margin.

It was also noticeable how the consumption of Ajmalin skyrocketed.

Above all, Högel used this special heart drug so that his patients required resuscitation and he could then shine in front of his colleagues as a rescuer.

At the end of the series of murders, empty ampoules containing the dangerous drugs were found, and Högel was even caught in the act.

And still could kill again.

As the perpetrator, Niels Högel is the most important and also the first witness to be questioned in the process.

The process is legally considered to be significantly more difficult than the three processes against the serial killer himself that have taken place since 2006.

Högel is now 45 years old, he has changed.

The hair is beginning to thin out, the body is perhaps even more bloated.

But Högel is now obviously paying more attention to well-groomed clothing.

Instead of a baggy look, he now wears a white shirt and a scarf, with a blue sweater over it.

"You are not allowed to build walls here"

"You have to tell the truth here," Judge Bührmann instructed him, "and you mustn't build bricks here." This duty applies at least to all the acts for which the nurse has already been convicted.

Niels Högel doesn't seem to need the warning at all.

He wants to testify.

Although he had long denied his actions in court and only admitted them bit by bit, while apparently bragging about his murders in prison, one had the impression in the great murder trial of 2019 that Högel was not refusing to come to terms with the matter.