Mengis

The title of this article is ambiguous. For people with this name, see Mengis (disambiguation) .

Mengis is a Swiss family whose members have held the office of executioner for many generations .

The family has been recorded in Rheinfelden in what is now the canton of Aargau since 1582 . Mengis were also active as executioners in other parts of Switzerland: Around 1652 an executioner named Baltzer (Balthasar) Mengis is mentioned in Lucerne , married to Anna Vollmar (the Vollmar also provided executioners in Switzerland for generations). The first executioner in Schwyz documented by name in files was Christoph Mengis († 1653). His son Christoph Mengis junior (* 1627) took over the office in 1651. In 1681 it was the turn of the third generation, Johannes Mengis , from 1695 a fourth generation Balthasar Mengis worked as executor in Schwyz and from 1723 his son Bernhard Mengis . His successor, Johann Melchior Grossholz from Lucerne, wasn't Mengis by name, but was Bernhard Mengis' son-in-law; he worked until 1815. The first name of the last Mengis in the office of Schwyz executioner is not known, only the year of his death in 1779.

Franz Josef Mengis (1801–1872), from Rheinfelden, carried out the last public execution of Bernhard Matter in Lenzburg on May 24, 1854 in the canton of Aargau .

Theodor Mengis senior (1839–1918) carried out all death sentences passed by civil courts in Switzerland from 1879 until his death. Including the last execution in the canton of Lucerne in Anselm Wütschert (20 January 1915) The Basel Emil Beurmann portrayed him in 1903, a copy of the image depends to this day in the lobby of the council hall of Rheinfelden. Theodor Mengis senior is often referred to as the “last” executioner in Switzerland. However, based on the current state of knowledge, this classification is questionable. Because during the last executions, the executioners were increasingly exposed to hostility from those parts of the public who reject the death penalty, so that in some cases the executioners who were regularly entrusted with this office and known to the public were not used and the executions were instead carried out by strangers who volunteered advertised were executed. Their identity is still not revealed by the authorities for reasons of privacy protection - including their families.

The last executioner in Aargau (who also received orders from other cantons) was according to current knowledge, his descendant Theodor Mengis junior (1881-1958). He died without offspring at the age of 77 in the canton of Zurich.

The last civil execution in Switzerland was carried out on October 18, 1940 in the canton of Obwalden on Hans Vollenweider , the death penalty was abolished for civil offenses on January 1, 1942, under military criminal law on March 20, 1992. On July 1, 2003 it occurred In addition, the 13th Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights is in force in Switzerland , according to which the death penalty may no longer be imposed, even in times of war or when there is an imminent threat of war.

literature

• Ernst Broechin: Memories of the last Rheinfeld executioner (Theodor Mengis). In: Rheinfelder Neujahrsblätter, 1st year, 1945, p. 36.
• Emil Beurmann : Memories of the executioner Theodor Mengis . In: Rheinfelder Neujahrsblätter, 2nd year, 1946, p. 34.
• Peter Sommer: Executioner of Bern , Bern 1969.
• Marthi Pritzker-Ehrlich : Swiss executioner candidates 1938/39 . Bern: Lang, 1999, ISBN 3-906763-27-7 .

Web links

• Gregor Egloff: Mengis. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Contract between the police department of the canton of Friborg and the executioner Theodor Mengis, in Rheinfelden, concerning the execution of the murderer Jules Maillard on July 25, 1910 (the death sentence was not carried out due to a pardon)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Heidi Braun: From executioners and revenants ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 1.3 MB), Neue Fricktaler Zeitung , October 3, 2008. p. 8. 
2. ↑ Kaspar Michel: Richtschwerter und Scharfrichter in Schwyz , In: Historischer Verein des Kantons Schwyz (Hrsg.): Mitteilungen des Historisches Verein des Kantons Schwyz , Vol. 99, 2007, pp. 183ff.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 629 kB)  
3. ↑ [1]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ^ David Eppenberger: Last "Dead man Walking" in Lucerne , Lucerne Week , March 10, 2003
5. ↑ The original is in the depot of the Historisches Museum Basel .
6. ↑ Marthi Pritzker-Ehrlich : The last of the Aargauer executioners, Limmattaler Tagblatt, March 9, 1995; Multi-part digital version of the article: [2] , [3] , [4] , [5] , [6]