Executioner (Tyrol)

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Executioners in Tyrol , as everywhere in the Holy Roman Empire , only existed as a separate, special profession since the rise and institutionalization of state jurisdiction. The executioner - naming motif is that he judges with the sharpness of the sword - has carried out embarrassing punishments up to the death penalty in Tyrolsince the Middle Ages . See also: Eternal peace and the emergence of the executioner's office .

tasks

The official tasks of the executioner in Tyrol included, as everywhere with minor deviations, according to legal (court) orders

In Tyrol the office of executioner was partly connected with that of skinner (flayer, rascal or wasen master) .

Through their work, executioners were able to acquire knowledge in the field of anatomy in Tyrol and became a competition for established doctors , so that it was officially prohibited that executioners offer medical services and medicines.

The An-nevertheless Pranger -Make, flipping the fiddle , the straw wreath or load first Ines or distemper impact was not always transmitted in Tirol to the executioner, but sometimes the officer or Weibel . However, if the punishment also violated the honor of the person to be punished, it was always carried out by the executioner. It was also always up to him to post the names of (minor) punishments on the gallows.

Reward

The executioner's remuneration was set in their own rules. The executioner from Hall received a basic wage of 80, later 100 and more guilders and the Meran executioner of 50, later 80 and more guilders (each combined with a vacant apartment in Hall or Meran in their own house. For comparison: the executioner from Bregenz received 1695 a "basic wage", which consisted of a vacant service apartment and 52 guilders "waiting money"). For all other services , the executioners were reimbursed the expenses by a flat rate per case: execution fee, daily allowance and travel allowance as well as glove allowance for gloves and the rope. Example: In 1715 the executioner from Hall received 35 guilders 48 kreuzers for the execution of a deserter by hanging in Kufstein with the burial of the corpse with the help of two executioners. 1778 for the killing of an arsonist in Castelrotto (with cremation of the body with the help of two executioners) 33 guilders 48 kreuzers.

From 1708 there was a more precise fee schedule for the Haller and Meraner executioners, which was adjusted in 1750 and 1752 (see value in brackets):

  • Base salary: 104 guilders
  • Execution fee: 6 guilders
  • Glove fee: 48 cruisers
  • Taking the criminal out to the place of execution: 2 guilders
  • Burial of the dead: 3 guilders
  • Bicycle lichen , stakes , quarters of the executed: 3 guilders (Merano from 1752: 3 guilders). If this did not take place at the corresponding high court : 5 guilders (from 1750 8 guilders, Merano from 1752 still 5 guilders)
  • Chain fee for hanging : 5 guilders
  • Burning of the executed: 4 guilders (from 1750 6 guilders, Merano still 4 guilders)
  • Rod penalty: 4 guilders (also after 1750 or 1752)
  • Pillory posts: 2 guilders (from 1750 1 guilder 30 Kreuzer, Merano from 1752 only 1 guilder)
  • Cutting of the nose or ear, branding : 1 guilder (from 1750 1 guilder 30 Kreuzer, Merano from 1752 still 1 guilder)
  • Burying a suicide :
    • From the suicide's fortune: 45 guilders
    • penniless suicides from the community treasury: 20 guilders
  • Remuneration of the executioner: 3 guilders
  • Travel allowance per mile:
    • Executioner: 18 Kreuzer (from 1750 24 Kreuzer, Meran 1752 still 18 Kreuzer)
    • Executioner's servant: 12 Kreuzer (from 1750 15 Kreuzer, Meran 1752 still 12 Kreuzer)
  • Daily allowance:
    • Executioner: 1 guilder
    • Executioner: 30 cruisers

From 1750 (Hall) and 1752 Merano the following were also rewarded:

