Johann Lutter von Kobern
Johann Lutter von Kobern (* unknown; † October 14, 1536 in Koblenz ) was an electoral bailiff in Waldesch and a robber baron . The eye roller attached to the old department store in Koblenz is supposed to show his portrait and is considered a landmark of the city, around which numerous legends are entwined.
Life
Johann Lutter von Kobern was probably born in Moselweiß , now a district of Koblenz. He came from an old noble family in Koblenz who owned a castle in Moselweiß. His father was Eberhard Lutter, who held important positions in Koblenz. The history of the family can be traced back to the 13th century. Johann Lutter von Kobern was Vogt in Waldesch in the service of the Trier electors . In the course of his life he got into debt and became impoverished.
Legend of the eye roller
Together with his friend Friedrich Weisgerber, Johann Lutter von Kobern was arrested by farmers on May 7, 1536, as both of them lay in the bushes near Gillenbeuren for hours and watched the path. They were arrested in Cochem and accused of highway robbery and highway robbery . There both admitted that they wanted to ambush a Cologne merchant. After the interrogations , both were transferred to the Electoral Councilor in Ehrenbreitstein . Further testimony and the confessions indicated that they had previously been involved in robberies. However, they could be credited with the fact that none of the deeds was accomplished. A lighter sentence was still out of the question, however, since Emperor Charles V had ordered a tightening of the penalties against robber barons in 1532 and an example should now be made. Pleadings to the Elector of Trier also remained ineffective and so Johann Lutter von Kobern was sentenced to death on October 13, 1536 after a lengthy trial in Koblenz . The public execution took place on October 14, 1536 on the plan in Koblenz. The legend he is in front of his after beheading by the sword the judges and the executioners by unique grimaces showed what he thought of the Koblenz Court. The trial files from 1536 have been preserved and are kept in the Koblenz State Main Archive.
When the old department store in Koblenz was redesigned from 1724, the tower clock built by the clockmaker Joseph Waltner was given a head made of sheet metal with movable eyes, allegedly in memory of the execution of Johann Lutter von Kobern. In connection with the clockwork above, the eyes roll back and forth. He also sticks out his tongue every full and half hour. The building was destroyed in the air raids on Koblenz in 1944. The figure was not destroyed, but damaged. After the end of the war it was removed from the ruins and later stolen. When the reconstruction was completed in 1965, a new eye roller was attached to the old department store. It is one of the outstanding landmarks of the old town of Koblenz, both for the local population and for tourists. However, it is more simply designed than its predecessor and no longer opens your mouth, but just sticks out your tongue.
It is questionable whether the original meaning of the eye roller is actually connected with the robber baron Johann Lutter von Kobern, since the legend only appears long after the execution and even the attachment to the tower: The first mention of the figure in a city description from 1744 gives no information for interpretation. A travel guide from 1847 only says that the model for the depiction was an executed robber chief ; the name Lutter von Kobern was not mentioned until 1879. It is therefore likely that the story we are familiar with today only gradually developed in the 19th century, and there were also other popular explanations in the past (e.g. the picture depicts the oldest Koblenz bachelor who rolls his eyes for pretty girls ). It is also possible that the original eye roller from 1724 goes back to one of the oldest Koblenz jury seals. This seal from 1287 depicts a six-petalled rose and an ugly man's head in the middle.
Similar figures with moving eyes on tower clocks, so-called eye turner , are also found in various cities, e.g. B. in Cologne with the Platzjabbeck at the town hall. One possible explanation is that these figures are supposed to remind of the tower keepers who were so important for the security of the city in the Middle Ages , who had to look out for possible dangers in all directions (= moving their eyes) and shouting the time (= opening their mouths when striking the clock).
literature
- H. Reimer: The criminal proceedings against Johann Lutter von Cobern for street robbery in 1536, Koblenz, 1911 online edition dilibri Rhineland-Palatinate
- Wolfgang Schütz: Koblenz heads. People from the city's history - namesake for streets and squares. Verlag für Werbung Blätter GmbH, Mülheim-Kärlich 2005 (2nd revised and expanded edition).
- Heinrich Denzer: The eye roller at the old department store in Koblenz . In: Landeskundliche Vierteljahrsblätter , Vol. 20 (1974), Issue 4, pp. 123-131.
- Heinrich Denzer: The criminal proceedings against Johann Lutter von Kobern 1536 in: Yearbook for West German State History, 11, Koblenz 1985, pp. 121-151.
- Jens Fachbach: The baroque clock of the Trier cathedral and its builder Joseph Waltner . In: Neues Trierisches Jahrbuch , Vol. 49 (2009), pp. 155–180 (therein pp. 171–172: contract with Waltner on the Koblenz clock).
Web links
- Altes Kaufhaus / Augenroller in: regionalgeschichte.net
- Koblenz, the pearl of the Rhineland : silent film from 1925, at 2:05 the original eye roller.
Individual evidence
- ^ Jens Fachbach: Johann Georg Judas (around 1655-1726). Regensburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-7954-2685-9 , p. 202 (with older literature).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kobern, Johann Lutter from |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | electoral bailiff and robber baron |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 15th century or 16th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 14, 1536 |
| Place of death | Koblenz |