Execution sites in Frankfurt am Main
(Gray brush drawing by Johann Kaspar Zehender )
Public executions took place in Frankfurt am Main until 1799 . There were four permanent places in the city for the execution of death sentences : The high court on the gallows field in front of the western city gates, the not far away Rabenstein , the Roßmarkt in the city center and the Old Main Bridge . Most of the death sentences were carried out by drowning , hanging or beheading .
High court
The most famous place of execution in old Frankfurt was to the west of the fortified city and gave the whole area its name: Galgenfeld . The most important western city gate , the Galgentor at the beginning of the Mainzer Landstrasse , also bore this name, as did the guard tower in front of the city , the gallows observatory . The name was later replaced by Gallus and transferred to other objects such as the Gallustor , Galluswarte and Gallusanlage . The Gallus district, which developed around the Galluswarte in the 19th century , was also given this name.
Executions by hanging took place at the High Court. The gallows consisted of a cuboid wooden frame on a large, brick base. So up to four convicts could be hanged at the same time.
The bodies of those executed were usually left hanging on the gallows until they rotted away. However, the place of execution was close to one of the most important city gates. When high visitors, such as an emperor, entered the city through the Gallows Gate, the executioner had to remove the dead from the gallows.
The gallows was renewed in 1561 after being destroyed by a hurricane. Another renewal took place in 1720. The guilds as a community were obliged to erect the gallows so that the dishonorable work did not fall on a single craftsman. Anyone who did not take part in the community building was saved a nail that he had to drive into the gallows afterwards - so that he too had his share of it.
In August 1806 the 500 year old high court was demolished in a hurry. In Frankfurt, which was occupied by the French, fireworks were to take place on the occasion of Emperor Napoleon's birthday . Marshal Augereau designated the gallows field as the location for the event, and the place of execution was removed.
The exact location of the Supreme Court is not known. 30 years after the demolition, the gallows field was covered with the track apron of the three western railway stations ; after its closure in 1888, today's station district was built on this area . The high court stood in the area of today's Taunusstrasse , presumably at about the height of the intersection with the Moselstrasse.
Rabenstein
The Rabenstein was directly on Mainzer Landstrasse, at today's intersection with Zimmerweg. The place owes its name to the ravens who fell upon the carcass after the execution.
The Rabenstein was the place of execution where beheadings and non-fatal corporal punishment were carried out in old Frankfurt : here delinquents were blinded , ears and hands were cut off. Cutting off the ears was the usual punishment for cardsharps (alternatively, a Frankfurt eagle was burned in their foreheads), and cutting off the hand meant disrupting the peace of the bridge , which was warned against by means of drastic images on the Main Bridge. The Frankfurt council had up to five execution swords for executions , and some executioners also had private killing tools.
The Rabenstein was demolished in 1812. Coordinates: 50 ° 6 ′ 43.6 ″ N , 8 ° 39 ′ 59 ″ E
Rossmarkt
Death sentences have been carried out at various points throughout history. Until about 1300 the gallows at that time was located just outside the city wall at the time at the Bockenheimer Pforte (later called Katharinenpforte ), i.e. at the location of today's Katharinenkirche at the Hauptwache. Here on January 14, 1772, the child murderer Susanna Margaretha Brandt , the model for Goethe's Gretchen , was killed by the sword. People were also executed on the site on Grosse Bockenheimer Strasse .
The most important inner-city execution site, however, was the Roßmarkt , one of the largest city squares in early modern Frankfurt. The most prominent delinquent who was beheaded here was the leader of the guild uprising of 1614 Vinzenz Fettmilch (February 28, 1616).
On July 7, 1799, the last public execution in Frankfurt's city history took place on the Roßmarkt: a master potter was beheaded for the murder of his wife.
Old bridge
Main article: The Old Bridge as a place of execution
In the Middle Ages, many executions were carried out by drowning. The delinquent, tied up or locked in a barrel, was pushed into the Main from the cross arch of the old Main Bridge, the location of the Brickegickel . Here the water was deepest and the current strongest. It was hoped that the body would only wash ashore outside the urban area and that the council would therefore not have to worry about it.
The corpses of suicides were also thrown into the Main at this point.
The importance of drowning as a method of execution declined from the 16th century, with the last drowning execution taking place in 1613.
Bornheim gallows
In the Hanau county of Bornheimer Berg , the executions took place on the Galgenberg near Bornheim (today Kohlbrandstrasse / Berger Strasse 448). This place of execution, located on the northern edge of Bornheim, was relocated to the Geierswarte , the Berger Warte , in 1484 after Bornheim's separation . Coordinates: 50 ° 8 ′ 10.6 " N , 8 ° 42 ′ 55.1" E
Berger waiting
Main article: The Berger Warte as a place of execution
The high court of the communities of Bornheimer Berg was located next to the Berger Warte on the Berger Berg. A wooden gallows stood here until 1732, after which it was replaced by a stone construction. The stones of this high court were added as steps to the Berger Warte in 1834, when the gallows broke off and lost its function as a place of execution.
literature
- Walter Gerteis: The unknown Frankfurt . Volume 1. Verlag Frankfurter Bücher, Frankfurt am Main, 1991, ISBN 3-920-346-05-X , pages 64-72.