Andreas Balzar

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Andreas Balzar (called Balzar von Flammersfeld , actually Andreas Ludwig Balzar ; born January 28, 1769 in Höchstenbach ( Westerwald ); †  October 3, 1797 in Westerburg ) was a German robber . In articulo mortis he confessed to having killed 21 officers with his own hands.

Life

As the eldest son, Andreas Balzar was to become a pastor , just like his father was. At first he bowed to his father's will and attended the high school in Herborn . After he was exposed there as the long-sought poacher in the princely wildlife park, he was expelled from school, but was able to flee from Herborn before he was brought to court. He reached his parents' house in Flammersfeld , but the father rejected the son. He is said to have moved to Russia , where his brother served in the tsar's bodyguards . The soldier service fulfilled him and he rose to the rank of captain in the bodyguard. It is unclear what prompted him to return to his homeland Westerwald . At that time he quickly made contact with a wandering band of robbers ; eventually he founded a gang of poachers and made himself their leader.

When a French officer assaulted Balzar's bride while marching through Flammersfeld, Balzar asked his hunters to help him out in the hunt for the French. Farmers and young boys also followed his call; but his call for a general survey in the Westerwald was unsuccessful. Balzar sometimes fought with his irregulars on the side of the imperial , as the Austrian troops were called, but he often carried out his own undertakings with his men. He was wanted by the French under the name "Le capitain noir" ( The Black Captain ); several times he was able to escape from their captivity. In the summer of 1797, however, he was betrayed into the hands of a French search party who took him to Westerburg, where he was sentenced to death by shooting in a court martial . The fact that he was not led to the scaffold or hung up like the robber captain Schinderhannes , although he was a poacher in the eyes of the French , probably had to do with his Russian officer rank. However, death by shooting made him a Westerwald freedom hero for decades.

Even today performances of his fateful life take place in Flammersfeld; the Hessian author and archivist Christian Spielmann had made him into a fictional character as the "Balzar von Flammersfeld" at the beginning of the 20th century.

literature

  • Erwin Katzwinkel: Andreas Balzar . In: Pictures of life from the Altenkirchen district. Altenkirchen 1979
  • Erwin Katzwinkel: Andreas Balzar - legend and reality . In: Heimat-Jahrbuch des Kreis Altenkirchen. Altenkirchen 1975
  • Christian Spielmann: Balzar von Flammersfeld. Roman vom Westerwalde , Leipzig 1906, later also edited by Fritz Vater as a home game

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Balzar, Andreas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Balzar von Flammersfeld; Balzar, Andreas Ludwig
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German robber
DATE OF BIRTH January 28, 1769
PLACE OF BIRTH Höchstenbach
DATE OF DEATH October 3, 1797
Place of death Westerburg