  • Manufacture of the wheel: 3 guilders
  • Production of the stake: 1 guilder
  • Quick boom for body quarters: 3 guilders
  • Hanging a quarter of the body on the high court itself / per item: 3 guilders
  • Transport of the ladder to the Sonnenburg High Court : 9 guilders 30 cruisers
  • Fee for a new head at the Sonnenburg High Court: 15 guilders
  • Execution with the cart: 15 guilders
  • Chopping off a hand / the oath fingers: 3 guilders
  • Nailing by hand or head a high court: 1 guilder
    • Nail for nailing body parts: 1 guilder
  • Torture: 5 guilders
  • Territion (showing the torture devices): 2 guilders 30 kreuzers
  • Attaching / hanging up slips of paper, oars, rods, tablets in the case of pillory penalties: 1 guilder
  • Loan fee for thumbscrews : 1 guilder
  • Book or portraits
    • Burn: 4 guilders
    • Nailing the high court: 6 guilders
  • Acceptance of the body by the high court and burial: 3 guilders
  • Strap cutting / breast pinching: 3 guilders
  • Cutting off the tongue: 3 guilders
  • Tongue out: 3 guilders.

Over the centuries, however, remuneration has always been a point of contention between the government and the executioner. Johann Georg Putzer (executioner from 1772 to 1786) had z. B. an annual salary of 135 guilders 12 Kreuzer and its request for an increase to 234 guilders in 1775, 1777 and 1781 was not granted.

Executioners in Tyrol also earned additional income by running brothels , quacking , fortune telling , selling the gallows rope or the fat of poor sinners . Only rarely was an executioner retired in Tyrol and received a pardon . Others died in office, were fired or resigned themselves, or were themselves executed.

Administrative districts of the executioners of Tyrol

Until 1497 only one executioner was appointed for the whole of Tyrol. From 1497 until the abolition of the death penalty in 1787, two executioners were active in Tyrol (for the exact districts see: Richtstätten in Tirol ), whereby it was not unusual for one executioner to also help out in the other's administrative district if necessary. After the reintroduction of the death penalty in 1795, the executioner from Prague or Vienna was responsible for Tyrol, who traveled to the execution site (Innsbruck, Bozen , Trient or Rovereto ).

Education and social position

education

Executioners were usually trained by other executioners. In addition to a generally good physical constitution, they had to have sufficient anatomical knowledge to be able to carry out the corresponding punishments. A qualification as an executioner was proven by one or more certificates. Sometimes a test piece or masterpiece was also requested at a public execution in order to prove the artistry . After completing a masterpiece , an executioner could call himself a master .

Social status

Executioners mostly came from the lower classes. They mostly entered into marriages within the executioners' class and with people from other "dishonorable " fringe classes, which resulted in "executioner dynasties" / "executioner dynasties" in Tyrol as elsewhere.

All executioners in Tyrol were Catholic , confessed and were usually also married in church. The executioners from Hall had their own burial ground because they were considered dishonest. This burial place was from 1671 at the former St. Vitus chapel.

List of executioners in Hall

From 1497 to 1787 23 executioners were active in North Tyrol (in brackets: number of years):

  • 1497 - 1503 Lienhart von Grätz (6)
  • 1503 - 1525 Stefan Ruef (22)
  • 1525 Heinrich Käser (<1), was also appointed to Meran in 1522/1525
  • 1525 - 1528 Hans Schaider (3)
  • 1528 - 1571 Johann Frey (43), father of Melchior Frey, brother-in-law of Martin Vogl
  • 1572 - 1578 Melchior Frey (6), was also appointed to Merano until 1572
  • 1578 - 1584 Christof Tollinger (6)
  • 1584 - 1606 Michael Fürst (22), father of Hans, Wolfgang and Georg Fürst
  • 1606 - 1608 Sebastian Oberstetter (2)
  • 1608 - 1611 Jakob Kenle (3)
  • 1611 - 1618 Jakob Vollmar (7), was previously appointed executioner in Bregenz and comes from a "hangman dynasty"
  • 1618 - 1642 Hans Has (24)
  • 1642 - 1645 Heinrich Hödl (3)
  • 1645 - 1671 Othmar Krieger (26), father of Konrad Leonhard Krieger
  • 1671 - 1677 Jakob Zäch (6)
  • 1677 - 1693 Andreas Leiner (16)
  • 1693 - 1698 Kaspar Pöltl (5)
  • 1699 - 1718 Sebastian Waldl ​​(19)
  • 1718 - 1728 Marx Philipp Abrell (10), father of Johann Jakob Abrell
  • 1728 - 1746 Johann Jakob Abrell (18), was also appointed to Merano until 1728
  • 1746 Josef Langmayr (<1)
  • 1747 - 1772 Bartholomeus Putzer (25), was also appointed to Meran, father of Johann Georg Putzer
  • 1772 - 1786 Johann Georg Putzer (14)

