Bernhard Matter

Bernhard Matter (born February 21, 1821 in Muhen ; † May 24, 1854 in Lenzburg ) was a thief and burglar from the canton of Aargau . He is considered the Swiss Robin Hood .

Life

The "bear" - Matters' childhood home

Born and raised in Muhen on February 21, 1821, he often skipped school there and even as a boy regularly committed theft. In 1836 he stood on trial for the first time because he had relieved an Aarau jeweler for four gold rings. In 1841 he married the seamstress Barbara Fischer. The chronicler commented: "But even this woman, who was six years older and considered to be sensible, was unable to keep the unstable fellow in check."

With skillful methods, he mostly knew how to evade arrest by the police. With the poverty at the time, Matter made many friends because he only stole from the wealthy and is said to have freely distributed the booty. After being arrested, he was sentenced to prison labor: he had to help build the Aarau barracks . At the same time he made his raids at night and supplied the villagers of Moo with the stolen goods at low prices. Whenever he was arrested, he always found a way to escape. He hid in moo and the villagers did not reveal his whereabouts. One day, a villager felt sorry for him and revealed Matter's whereabouts.

He made his break-ins and thefts alone or as the head of a gang. Gradually they made almost the entire Swiss plateau unsafe. In addition to his role as Robin Hood , he also played that of Don Juan with great success : He had many women and friends, loved to dance and was apparently very attractive: "All the Maitli were crazy about him!"

Matter was finally sentenced to 16 years in prison (chain imprisonment), but after a short time broke out of the penal institution in Baden and continued his raids. He was supposed to serve a 20-year prison sentence from 1851 onwards in the Lenzburg prison, but also found an escape route there. Shortly afterwards he was arrested again and housed in the fortress of Aarburg . After three unsuccessful attempts to escape, he applied to be transferred to a foreign penal colony. Even the Federal Council wanted to help, but it was not successful either.

The inn "Herberge" in Teufenthal

On January 11, 1853, in a stormy night, he achieved his masterpiece: After several weeks of preparation, he "left" the prison, which had previously been safe from escapes. On New Year's Day 1854 he was discovered in the Teufenthal hostel and arrested again. The responsible judges sentenced their "public enemy No. 1" to death on April 15th . One last attempt to break out failed, and his appeal for clemency was rejected by the Aargau Grand Council after the higher court had also confirmed the verdict. On the evening of May 24, 1854, the folk hero was led onto the scaffold and beheaded in front of over 2,000 spectators in Lenzburg . The harangue held Emil Zschokke .

He became a martyr to many people ; they remembered him as a friend of the poor and those without rights. Numerous stories and anecdotes surround him.

Today it is hard to understand how someone who had never injured, let alone killed, could be sentenced to death. A comparable “fame” - at least in parts of the Swiss population - enjoyed the eastern Swiss “escape king” Walter Stürm in the 1970s and 1980s .

Bernhard Matter in art

The Bernese songwriter Mani Matter dedicated the chanson Dr Bärnhard Matter to his namesake (also known under the title Ahneforschig - for example in the Ir Ysebahn program ). Its punch line is that you are never sure what will become of you because you may have a criminal in your family tree.

Reto Gloor and Markus Kirchhofer describe the life of Bernhard Matter in two comic volumes, Matter and Matter split .

The Swiss author Kurt Hutterli , who lives in Canada , wrote two plays about Matter: a play Das Matterköpf (first performed in 1978) about Matter and a dialect play Gounerbluet (first performed in 1992).

Markus Kirchhofer wrote the open-air spectacle Bärenhunger, premiered in 2004 at Bernhart Matters zu Muhen's parents' house, as well as other culinary performances there (2006, 2008, 2010) with Mike Zeller in the lead role (director: Ruedi Matter )

In 2012 Markus Kirchhofer wrote the last piece in the series: Bernhart Matter's last stations - a car ride . A six-hour car ride from the Bären Muhen restaurant - Teufenthal hostel - Refenthal Gränichen - Aarau town hall - Fünflinden Lenzburg - Lenzburg correctional facility - Bären Muhen. For the first time , "Matter" Mike Zeller is also directing the station theater "Bernhart Matter's last stations - a car ride" .

literature

• Nold Halder : Life and death of the notorious crook Bernhart Matter. An episode from the legal and moral history of the 19th century . Sauerländer (articles on the history of the penal system and the prison system in the canton of Aargau, issue 3), Aarau 1947.
• Charles Tschopp : The master thief . Good writings , Bern 1964.
• Mani Matter: Dr Bärnhard Matter . In: Us emene lääre Gygechaschte. Bern German chansons . Candelabra, Bern 1969
  • Current edition: Zytglogge , Oberhofen 2011, ISBN 978-3-7296-0828-3 .
• Kurt Hutterli: Rogue blood. The life of Bernhart Matter, the king of break-ins and outs, is posthumously portrayed by himself and supplemented with materials from his writer's collection . Limmat , Zurich 1990, ISBN 3-85791-174-3 .
• Hans A. Jenny : Bernhart Matter. Master thief and "Robin Hood". In: Swiss originals. Portraits of Helvetian Individuals , Volume 2. Nebelspalter , Rorschach 1992, pp. 34–39, ISBN 3-85819-176-0 .
• A search for clues. The truth about the life of Bernhard Matter . Association for local history Suhrental, Muhen 2004 (annual report).

Web links

• Sarah Brian Scherer: Matter, Bernhard. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• More information about Matter

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jenny, p. 34.
2. ↑ Quoted from Jenny, p. 34.
3. ↑ Quoted from Jenny, p. 35.
4. ↑ Data from Jenny, p. 39.
5. ↑ Last hours of Bernhard Matters, with the official speech given at the place of execution near Lenzburg by Mr. E. Zschokke, pastor, Aarau 1854. Retrieved on April 14, 2019 .