Coup de grace
The term grace or grace ( French : ) denotes the killing of a living being in order to shorten its suffering .
In humans
In ancient times, the coup de grace was a seriously injured or defeated in the fight Gladiator by his opponent with as Gnadgott or Misericordia designated Blankwaffe added. In the execution of a person, “grace shot” can mean a fatal shot (e.g. headshot ) that is fired from a very short range to kill a person who was not killed by the initial volley or while cycling was able to hit some convicts with a "coup de grace" shortly after the beginning of the procedure, in that the executioner aimed the judging wheel at his neck or heart.
The term is also used when soldiers on the battlefield or in retreat kill seriously wounded comrades or prisoners who cannot be helped, with or without their consent, in order to save them further suffering.
In a figurative sense of grace or is finishing shot also synonym for give someone the rest , save one (alleged) suffering .
The final rescue shot must be strictly defined .
With the animal
The expression “coup de grace” is known in connection with the euthanasia of a seriously injured or sick animal, for example after a game accident or to avert danger in the case of aggressive animals by the police, authorized hunters or veterinarians . The legal basis for the professional killing of vertebrates can, under certain conditions, be the German Police Task Acts or the Animal Welfare Act ( § 4 TSchG).
In Austria, the use of weapons by the police to perform a grace shot (catch shot) on animals is not permitted by law.
The matador's coup de grace on the animal's neck ends the last third of the bullfight ( faena ).
Reception in film and literature
- Ossip Schubin's story Der Gnadenschuß (1905)
- Marguerite Yourcenar's novella The Catching Shot (1939)
- Volker Schlöndorff's film adaptation of the Yourcenar novella Der Fangschuß (1976)
- Only horses are given the coup de grace , German title of the 1969novel They Shoot Horses, Don't They ?, filmedby Sydney Pollack . (1935) by Horace McCoy
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Christoph Leuenberger: Death and Games Online Magazine of the University of Bern, October 28, 2014
- ^ Gnadenschlag duden.de, accessed on January 19, 2018
- ↑ the rest is given by openthesaurus.de, accessed on January 19, 2018
- ↑ Gnadenschuss duden.de, accessed on January 19, 2018
- ↑ Sascha Geldermann: Policeman kills cat with a coup de grace - and is reported to Augsburger Allgemeine , November 18, 2015
- ↑ Brazen drivers prevent hunters from shooting the grace Outfox World, March 28, 2017
- ↑ Alex Talash: Police officer redeems injured dog in Hagen with a coup de grace Mainpost , January 10, 2017
- ↑ Motion for a resolution on “Possibility of carrying out a grace shot (catch shot) by organs of the public security service” Introduced to the National Council on March 27, 2014, 311 / A (E) XXV. GP
- ^ Joaquín Enríquez Beltrán: Bullfight: The course of a corrida de toros February 14, 2014