Christoph Alois Lautner

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Mohelnice ( Müglitz ) - memorial plaque for Dean Lautner in the city park on the site of the execution
Velké Losiny Castle ( Groß Ullersdorf ) - the scene of the witch trials

Christoph Alois Lautner (also: Kryštof Lautner or Lauthner ) (* 1622 in Mährisch Schönberg ; † September 18, 1685 in Müglitz ) was pastor and dean in Hotzenplotz from 1663 to 1668 . He became a victim of the witch trials .

Life

His parents were named Zacharias and Dorothy Lautner. Lautner's aunt was executed for alleged witchcraft at the witch trials in the Principality of Neisse under Count Georg Maximilian von Hoditz.

Lautner studied theology at the University of Olomouc . The Swedish conquest of the city caused him to leave Moravia . He himself said that “he was a person of peace and a pen and not a sword, he did not want to wear a musket.” In Landshut he studied moral theology, and in Vienna he was promoted to a master's degree in law and philosophy. He was also in Styria , where theology and natural sciences became the focus of his interest. In 1656 he was ordained a priest in Olomouc ( Olomouc in the Czech Republic ), then from 1658–1663 he was pastor in Nieder Mohrau , and also in Hotzenplotz . In 1668 he accepted the invitation of his friend Kaspar Sattler to Mährisch Schönberg , where he was promoted to dean.

Lautner was an educated and popular clergyman who made many friends among the citizens, and his parish showed him respect. His knowledge was unusual for his time. He was interested in astronomy, played the violin and collected paintings. In his library there were 337 books on various subjects, a remarkable collection for its time. He was a German Moravian , but there was at least one Czech book in his library, so he probably had a basic knowledge of the Czech language.

Witch trials of Groß Ullersdorf

At the beginning of the witch trials in Groß Ullersdorf on Palm Sunday 1678, the Wermsdorf beggar Marina Schuch was observed by an acolyte stealing hosts during the communion service in the St. Laurentius Church in Zöptau . The bishop set up a canonical inquisition tribunal, to which Heinrich Franz Boblig von Edelstadt was appointed as associate judge. Soon after the start of the witch trials in Groß Ullersdorf, Lautner was accused of being an alleged witcher.

Lautner did not belong to the radicals on questions of re-Catholicization, but was evidently lenient to secret evangelicals. With this he made many enemies, especially in higher ecclesiastical circles, the core of the Counter Reformation. Therefore, he could not count on the help of his superiors.

At the end of 1679 the Inquisition Tribunal arrested Maria Sattler, wife of the wealthy citizen Kaspar Sattler, a dyer and a friend of Lautner. On February 1, 1680, Inquisition Judge Boblig received permission to subject these accused to torture. Allegedly, she should have seduced her husband, her daughter, Pastor Lautner and his housekeeper Susanna Voglick into the devil's pact.

Despite the allegations, it was not easy to arrest a clergyman. Boblig and Captain Kotulin applied to the Court of Appeal in Prague . Ultimately, they convinced Bishop Karl II of Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn . In August 1680, they convened a commission of inquiry, which included Elias-Isidor Schmidt, the bishop's personal secretary. In the meantime, Boblig had collected 30 testimony against Lautner. The bishop gave permission to arrest the dean. There were also complaints against other senior employees of the Olomouc diocese, e. B. against pastor Babst from Römerstadt . But in his case, the "evidence" was not so conclusive and Babst was not arrested.

Prison, interrogation, torture

Inquisition judge Boblig feared that the arrest of the popular pastor Lautner in Mährisch Schönberg would not be accepted, and so he used a ruse. On August 18, 1680, Lautner was invited to the parish fair in Müglitz by his classmate and friend Archdechant JV Winkler . There the bishop's letter was given to him. He was arrested immediately afterwards. At the decision of the Olomouc bishop Karl II of Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn , Lautner was transferred to the fortress there in Mürau . In June 1683 he was moved to Müglitz, where a prison cell was set up in the former school for Lautner because the Olomouc bishop had taken refuge in the Mürau fortress because of the threat from the Turks.

The interrogations began on August 30, 1680. Lautner rejected all accusations that he should have baptized, married and buried in the devil's name. Lautner said: “I cannot burden my conscience.” The conditions in the dungeon were harsh: the heat in summer, cold in winter. He couldn't take care of himself; the court apparently intended that his appearance was to inspire disgust.
Meanwhile Lautner's friends in the clergy had decided to save him. They did not believe his guilt and believed that all incriminating confessions had been obtained through torture. On September 30, 1680 they made a petition to the Episcopal Consistory. When the Inquisition Judge Boblig found out about it, he immediately counterattacked the undersigned. For example, he brought about the transfer of pastor Thomas König from Groß Ullersdorf .

