Mordsteine ​​(Münden)

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Murder stone for Johann Kessler, behind the Wandersteinbach, 2017
Murder stone for Georg Schmalkalden with information sign

The Mordsteine are two atonement stones erected in 1614 near the Bonaforth district of the city of Hann. Münden in the southern Lower Saxony district of Göttingen . They are under monument protection and commemorate two citizens of Münden who were victims of robbery at the time.

Geographical location

The stones are in the Kaufunger Wald around 3.5 km southwest of the center of the city center of Hann. Münden and 1.2 km south of the Bonaforth district in the narrow valley of the Fulda tributary Wandersteinbach (Steinbach) . You are in the Münden Nature Park in the forest at about 195  m above sea level. NHN near a tight curve of the federal road 496 a little north-northwest below the Franzosenbrücke ( 205.4  m ), which leads over the stream. The bridge, built in 1827, was named after fighting with French in the area during the Seven Years' War . The Steinbachtal car park is located south of the curve in the road. From there a narrow path leads down and under the Franzosenbrücke to the Mordsteinen, which is reached after a distance of 160 m. East of the Franzosenbrücke, the uphill Blankenweg branches off as a narrow road in the direction of the Hühnerfeldberg . A few meters south of the parking lot, the Mündener Tunnel runs under Blankenweg .

history

The killing stones are atonement stones and remind of two merchants who were killed in a robbery on October 4th, 1614. Both were on their way back from Kassel to Münden in the evening hours. The victims were the Mündener merchant and iron merchant Johann Kessler and his future son-in-law Georg Schmalkalden. The latter came from Langensalza and was the son of a wholesaler. The course of events is not documented, but is described imaginatively in Karl Sittig's collection of sagas from 1924, which has been recounted uncritically in newspaper reports ever since.

The two very similarly designed, differently sized killing stones from local red sandstone were allegedly made by a stonemason from Münden. The stone steles have been changed several times, which reduces their historical source value. In 1925 they were "rebuilt" and "cleaned up"; In 1960, the sculptor Herrmann Schmidt was commissioned to put both stones "on a pedestal" and to have "the inscriptions cut". Presumably, the now rounded ends have been changed afterwards with a stick iron.

description

The two killing stones are now about five meters away from each other and at different heights. They each show a trefoil cross on their back , which is penetrated by a dagger with an S-shaped crossguard . Above the cross there is a weathered coat of arms and the initials of the respective victims. The inscriptions on the front of the stones, which are difficult to read today, in Karl Brethauer's transcription:

" IOHANN KESSLER BVRGER VND KRAMER ZV MVUNDEN HAS BEEN MURDERED AVF HIS HOME TRIP FROM CASSELL TO THIS PLACE OF BOSEN B [VBE] N BERAVBET VND WITH HIS KVNFTIGEN EIDEM GEORGEN SMALKEL, AC 1614 ON THE 4TH OCTOBRIS"
" GEORG SCHMALKALDEN VON SALTZ HAS BEEN MERCIFULLY MURDERED WITH HIS KVNFTIGEN SCHWEIER JOHANN KESSLER VON BOSEN BVBEN VNVESE VND BERAVBET VND ANNO CHRISTI 1614 OCTOBRIS GOD'S GENADEN - FROM DINST DAY 5 - 6 DAY"

  • Murder stone for Johann Kessler, front side

  • Murder stone for Johann Kessler, back

  • Murder stone for Georg Schmalkalden, front side

  • Murder stone for Georg Schmalkalden, back

  • Modern stonemason-like traces of processing (stick hammer) on the top of the Mordstein for Georg Schmalkalden

literature

  • Karl Sittig: Legends of the southern Hanoverian mountainous region . Collected by Karl Sittig in 1924. Reprint Verlag Ludwig Dörfler Hann. Münden 1976, pp. 23-24.
  • Karl Brethauer : Murders in the Steinbachtal. Memorial stones and the two murdered , in: Karl Brethauer: Münden. Collected Essays. Second episode. Publisher Hans Fiedler, Hann. Münden, 1984, pp. 113-115. (Collection of older newspaper articles from 1977–1979 in the Mündener Allgemeine .)

Web links

Commons : Mordsteine ​​(Münden)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Map services of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation ( information )
  2. ↑ For the family stories of the murdered see Brethauer: Münden, Second Series , 1984, pp. 114–115.
  3. ↑ See Sittig: Südhannoversche Sagen , 1924, Reprint 1976, pp. 23-24.
  4. ↑ Sarah Schnieder: At that time in Münden. A fateful rest: the murder stones in the Steinbachtal. Hessische / Niedersächsische Allgemeine (HNA), June 20, 2020, accessed on August 23, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Reported by Brethauer: Münden, Second Part , 1984, p. 113.

Coordinates: 51 ° 23 ′ 20.5 "  N , 9 ° 37 ′ 43.7"  E