Hacht (prison)

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Hacht - View to the South (before 1893)

The Hacht (or "Haicht") was an archbishop's court and prison and was located on today's Domplatte in Cologne .

History of origin

Hachtpforte - Am Hof ​​17 (left Bingerhaus, behind the Hacht serving as "Hotel Francfort" the Dom-Hotel), around 1890
Arnold Mercator - Cologne cityscape from 1570 (southern cathedral apron)

Your name was derived from " Haft ", the word went through a sound change from "ft" to "cht". The origin of the Hacht goes back to the Hachttor that was built in 1165 under Archbishop Reinald von Dassel . It was located at today's Domhof 9 / Am Hof ​​17; At that time the cathedral courtyard was overgrown with weeds and crossed by a foul-smelling sewer. The Hachttor formed the southern border of cathedral immunity , the border between the episcopal district and the cathedral. The current street name "Am Hof" is a reminder of this and marks the old border. The Hacht building was created by connecting the Hachttor, which was built in 1165, with some neighboring rooms according to the construction document from 1205 to 1208 under Archbishop Bruno IV von Sayn .

It comprised two recognizable separate houses, which were only connected by the doors in the communal central wall. The smaller building, facing north towards the cathedral courtyard, had only one floor, apart from the ground floor, where the Bailiff held his meetings. The building with the Hachttor in the eastern part was occupied by the Hachtmeister and the prisoners. The Hacht was probably a gloomy structure, equipped with a collar and handcuffs. The building consisted of the "Hachtgericht" and the actual Hacht prison. The neighboring house to the west of the Hacht was the Archbishop's Palace, built in 1164, to the east the dragon gate "porta draconis" bordered. In the direction of Am Hof ​​stood the Binger houses adjacent to the Hacht, which are attested as archbishop's fief as early as 1382. Later the "Kamp (f) hof" stood near the Hacht. The Cologne Cityscape of 1531 of Anton Woensam shows the southern back of the archbishop's palace. Arnold Mercator's Cologne city view from 1570 clearly shows the arrangement of buildings from the dragon gate ("Draken pforts") through the archbishop's palace to the Hachpforte.

In 1573, Adolf von Neuenahr had his coat of arms with the inscription " Adolff Graf zo Newenahr en Limburg, hereditary bailiff of the Hohen Stiffts Colln, Herr zo Alpen en Hackenbroch, Helpenstein, hereditary lord zo Linep " on the roof of the cathedral courtyard. This Graflich neueahrsche coat of arms on the building was not finally removed until 1708.

Erbvogteilicher Hof next to the Hacht

In 1263 a building on Laurenzplatz is mentioned as the Vogtshof of the Cologne hereditary bailiffs, in 1307 it was no longer in their possession; the property was later called Hof zur Stesse . It is documented that the nobleman Gumprecht I. von Heppendorf-Alpen († 1379/80) owned a property in the Hacht district, from which individual apartments were rented to various "housemates".

In 1442 the bailiff Gumprecht (II.) IV. Von Neuenahr († 1484) acquired the "hall" ( palatio ; city palace) on the cathedral courtyard next to the " Hacht " (prison) from the city of Cologne . Presumably, this building was later administered together with the Linneper Hof opposite , when both belonged to the Counts of Neuenahr.

One of many dishes

There was no shortage of courts in the free imperial city of Cologne. There was a court of appeal, a mayor's court, a council and district court, a tower court, a court of violence, a fiscal court, the lower court, the wine school and the court of justice. It was one of the 5 smaller or so-called winged courts in Cologne. Winged dishes were originally secondary dishes of little importance. The Eichelstein ( Eigelstein ), Weiherstraße, Gerconis ( St. Gereon ) and Severini ( St. Severin ) also belonged to the winged dishes .

Jurisdiction

The jurisdiction of the Hachtgericht was based on the judicial powers that the Archbishop had transferred to his Vogt through the Ministerials (unfree servants). In the court of justice women were accused of being witches and tortured. The court of justice negotiated all crimes , from theft to capital crimes , only the verdict on blood guilt was reserved for the archbishop. It consisted of a praeses and two lay judges. According to an oath, a guard vowed that he would “guard the prisoners, who were ill-advised and arrested, to the best of their ability, and faithfully bring in what is given to the poor…” Prisoners stayed here for life or waited for their death sentence if they were not pardoned .

The execution ceremony initially provided for the offender to be shown at the cathedral courtyard in front of the archbishop's palace. For prisoners on the death penalty, the death bell rang as soon as they began their death penalty after they were admitted to the Hacht. The multiple mayor Johann von Berchem exemplifies the procedure of the death penalty. After his confession was obtained through torture in the flax department store on Alter Markt , he was sentenced to death and taken to the prison. The next day he was taken to the “blue stone”, which the executioner pushed him three times. From there he was transported to the Heumarkt , where he was beheaded on January 11, 1513. As part of the Cologne weavers' uprising , the weavers were not satisfied with the execution of lay judge Rutger Hirzelin vom Grin on May 20, 1369, but demanded the execution of a man imprisoned in the Hacht for street robbery, whose trial took too long for the weavers. When the weavers threatened to storm the Hacht, the lay judges surrendered the delinquent in the days of Pentecost in 1369, and the weavers beheaded him without judgment.

