The notorious robber and several of his accomplices are executed
In centuries past, and particularly during times of war and uncertainty, gangs of robbers would terrorize unsuspecting travellers before retreating to a forest or mountain hideaway to count their ill-gotten gains. One of the most famous German highwaymen was Johannes Bückler. Born in 1779, he acquired the nickname Schinderhannes, a play on the German word schindern meaning “to flay”, in reference to his descent from a family of executioners and knackers and the contraction of his forename. Bückler began his criminal career at the age of 15, when he was arrested for embezzlement and theft and sentenced to a public flogging. He was subsequently imprisoned several times for cattle rustling but managed to escape. He became increasingly violent in his early 20s, even killing a number of people. As a highwayman and operator of a protection racket, he and his gang frequently targeted Jews, as the authorities were often uninterested in investigating crimes perpetrated against this marginalized group. Bückler became increasingly brazen, even celebrating a “robbers’ ball” at an inn. His reign of terror struck fear into the local population.
Pressure from the French authorities forced Bückler to cross into German territory, where he was arrested by a patrol and handed over to the French. On 20 November 1803, a trial of dozens of defendants in Mainz culminated in 20 acquittals and 18 prison sentences. Bückler and 19 others were sentenced to death. He was executed the following day in Mainz in front of a crowd of thousands. Even before his death, fictional biographies had been published about the infamous criminal, and after his death, he was glorified in numerous folk songs, plays, and later films. Thus the legend of the “Robin Hood of the Hunsrück” was born, in which his companion Julchen Blasius found her place as the “robber’s bride”. These entirely fictionalized characters bore little resemblance to the truth.
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An immersive and innovative experience museum about 2000 years of German history
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