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Herman Karl Lamm, known as Baron Lamm, was a German-American bank robber. A former Prussian Army soldier who immigrated to the United States, Lamm believed a heist required all the planning of a military operation. He pioneered the concepts of "casing" a bank and developing escape routes before conducting the robbery. Using a meticulous planning system called "The Lamm Technique", he conducted dozens of successful bank robberies from the end of World War I. In 1930, Lamm committed suicide when surrounded by a law-enforcement party in Sidell, Illinois, after a botched heist. Lamm's techniques were studied and imitated by other bank robbers across the country, including the infamous John Dillinger.