Dead clock

In popular belief, the death clock is a sign of approaching death, which is announced by the ticking of its clock. This can be heard as a knock from the wall.

The name Totenuhr was derived from the belief that knocking is the sound of the clock of passing death. The one who hears the death clock or another resident of the house was accordingly dedicated to death. Alternatively, the concept of the mortuary hammer was also created, which traces knocking back to the work of house spirits.

biology

Already in the Economic Encyclopedia (1773-1858) by Johann Georg Krünitz , the real cause of knocking is described in detail: Todtenuhr, Anobium pertinax, a beetle that is one of the wood destroyers that bear the Latin name Deperditores. It is black-brown, the wing covers are striped and dotted. The length is 2 lines . The larva is in the houses in <185, 541> Holz, causes great damage in household appliances, and when gnawing causes a sound similar to the noise of a pocket watch, hence the name Todtenuhr, because superstition suggests an obituary notice in it. - Also a name for the book louse, Psocus pulsatorius s. Termes pulsatorium et satidicum. See also the article paper louse, Th. 107, p. 107.

Today, various insects in wood are called the Dead Clock:

• the death-watch beetle ( Trogium pulsatorium ), a representative of the dust lice (Troctidae) (see death-watch beetle (congestion blue) ). This small insect produces a knock by hitting its abdomen on the ground.
• the pied rodent beetle , a representative of the knocking beetles (Anobiidae). The male beetles drum their heads on the wood to attract sexual partners.

Sometimes the common rodent beetle is also called the dead clock. However, this does not generate any knocking noises.

Use in art

Probably in the course of the plague during the Thirty Years War, the first mechanical death clocks were built, for example the grandfather clock in the collegiate church Altötting (probably around 1634), on which a skeleton figure as a grim reaper mows to the beat of the clock. The character is widely known as the Death of Eding .

In accordance with its importance for people, the talk of the dead clock naturally found its way into folk poetry, literature and music. Some examples are:

• Andreas Gryphius (1616–1664): “When the clock of death strikes, be my patron saint, go away and lie!” (Thoughts about the church courtyard and resting place of the deceased, in: Lyrische Gedichte, edited by Hermann Palm, Tübingen 1854 p. 349 (verse 35) archive.org )
• Johann Christian Günther (1695–1723): “That's it! the clock of the dead can never be changed, its pointer does not err. ”(At the grave of Mr. Johann Gottlieb Kayser, 1716. May 14th in: Gedichte. 6th edition, 1764, p. 567 ( limited preview in Google Book search))
• Johann Martin Miller (1750–1814): "She has already heard the death clock and heard the death bells ring." (Siegwart. Eine Klostergeschichte. 2nd edition, 1777, p. 68 ( limited preview in the Google book search))
• Laurence Sterne (1713–1768): "I have heard the death clock every night since then" (Life and Opinions of Mr. Tristram Shandy, chap. 168)
• Ludwig Hölty (1748–1776): "Soon sisters heard / on it the death clock picking in the chamber, and saw / on the hall the coffin" (Der poor Wilhelm, probably 1775, in: Gedichte. Concerned by his friends Friedrich Leopold Graf Stolberg and Johann Heinrich Voss . Carlsruhe 1784. p. 20 ( limited preview in the Google book search))
• Friedrich Rückert (1788–1866): "What the strike of the death clock / In the wall may mean" (Fall 1833 in Neuseß, in: Spring Almanach 1835. Edited by Nicolaus Lena. P. 331 (verse 54) ( limited preview in Google - book search))
• Gustav Freytag (1816–1895): “Everything was quiet, only a soft knocking regularly sounded like the pendulum beating of the clock in the desolate room. "That is the death clock," whispered the princess. "The woodworm does its work in the service of nature, it dissolves what is worn out into its elements." "(Die lost handwriting. Ges. Werke 7, 337 Freytag, Gustav, Romane, Die lost handwriting, second part, fourth book 9 In the tower of the princess. In: zeno.org. Retrieved on January 17, 2015 .  )
• Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (1797–1848): The first poem. ( Complete text )
• Eduard Mörike (1804–1875): “I only hear the death clock in the registry for a while. ... "( The old tower cock ; full text )
• Georg Büchner (1813–1837): "The pecking of the death watch in our chests is slow" ( Leonce and Lena , Act II, 2nd scene)
• Ludwig Anzengruber (1839–1889): The perjury farmer. (First performance 1871) in the Gutenberg-DE project
• Anton Bruckner : Symphony No. 8 in C minor (first performance in 1892; Bruckner is said to have compared the dying end of the first movement with the knocking of the dead clock)
• WG Sebald : The emigrants. P. 165: The clocks for the dead are supposed to bring down the fool's castle

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Todtenuhr in the Economic Encyclopedia
2. ↑ Laurence Sterne: Tristram Shandy - Chapter 22. In: Project Gutenberg. January 17, 2015, accessed January 17, 2015 .  “The poor gentleman will never get from hence, said the landlady to me, —for I heard the death-watch all night long; —and when he dies, the youth, his son, will certainly die with him; for he is broken-hearted already. " Laurence Stars: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. In: gutenberg.org. March 25, 2012, accessed January 17, 2015 .