The criminal of lost honor

The criminal from a lost honor - a true story is a crime report by Friedrich Schiller , which was published in 1786 under the title "Criminal from infamy ".

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Christian Wolf, also known as 'the Sonnenwirt', is the son of a widowed innkeeper. It is lack of money poacher to impress to his mistress Johanne with gifts because he does not seem very attractive due to its exterior. His rival Robert, a hunter's boy, caught him poaching and filed a complaint. Wolf can buy his way out of his sentence, but continues to steal because paying the fine has used up all of his savings. Robert reports it again. As a result, Christian was sent to prison for a year . After serving his sentence, he looks for a job, but is turned away by craftsmen and farmers. He is even denied work as a swineherd. He recidivists again and is sentenced to three years' imprisonment in a fortress. There the harsh living conditions and the bad personal influence of the other prisoners made him develop hatred of all people and feelings of revenge. After the third sentence, he decides to do his crimes out of intent and pleasure and no longer out of necessity. One day when he is about to shoot a deer, he discovers his rival Robert, who is also aiming at the animal. Christian weighs up whether he should kill Robert or flee. His thirst for revenge prevail and he shoots Robert down from behind. He soon feels repentance and wishes he could undo the act.

On his escape from the crime scene, a robber speaks to him, who initially wants to ambush him, but shows respect when Christian reveals himself to be the local poacher. Delighted not to have been expelled from every human society, Christian joins the band of robbers and even becomes their captain. Wolf becomes notorious through a series of break-ins and raids in the area. However, he soon notices that the friendship in the gang is an illusion. When a bounty is placed on him, he becomes afraid of being betrayed. Because self-esteem and sense of honor have not completely died out in him, he wants to return to society in some way. He decides to serve as a soldier for the rest of his life. He writes several letters to the sovereign, in which he asks for mercy if he joins the army. Since the letters remained unanswered, he tried to flee to Prussia in order to do the military there. At a border control, he believes he has been recognized as a wanted criminal and pulls a gun. He is overwhelmed and arrested. After a day in detention, Christian voluntarily reveals his identity to the bailiff. Christian Wolf is eventually executed for his actions.

Emergence

The story is based on a true story, which Jakob Friedrich von Abel , Schiller's teacher at the military-organized Karlsschule , probably shared. Whose father had arrested the "Sonnenwirtle" as a bailiff. Abel then included the incident as “The Friedrich Schwahn Case” in his “Collection and Explanation of Strange Apparitions from Human Life” Volume 2, 1787. Hermann Kurz renewed the topic in “Der Sonnenwirt. Swabian folk history from the previous century ”(Frankfurt, 1855).

Interpretation and evaluation from today's perspective

The criminal report can initially be seen as evidence of its time. The class of the nobility has the typical privileges such as the right to hunt, the disregard of which faces disproportionate punishment. In contrast to many other, young works, Schiller’s “The Criminal from Lost Honor” is not about specific criticism of absolutism , but about looking at and paying attention to people as individuals. On the one hand, he criticizes the readership's lack of empathic ability, rather the entertainment value and not the teaching value are in the foreground. On the other hand, he questions the legal system of the time, which had little leeway for natural law . It is strict and does not provide for mercy or rehabilitation. Schiller also wants to show a counter-example to the ideal of harmony between inclination and duty by making the criminal immediately regret this act.

Text output

Friedrich Schiller: The criminal from a lost honor. (= RUB. 19184). Study edition. Edited by Alexander Košenina. Reclam, Stuttgart 2014, ISBN 978-3-15-019184-2 .

Secondary literature

R. Bernhardt: Friedrich Schiller: The criminal from lost honor. (= King's explanations and materials. Volume 469). C. Bange Verlag, Hollfeld 2008, ISBN 978-3-8044-1872-1 .
Horst Brandstätter: Friedrich Schiller: The criminal from a lost honor - A true story by Friedrich Schiller. Once again brought to light and with explorations into the life of poets and robbers, the republican freedom of the reading public has been abandoned. Klaus Wagenbach, Berlin 1984, ISBN 3-8031-2117-5 .

Web links

Wikisource: Criminals of Infamy - Sources and full texts

Audiobook, direct download, 27MB