Jacob Georg Schäffer

Jacob Georg Schäffer (born June 28, 1745 in Ottenhausen ; † September 1, 1814 in Sulz am Neckar ) was a senior bailiff in Sulz am Neckar, became known as the first modern criminalist in Württemberg and caught notorious robbers such as Hans and Hannikel from Constance .

Schäffer understood crime as a social misfortune. Schäffer gained this knowledge from the life stories of hundreds of " Jauners " who were arrested and accused by him . He conscientiously pursued their lives up to their earliest youth and tried to take into account the circumstances of birth and upbringing, the mistakes of society and the social grievances of the time, which were partly to blame for the development of human beings into criminals, when assessing and measuring the guilt of the accused would.

As a senior magistrate, he reported to the Württemberg government about social damage. He succeeded in bringing about a sovereign resolution with which the vicious circle could be broken. The children of the convicted Jauners were to be admitted to the orphanage in Ludwigsburg from the age of eight and brought up, the younger children to be given board and care to righteous citizens at the expense of the state in Sulz.

swell

1. ^ Ulli Rothfuss: Schäffer, robber catcher. The first modern criminalist in Württemberg , Silberburg-Verlag (1977), ISBN 3-87407-257-6

literature

• Eduard Eggert: Oberamtmann Schäffer von Sulz. A picture of time and life from the end of the last century. Stuttgart, published by D. Gundert, 1897.
• Wolfram Angerbauer (Red.): The heads of the upper offices, district offices and district offices in Baden-Württemberg from 1810 to 1972 . Published by the working group of the district archives at the Baden-Württemberg district assembly. Theiss, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-8062-1213-9 , pp. 487 .

Web links

• Historical crime research