Hacht - demolished in 1893

Those who did not face the death penalty had to wear a wooden coat (“Huick”) starting at the Hacht and going to a bakery called “Backhaus Schmitz” on Severinstrasse . Once there, the sentence was over, after which the delinquents were either led out of the city or brought to the Bonn spinning house . To this day, the Cologne proverb "You are still not past Schmitz-Backes" (you have not yet passed Schmitz-Backes) testifies that someone is not yet out of danger.

Fate of the building

The Hachtgericht was within its own Hacht shrine district . The Hachtschrein had 138 houses, farmsteads and gaddies. The Hacht burned down in 1404, and its property was sold in 1809; a new building was built on this in 1820. This was where the Hotel Francfort was temporarily located until the dilapidated building was demolished in August 1893, especially since it blocked the unobstructed view of the cathedral. The other neighboring building, the former hospital and poor house Heiliggeisthaus , was closed around 1845. At this point (Domhof 9) is now the Dom Hotel .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Friedrich Everhard von Mering, Reischert: The bishops and archbishops of Cologne. Volume 2, 1844, p. 73.
  2. ^ Hugo H. Böhlau: Journal of the Savigny Foundation for legal history. German Department. Volume 51, 1931, p. 424
  3. ^ DuMont-Schauberg: Organ for Christian Art. Volume 8, No. 23 of December 1, 1858, p. 267.
  4. ^ DuMont-Schauberg: Organ for Christian Art. Volume 8, No. 23 of December 1, 1858, p. 267
  5. ↑ the Drachenpforte enabled access as a port gate in the east and cathedral immunity in the west; Canceled in 1807
  6. ^ Hermann Keussen : Topography of the City of Cologne in the Middle Ages. (Prize writings of the Mevissen Foundation 2), Volumes I and II. Hanstein, Bonn 1910 (reprint: Droste, Düsseldorf 1986), Vol. II, p. 306a.
  7. ↑ "... our kamphoff as it is located by der hacht ..."; Böhlau-Verlag: Bonner Jahrbücher. Volumes 57/58, 1876, p. 107.
  8. ↑ Notarialinstrument of 10 July 1708 Landesarchiv NRW Department Rhineland Duisburg (Kurköln, documents no. 5410).
  9. ↑ See Hermann Keussen : Topography of the City of Cologne in the Middle Ages. (Prize writings of the Mevissen Foundation 2), Volume I and II. Hanstein, Bonn 1910 (Reprint: Droste, Düsseldorf 1986), Volume I., p. 209b and p. 210a.
  10. ↑ Cf. Manfred Wolf: The dispute over the pledging of the Alps. In: Hans-Georg Schmitz (Ed.): Alps. Festival book for the 900th anniversary celebration. o.
  11. ↑ Document of October 4, 1365; Historical archive of the city of Cologne (holdings 102H Hacht shrine documents, U 1/9), u. a.
  12. ↑ See Klaus Militzer: Property transfers in the Cologne Hacht district in the 13th-15th centuries Century. In: Katharina Colberg (Ed.): State and Society in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times. (Commemorative publication Joachim Leuschner). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1983, pp. 75-91, especially p. 78.
  13. ↑ a b cf. Hermann Keussen : Topography of the city of Cologne in the Middle Ages. (Prize writings of the Mevissen Foundation 2), Volumes I and II. Hanstein, Bonn 1910 (reprint: Droste, Düsseldorf 1986), Vol. II, p. 293a.
  14. ^ Ernst Weyden: Cologne fifty years ago. 1862, p. 207.
  15. ^ Theodor Heinsius: Complete dictionary of the German language. Volume 2, 1829, p. 207.
  16. ↑ Hans Peter Korsch: The material criminal law of the city of Cologne before the end of the Middle Ages to modern times. 1958, p. 217
  17. ^ Johann Christoph Adelung, Dietrich Wilhelm Soltau, Franz Xaver Schönberger: Grammatical-critical dictionary of the High German dialect. 1808, p. 227.
  18. ^ A b Leonard Ennen: History of the City of Cologne. Volume 1, 1863, p. 595.
  19. ↑ Helmut Signon: All roads lead through Cologne. 2006, p. 298
  20. ^ Leonard Ennen: History of the city of Cologne. Volume 2, 1863, p. 440.
  21. ^ Ernst Weyden: Cologne fifty years ago. 1862, p. 167.
  22. ↑ Peter Fuchs (ed.): Chronicle of the history of the city of Cologne. Volume 1, 1991, p. 314
  23. ^ Rheinische Provincial-Blätter for all estates, Volume 4, 1834, 278 ff.
  24. ^ Leonard Schwann: The profane monuments of the city of Cologne. 1930, p. 344
  25. ↑ Carl Dietmar, Gérals Chaix: Chronicle Cologne. 1997, p. 282

Coordinates: 50 ° 56 ′ 25.5 ″  N , 6 ° 57 ′ 25.5 ″  E