On average, an executioner was appointed and active as such for around 12.6 years in North Tyrol. Johann Frey, the 43-year-old executioner in Tyrol, is said to have executed around 300 people during his appointment, thus around 7 executions per year, during which time he was also the killing of many Anabaptists (around 200 people executed).

Directory of executioners in Merano

From 1488 to 1787 37 executioners were active in South Tyrol (in brackets: number of years):

  • 1488 - 1509 Gilg of Rodem (21)
  • 1509 Franz Wagner (<1)
  • 1510 Klaus Seckler (<1), son of the Würzburg executioner Thomas Seckler
  • 1510 - 1515 Hans Riemer (5)
  • 1515 Heinrich Reif (<1)
  • 1515 - 1521 Lorenz von Altsee (> 5)
  • 1521 Heinrich Reif (<1)
  • 1522 - 1523 Heinrich Käser (1), was also appointed to Hall in 1525
  • 1524 Jakob Gatz (<1)
  • 1525 Heinrich Käser (<1)
  • 1525 - 1536 Hans Schwarzhuber (11)
  • 1536 - 1552 Wolfgang Helmschmied (16)
  • 1552 - 1561 Martin Vogl (9), brother-in-law of Johann Frey
  • 1562 Hans swing knife (1)
  • 1563 - 1572 Melchior Frey (9), appointed to Hall from 1572 to 1578, son of Johann Frey
  • 1572 - 1575 Thomas Reichl (3)
  • 1575 - 1592 Mattheus Leonhard (17)
  • 1592 Hans Fürst (<1), son of Michael Fürst
  • 1592 - 1601 Mattheus Leonhard (9)
  • 1601 - 1605 Wolfgang Peuchamer (4)
  • 1605 - after 1610 (?) Wolfgang Fürst, older brother of Georg Fürst and son of Michael Fürst
  • after 1610 (?) - 1621 Georg Fürst, son of Michael Fürst
  • 1621 - 1623 Wolfgang Fürst (2)
  • 1623 - 1631 Michael Pichler (8), son-in-law of Hans Has
  • 1632 - 1672 Leonhard Oberdorfer (40), son-in-law of Hans Has
  • 1672 Hans Säbele (<1)
  • 1673 - 1675 Johann Schlechuber (2)
  • 1675 - 1679 Leonhard Konrad Krieger (4), son of Othmar Krieger
  • 1679 - 1684 Hans Jakob Müller (5)
  • 1684 - 1690 Johann Georg Wacker (6), was then executioner in Landsberg am Lech
  • 1690 - 1694 Jakob Fürst (4), from the "executioner dynasty" Fürst
  • 1694 - 1723 Johann Peter Vollmar (29)
  • 1723 - 1728 Johann Jakob Abrell (5), appointed to Hall from 1728. Son of Marx Philipp Abrell
  • 1728 - 1748 Johann Georg Kober (20) from the "hangman dynasty" Kober from southern Germany
  • 1748 - 1772 Martin Putzer (24), brother of Bartholomeus Putzer and stepson of Johann Georg Kober
  • 1772 - 1777 Bartholomeus Putzer (5), stepson of Johann Georg Kober
  • 1777 - 1787 Franz Michael Putzer (10), son of Bartholomeus Putzer and brother of Johann Georg Putzer

On average, an executioner was appointed and active as such for around 8.1 years in South Tyrol. The Abrell family comes from an "executioner dynasty" whose members were active throughout southern Germany. At 40 years of age, the longest serving executioner in Merano, Leonhard Oberdorfer, is said to have carried out around 100 executions during this time. He was married to Ursula Has, the daughter of the executioner Hans Has from Hall (appointed from 1618 to 1642).

