Johann Christian Woyzeck beheaded!

Georg Büchner brings the fate of the executed man to the stage in a drama

Former soldier Johann Christian Woyzeck had begun a love affair with a widow in Leipzig. She also had friendships with other men, which made him jealous. Driven by voices in his head, his thoughts turned to murder and he stabbed his lover to death. Uncertainty over his mental capacity meant that the subsequent trial dragged on for years until an expert ultimately determined his sanity. This enabled the court to pass the sentence of death. The first public execution in Leipzig in three decades – and the last to be performed in the city centre – was carried out on a scaffold set up on the market square in front of thousands of onlookers on 27 August 1824.

The story inspired 23-year-old Georg Büchner to write a drama, which however remained unfinished due to his early death. In the play, a poorly paid soldier struggles to support his common-law wife and their illegitimate child by taking on additional work, enduring many humiliations in the process. When he learns of his wife’s infidelity, he hears inner voices urging him to kill her. He then stabs her to death. Büchner’s drama caused a sensation by focusing on a protagonist with a low social standing instead of the bourgeoisie or nobility. Today, Woyzeck is one of the most performed and influential dramas of German literature.