The sun had only just risen when nurse Cindy Bohnwagner sat down on her black women's bike in northern Berlin, carrying a backpack with a neon yellow rain cover on her back. It was Friday, May 14, 2021, and Bohnwagner had to go to the Charité for the early shift.

At 6:06 a.m., Bohnwagner drove to a large crossing on Greifswalder Strasse, one of those wide, multi-lane arterial roads in Berlin that lead from the prefab housing estates on the north-eastern outskirts of the city like mighty aisles through the expensive old building district of Prenzlauer Berg to the center of the city.

And at the same time with her a green cement truck.

A driver will later report a crunching noise, followed by loud screams of pain.

Access to all STERN PLUS content and articles from the print magazine

ad-free

Already registered?