Number of executions

Ordinary criminals were executed in North Tyrol in the period from 1655 to 1755 about 2.3 per year and in South Tyrol about 1.5 per year (not counting the people who were executed as witches and Anabaptists, as well as in the ecclesiastical areas and due to military jurisdiction) . So around 4 people (3.8) per year in all of Tyrol. The most prominent and still known executions in 1504 concerned the fortress commanders of Kufstein, Hans Pienzenauer and Wilhelm Biener (also Wilhelm Bienner and Guilielmus Bienner , before 1590 - 1651), a German-Austrian lawyer and Tyrolean chancellor , who died on July 17, 1651 in Rattenberg was executed.

In Tyrol, according to an estimate, a total of around 1500 to 1700 people were killed by the executioner during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries (common criminals, Anabaptists, witches, magicians). Executions were public until 1873.

Guiding sword

There are still two swords left in Tyrol that were used by the executioner in Hall and Meran.

Executioner's sword from Hall

The executioner's sword from Hall that has survived dates back to 1680 and is known as the Sonnenburg executioner's sword . It is now in the armory in Innsbruck . The sword, which is quite simple in terms of forging technology, is 105 cm long, the sword blade about 83 cm long and 7 cm wide. The straight quillons are about 19 cm long. The tip of the sword (see: Location (weapon) ) is rounded and the weapon is therefore only suitable for cutting. The sword has no groove (also: blood groove ). An octagonal knob forms the end of the approximately 22 cm long wooden handle.

A motto is engraved on the sword blade: Everyone here open your eyes, do this carefully, and see that it is bad, build on your own strength, because it cannot last long what rises itself impudently, only to the one who is evil thought, already the Straff floats to the hood. MDCLXXX AP. Above it is a gallows with an executed man.

On the other side of the sword blade is a depiction of Judith with the head of Holofernes and a delinquent on a chair, who is beheaded by an executioner .

Judge's sword of the Merano executioner

The executioner's sword from Merano that has survived dates back to 1733 and is believed to have come from southern Germany. It was originally owned by the Putzer family of executioners and is now located in Schenna Castle near Merano. The sword, which is more sophisticated in terms of forging technology, is 110 cm long, the sword blade about 88 cm long and 6 cm wide with a straight crossguard. It has no sword point, but an almost straight end and the weapon is therefore only suitable for cutting. The sword has an approx. 21 cm long fuller. A round knob completes the handle.

There are decorations next to the fillet. In the hollow on one side is the inscription: If I pick up the heavy weight, God will give eternal life to the poor sinner. Anno 1733 . On the other side in the hollow is engraved: If the poor sinner is denied life, then he will be given under my hand. Anno 1773 . These sayings are similarly executed on an executioner's sword from Memmingen from the years 1712 or 1734, from which it can be inferred under certain circumstances that the sword originates from southern Germany. Below the sayings there is a depiction of Justitia with a blindfold, an executioner's sword and scales on both sides .

Witch hunt

Also in Tyrol after 1500 for about 2 centuries trials against alleged witches and magicians were carried out and death sentences were imposed and executed. The executioner from Hall was not only active in Tyrol. A report from the county of Werdenfels from the end of the 16th century reports how the executioner of the city of Schongau was used as a witch finder and identified three women, Ursula Klöck, Elisabeth Schlamp and Barbara Achrainer, as witches. They also accused 60-year-old Margarethe Gattinger from Hammersbach of complicity under torture . In addition to this executioner, " a man experienced in witchcraft matters ", Jörg Abriel from Biberach, and the executioner from Hall in Tyrol were later appointed for the trials (see: Witch trials in the county of Werdenfels ). Because of such claims, 50 women were burned to death between 1590 and 1591 and the husband of one of the women was whacked .

