Hans Adam (executioner)

Detail of a map from 1615: To the northeast of the Wolfenbüttel fortress is " Das Lechel Holtz ". On the north-western edge of the forest, the "High Court" can be seen with several gallows, stakes and wheels.

Hans Adam (* 1628 or 1629 in Bremen ; † June 1675 in Wolfenbüttel ) was a German executioner and skinner .

Life

Hans Adam, who presumably came from a Bremen executioner family, married the widow of Wolfenbüttel executioner David Fuchs at the age of 20 in 1648. He was his successor as ducal executioner in the Principality of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel . Between 1656 and 1672 he kept a register of the tortures and executions carried out on the ducal order that had not been remunerated. There were 200 services for which he could expect a total wage of 600 guilders . Adam's “executioner diaries”, which he kept for over 18 years, paint a picture of the tasks of an executioner in the 17th century and also reveal a change in the law during the recording period. Embarrassing interviews took place more often than execution of death sentences. During the first nine years, 66 light and severe tortures and six water samples were recorded. Between 1665 and 1672 there are still seven tortures and one water sample. In addition, from 1670 previously fatal offenses were only punished with expulsion from the country .

Adam was mainly active in Wolfenbüttel, where convicted criminals were brought. They came from all parts of the Principality of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, for example from Holzminden , Vorsfelde , Blankenburg , Hasselfelde and Königslutter . Sometimes he was on the road to perform his duties in the service of the duke. So Adam worked in the Wickensen office in 1660 "because of ugly witches who were first bathed, then burned". Just like “ witchcraft ”, arson by burning the convict was punished. Child killers were executed by drowning . Particularly brutal offenses or crimes against state power were punished by the dishonorable, seldom practiced cycling . Hanging was more often used as a punishment. B. applied for cattle theft. While the aforementioned types of execution were carried out jointly with or by assistants, beheadings were reserved for the executioner alone. Beheadings were not considered dishonorable for the delinquents and were practiced outside the city on Lechlumer Holz until 1660 , subsequently mostly at the city market in Wolfenbüttel.

An important contribution to the executioner's livelihood was the dishonorable concealment that Adam probably had his assistants do. The ducal knackers, who had to clean the canals of Wolfenbüttel Heinrichstadt and the sewers of the castle , chancellery and ducal offices, were subordinate to him. A third line of business for Adam was medicine. So he cured farmers after accidents, for which he charged between three and ten thalers.

Hans Adam died in Wolfenbüttel in 1675. He was followed in the executioner's office by the sons of his first wife from her marriage to his predecessor David Fuchs.

literature

• Heinz-Bruno Krieger : Of the duties and arts of the old executioners in the state of Braunschweig (continued) . In: Braunschweigische Heimat 38 (3), 1952, pp. 75-78.
• Gesine Schwarz: Adam, Hans . In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck , Dieter Lent et al. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon - 8th to 18th century . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2006, ISBN 3-937664-46-7 , p. 24 f .
• Gesine Schwarz: Ducal executioners and knackers of the state of Braunschweig in the early modern period . In: Braunschweigisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte , Volume 85, 2004, pp. 37-76, ISSN  1437-2959 .

Web links

• Courts and gallows in the Duchy of Braunschweig-Lüneburg . In: Der Tetzelstein , Volume 9, No. 17, 2015, pp. 3–5 (private publication), pdf