The serial killer who made welfare a reality
31 January 2025
In the early 20th century, the term “angel maker” emerged to describe a dark societal phenomenon in late 19th-early 20th century northern Europe: unmarried women, pressured by social norms, were often forced to give away their babies born out of wedlock, (mainly) unaware that the new parent – the so-called angel maker – would soon take the child’s life on purpose, or simply let it perish from not being able to care for it.
In post-World War I Denmark, one woman would come to embody this grim term after being convicted of killing 8 small children, while having admitted to at least 20. She was exposed when a young mother, regretting having given her daughter away, became suspicious of her absence when she went to get her child back.
The investigation into Denmark's most notorious serial killer, Dagmar Overbye, never found a motive as to why she killed the children, although her use of ether and cocaine was thought to be a factor.
Her defence argued that she was simply a product of a “deficient society and indifferent mothers”, a tool of a system that had failed its most vulnerable. The court rejected this claim, and Dagmar was sentenced to life in Denmark’s harshest prison conditions. Yet, as newspapers covered the case extensively nationwide at the time, her story sparked a broader debate about societal responsibility.
Overbye’s gruesome actions are now depicted in the 2024 movie “The girl with the needle”. While the movie, nominated for an Oscar in the Best International Feature Film category this year, paints only a partially accurate portrayal of the events, it is still based on the true story.
 | Daniela Lange Andersen Although laws that should have prevented these appalling events were in place, Denmark did not have a general populace register at the time, and the church only kept a record of those born within wedlock. As a result, desperate mothers seeking to uphold their honour put up ads of their unwanted children in newspapers, much like selling pets. This is exactly how Dagmar got a hold of her victims. But the tragic case was not for nothing. It led to important reforms in 1923, when law introduced special supervision of adoptive kids, and in 1924, when the Danish government implemented the precursor to the modern populace register. Today, this register stands as the backbone of Denmark’s welfare state, ensuring that no one is forgotten. |
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