Lautner had to endure further interrogations and confrontations with witnesses. Boblig had compiled a total of 36 testimony against him. The two main witnesses were Maria Sattler and Susanna Voglick. Through the second stage of torture ( Spanish boots ), Boblig forced a confession from the accused Susanna Voglick. The testimonies were all the same: Lautner would have taken part in the Witches' Sabbath on the Peterssteinen , performed the devil's weddings, desecrated hosts and baptized children in the name of Satan. Dean Lautner denied all allegations.

In the minutes of Lautner's confrontation with Maria Sattler and Susanna Voglick on November 2, 1682, it says: Susanna Voglick often cried bitterly . When asked about the reason for her tears, she said, out of remorse and sadness that she was dishonest . But she wanted to stick to her statements (for fear of renewed torture). Lautner reiterated that he was innocent and had never sinned through witchcraft on any day of his life. When Susanna Voglick was being taken away, Dean Lautner came up to her, gave her his right hand and said: God forgives you what you said about me.

Because it was not possible to break Lautner's resistance “for good”, the Inquisition Tribunal obtained permission to use the torture. In March 1683, Dean Lautner survived all three degrees of torture ( thumbscrews , Spanish boots, torture bench ) without admission. Under current law, he should have been released. But Inquisition Judge Boblig continued the investigation, pointing out that it was a particularly dangerous witcher. Lautner actively defended himself, attacked contradictions in the testimony of the witnesses and wrote a letter to the Bishop of Ölmütz. However, he received no answer. He suffered long interrogations and terrible torture in the torture chamber. After using the rack, weights and simultaneous burns with fire, Lautner collapsed on June 28, 1684 and signed the confession.

It then took almost a year for the bishop to sign the death warrant. Only in September 1685 was the judgment pronounced: death at the stake. Lautner once again asked the bishop, in vain, for a milder judgment. On the day of his execution, Lautner was removed from his priestly rank in a degrading ceremony. He was desecrated in the church in Müglitz . Bricks were used to scrape the places where he had received the anointing until he was left with blood. Finally the priest kicked him. Then he was driven with a strong escort on a wagon to the stake in what is now the city park and burned alive. "So that he could die more easily," a bag of gunpowder was hung around his neck, but this did not lead to a faster death, it only caused burns. An estimated 20,000 people from around the area attended the execution.

Rehabilitation and remembrance

  • In 1930 a memorial plaque for Christoph Alois Lautner was unveiled at the site of the cremation in Šumperk .
  • Since 1931 a street in Mohelnice / Müglitz has been called Lautnerová .
  • At the point where Christoph Alois Lautner was burned, there is a memorial and a plaque in the house of the witches.
  • In Mírov / Mürau, in the park near the castle, there is the place of the prisoner pastor Lautner, where there is a memorial for the victims of the witch hunt.
  • In June 2000 the Archbishop of Olomouc, Jan Graubner, unveiled a memorial plaque for Dean Lautner in Šumperk and apologized for the church's part in the process.

literature

  • Brno State Archives, G 10 - A collection of manuscripts, signed: 764 .
  • Opava State Archives, Olomouc Branch, Kroměříž Department: Spirituality, Parochialia Šumperk .
  • Václav Meder: "Čarodějnický děkan" Kryštof Alois Lautner . Vlastivědný ústav v Šumperku: Vlastivědné zajímavosti, September 1973.
  • Bedřich Šindelář: Hon na čarodějnice: západní a střední Evropa v 16.-17. století . Prague 1986.
  • František Spurný: Severomoravské čarodějnické procesy , Vlastivědné zajímavosti 1/1970

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.30jaehrigerkrieg.de/hodicky-z-hodic-hoditz-hroditz-georg-maximilian-jiri-maximilian-freiherr-graf-1641-von/
  2. ↑ SPURNÝ, CEKOTA, KOUŘIL: Šumperský farář , s. 9.
  3. ↑ SPURNÝ, CEKOTA, KOUŘIL: Šumperský farář , s. 42.
  4. ↑ ŠINDELÁŘ: Hon na čarodějnice , s. 200.
  5. ↑ http://www.szlakczarownic.eu/de/trail-fuehrer.html?showall=1&limitstart=
  6. ↑ http://www.panoramio.com/photo/51689165
  7. ↑ Listář: přepis pořadu Na vlastní oči ze dne January 3, 2006
personal data
SURNAME Lautner, Christoph Alois
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lautner, Kryštof; Lauthner, Kryštof
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Pastor and dean in Hotzenplotz
DATE OF BIRTH 1622
PLACE OF BIRTH Moravian Schönberg
DATE OF DEATH September 18, 1685
Place of death Müglitz