Persecution of the Anabaptists

The Baptist (formerly Anabaptists or Anabaptists are called) supporters of a radikalreformatorisch - Christian movement that arose in the second quarter of the 16th century in the German- and Dutch-speaking parts of Europe and often as the left wing of the Reformation is called. The Anabaptists were represented in Tyrol from around 1527. In the so-called Anabaptist Patent of April 23, 1529, the death penalty was set for the followers of this group. Hundreds of people were then killed in Tyrol. As early as 1527 Leonhard Schiemer , the bishop of the Rattenberg Anabaptist community, who made an unsuccessful escape attempt at the beginning of January 1528, was arrested again and, after numerous tortures, was beheaded on January 14, 1528 in Rattenberg . In 1536 Jakob Hutter , the leader of the Anabaptists, was killed in Innsbruck .

At least 30 people are said to have been killed in Vinschgau and Etschland , at least 80 people in Eisack Valley, at least 56 people in Pustertal, at least 6 people in Wipptal and at least 193 people in Lower Inn Valley . Of these, at least 225 people were killed by the Hall executioner and 140 by the Meran executioner between 1529 and 1539. On May 12, 1529 alone, 18 people were executed in Rattenberg and two weeks later in Kitzbühel another ten people.

literature

  • Heinz Moser: The executioners of Tyrol , Innsbruck 1982, Steiger Verlag, ISBN 3-85423-011-7 .

See also

Web links

Wiktionary: executioners  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wolfgang Scheffknecht, Traveling People and Executioners: Examples of non-sedentary and sedentary outsiders and marginalized groups in the history of Vorarlberg , p. 36.
  2. ^ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , pp. 42 ff, 151 f.
  3. ^ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , pp. 31 f, 68 ff, 73 ff.
  4. ↑ Wolfgang Scheffknecht, The Vorarlberg Executioners - Punishments and Exclusion in the Early Modern Age , pp. 373, 374.
  5. ↑ The oldest known order for Tyrol dates back to 1488.
  6. ^ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , p. 29.
  7. ^ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , p. 31.
  8. ↑ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , p. 31 f.
  9. ↑ See also for Vorarlberg: Wolfgang Scheffknecht, Fahrende Menschen und Scharfrichter: Examples of non-sedentary and sedentary outsiders and marginalized groups in the history of Vorarlberg , p. 43.
  10. ^ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , p. 159.
  11. ^ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , p. 31 f, 40 ff.
  12. ↑ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , p. 120 ff.
  13. ^ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , p. 194.
  14. ↑ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , p. 27 f.
  15. ^ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , p. 29.
  16. ↑ Novosadtko: Executioner and Skinner. The everyday life of two “dishonest professions” in the early modern period. 1994, p. 216.
  17. ^ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , pp. 28, 40.
  18. ↑ See e.g. B. for Vorarlberg: Wolfgang Scheffknecht, Fahrende Menschen und Scharfrichter: Examples of non-sedentary and sedentary outsiders and marginal groups in the history of Vorarlberg , pp. 39, 42.
  19. ^ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , pp. 40, 154.
  20. ↑ Listed from: Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , p. 145 ff.
  21. ^ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , p. 148.
  22. ↑ Listed from: Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , p. 169 ff.
  23. ^ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , p. 24.
  24. ↑ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , p. 26.
  25. ^ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , p. 54.
  26. ^ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , p. 56.
  27. ↑ The Putzer family provided executioners in both North Tyrol and South Tyrol.
  28. ↑ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , p. 54 ff.
  29. ↑ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , p. 23.
  30. ^ Wilhelm Gottlieb Soldan and Heinrich Heppe: History of the witch trials, revised and edited by Max Bauer, 2 Bde, Munich 1911; Page 982 f.
  31. ↑ The term goes back to Roland H. Bainton: The Left Wing of the Reformation. In: The Journal of Religion. Vol. 21, No. 2-1941, pp. 124-134. Compare with Heinold Fast (Ed.): The left wing of the Reformation. Bremen 1962.
  32. ^ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , p. 22.
  33. ↑ Collection of sources Faith Voice : Report on the capture and martyrdom of Schiemer (source: Märtyrerspiegel) ; accessed on December 15, 2010. No longer available on March 4, 2018.
  34. ^ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , p. 22.
  35. ↑ Josef Moser, Die Scharfrichter von Tirol , p. 23.