Friedrich Reindel

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Friedrich Reindel (born September 6, 1824 in Werben ; † September 27, 1908 in Magdeburg ) was next to Julius Krautz (1843–1921) and Carl Gröpler (1868–1946) the most famous executioner in Prussia . Between 1874 and 1898 he carried out at least 212 death sentences across northern Germany .

Life

On April 17, 1885, Friedrich Reindel beheaded Anton Giepsz, a worker convicted of murder, in Braunschweig, using a bench and a cleaver . A little later, Giepsz's accomplice, Antonie Koßmieder, is judged.

Reindel was born as the seventh child of the first marriage of the executioner and knacker Thomas Christoph Reindel in Werben (Elbe) and was baptized with the name Friedrich Wilhelm Reindel . The godfather was the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III. who also determined the first name of the person to be baptized.

As an executioner's assistant, Friedrich Reindel worked with his older brother Wilhelm, the executioner from Werben and later executioner of the North German Confederation, from 1842 . According to his own statements (1883), Reindel had supported his brother in 40 executions . I.a. he assisted his brother Wilhelm on December 14, 1844 in Spandau in the execution of the (unsuccessful) king assassin Heinrich Ludwig Czech . As newspaper reports show, the Reindel brothers were helpful. It was said on May 13, 1868: "where the executioner Reindel was with his three brothers, as his assistants, the former in black suits".

When Wilhelm Reindel died in Werben in 1872 at the age of 59, Friedrich Reindel became an executioner. According to an American journalist, Friedrich Reindel served for 20 years in the Prussian army in 1891 , where he was honored as an excellent soldier and which ultimately earned him - like many other members of the army - preferential treatment for certain offices.

Reindel served as the executioner in charge for twenty-five years and carried out at least 212 executions. In a diary he listed 196 impeccable executions. Twice he carried out a double, once a triple execution and on May 21, 1898 a quadruple execution in Duisburg .

As long as he was not yet appointed as Prussian executioner - initially Julius Krautz from 1878 to 1889 - Friedrich Reindel carried out relatively few executions. On March 27, 1874 he officiated for the first time as the executioner in charge of an execution. His double execution of Henriette Krebs and Wilhelm Brandes on February 5, 1875 in Braunschweig caused a certain stir. The magazine Die Gegenwart wrote: “R. is a stately man with a pale face, who speaks of good-naturedness rather than hard-heartedness. "

After the two executions in Braunschweig, Friedrich Reindel was not used for eight years.

Friedrich Reindel constructed the bench "for the more humane, faster and safer execution of the execution" , which he first used on August 17, 1883 in Holzminden , when he beheaded the weaver and factory worker Franz Ille. After Julius Krautz, who had killed one of his assistants in a tavern fight, was sent into retirement, Reindel succeeded him as Prussian executioner.

After 1898, no beheading carried out by Friedrich Reindel himself is documented, even if he remained the first point of contact for the authorities. He had rheumatic complaints in his arm. His son Wilhelm was his successor, but dismissed in 1901 due to continued drunkenness . His grandson Ernst was an executioner at the time of National Socialism .

literature

  • Matthias Blazek: "Mr. Public Prosecutor, the sentence has been carried out." The brothers Wilhelm and Friedrich Reindel: Executioners in the service of the North German Confederation and His Majesty 1843–1898 . Ibidem, Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3-8382-0277-8 .
  • Matthias Blazek: Executioner in Prussia and in the German Empire 1866–1945 . Ibidem, Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3-8382-0107-8 .
  • Matthias Blazek: Executioner Friedrich Reindel (1824–1908) beheaded a total of 213 people - Prussian executioner from 1889 to 1898 / In the diary he only noted executions that were “perfectly executed”. In: Sachsenspiegel . 12, Cellesche Zeitung of March 26, 2011.
  • Otto Mansfeld: The executioner from Osterburg. In: Landgericht Stendal - "... only subject to the law" . Books on Demand, Stendal 2002, p. 394 ff. ( Online resource at Google Books )
  • Uwe Winkler: From the museum to the scaffold. A little story of an ax. Verlag M, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-9812257-3-0 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In detail: Blazek, Matthias: "The executioner of the North German Confederation came from the Altmark - Wilhelm Reindel was the executioner from Werben (Elbe)", Altmark-Blätter dated April 2nd, 2011.
  2. ↑ Staufen weekly newspaper. May 28, 1898.
  3. ^ The present - a weekly for literature, art and public life. Vol. 7–8, Berlin 1875, p. 11.
  4. ^ Klaus Hillenbrand : Desired career executioner: Why men wanted to be executioners under National Socialism . Campus 2013, ISBN 978-3593397238 , p. 279 (footnote 92)
  5. ^ Klaus Hillenbrand: Desired career executioner: Why men wanted to be executioners under National Socialism. P. 254
personal data
SURNAME Reindel, Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German executioner
DATE OF BIRTH September 6, 1824
PLACE OF BIRTH Advertise (Elbe)
DATE OF DEATH September 27, 1908
Place of death Magdeburg