Mathias Weber

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Mathias Weber , called Der Fetzer (* 1778 in Dirkes between Grefrath and Büttgen in what is now the Rhine district of Neuss ; † executed February 19, 1803 in Cologne ) was a German robber.

Life

Mathias Weber worked with eleven years after his mother had died young and he was considered neglected, first as a woodcutter , and later because of his marksmanship as a forestry eleve at home Neersdonk . He was considered smart but difficult, and was released after a few incidents. Then he worked on a farm, then became a French army (25th Regiment Chasseurs au Cheval ) pressed , deserted but again. While on the run, he ran into a band of robbers. He committed his first robbery when he was just under 16. After a few years he founded his own gang, which was feared across the country. After one of his first raids, he was nicknamed "the Fetzer" because of his fighting style.

After he had managed to rob the Neuss town hall twice in a row , he succeeded in 1796 in catching him and locking him in the windmill tower, from which he, however, spectacularly escaped on November 1, 1796 by jumping seven meters from the tower. In 1798 the Fetzer came into contact with Johann Müller from Wetzlar , with whom he founded a dreaded gang with headquarters in Deutz and Neuwied . Wounded and sick gang members, who also received a share of the raids, took quarters at these seats. Well-known members of the gang were Leibchen Schloß, Ruben Simon, Waldmann, Anton Heinze, Schlaumann and Wambach (two Jews from Offenbach ), Meyer Fuchs, Johann Hammer and his son, Carl Heckmann, Afrom May, Monsam, Serves Joseph, Meyer Gas, Freyem Polak, Hampel hollow me, Anron Heinze, Picard the Alsatian and fat Mathies.

The gang carried out numerous violent robberies, often changing their composition, almost always at night and with a racing tree to break in the doors. In 1799 the gang attacked the Cologne-Elberfeld mail van and stole 13,000 Reichstaler . Weber was now also wanted in Hesse and Prussia and by the French who were then occupying the western side of the Rhine. He was finally arrested in Frankfurt and transferred to Cologne , where he was guillotined in 1803 . Ruben Simon was hanged in Düsseldorf .

literature

  • Keil / Diepenbach: Life and execution of Mathias Weber, called Fetzer, the leader and member of the Crevelder, Neußer, Dutch and Westphalian robber gang. Historical Commission Foundation for the Rhineland 1789–1815, 2013 (commented reprint of the 1803 edition, foreword and introduction to the biography of the author Keil: Dr. Dr. Mark Scheibe), ISBN 978-3-9813188-3-8 .
  • Heiner Boehnke & Hans Sarkowicz: The Rhenish robber gangs. Eichborn, Frankfurt, 1993, ISBN 3-8218-1175-7 .
  • Mark Scheibe: Schinderhannes. No good, horse thief, robber chief? 2008, ISBN 978-3-00-024299-1 .
    • P. 55: Participation in the robber congress in Schupbach
    • P. 89–90: Participation in the attack in Daaden ( Westerwald )
    • Pp. 273–275: Transport to the Mainz prison
    • P. 348: attempted escape from Mainz
  • Udo Fleck: "Thieves - Robbers - Murderers". Study on the collective delinquency of Rhenish robber gangs at the turn of the 18th to the 19th century. Dissertation. Trier 2003, pp. 35-47. ( online , PDF file; 1.4 MB)
  • Johannes Nikolaus Becker: Actual history of the robber gangs on the two banks of the Rhine. T. 1-2. Cöln 1804. Reprint Leipzig 1972, Crevelder and Neußer Bande, pp. 117-184 ( on Google books ).
  • Friedrich Schubert: Gangs of robbers and robber life on the Lower Rhine at the turn of the 18th century. In: Jan Wellem. Monthly for Düsseldorf, Niederrhein and Bergisches Land 7, 1930, pp. 193–198.
  • Tilman Röhrig : The Ballad vom Fetzer. Historical novel. Bergisch Gladbach 2005, ISBN 3-404-15326-X .
  • Tilman Röhrig: Mathias Weber, called the Fetzer. Historical novel. Arena, Würzburg 1983, ISBN 3-401-01432-3 .
  • Helmut Fischer (editor): Legends of the Westerwald. Westerwald-Verein, Montabaur (series of books by the Westerwald-Verein, Volume IX).
  • Tanja Schurkus : The curse of the Eifel robbers. Narrative. Meyer & Meyer Verlag (edition legendhaft), Aachen 2015, ISBN 978-3898999809

Web links

Wikisource: The robbers in the Hermit's hermitage (legend by Heinrich Pröhle)  - sources and full texts
personal data
SURNAME Weber, Mathias
ALTERNATIVE NAMES The Fetzer (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German robber
DATE OF BIRTH 1778
PLACE OF BIRTH Dirkes near Grefrath (Neuss)
DATE OF DEATH February 19, 1803
Place of death Cologne