Diary of a Hangman

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Wolff Weber, of Guntzendorff, and Barthel Dochendte, of Weisterfelss, both executed at Statt Kronach; Wolff, who was a thief, was hanged; Barthel, who was a murderer and had committed three murders, was executed on the wheel. Most purchases from business sellers are protected by the Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 which give you the right to cancel the purchase within 14 days after the day you receive the item. Hans Büchner of Unterfarrenbach, who had previously been whipped out of the town at Nuremberg, George Gabler of Schönfeld, Michael Dieterich of Pernetswin ( alias the Margrave), three thieves and robbers, beheaded here with the sword and exposed on the wheel. When they were being led out, the Margrave’s wife wanted to see the poor sinners as they passed, and saw her own husband among them, whom she embraced and kissed, for she had not known her husband had been arrested, nor that he was a fellow of that sort.

The analysis and explanation given in the first chapters make it a fascinating read, without them it would be a little gruesome and could not be appreciated. W. Gruner have put together a masterful tome that sets the scene of execution day and puts you in Master Franz Schmidt's shoes as he does his duty for his country. Starting the profession at age eighteen (under the supervision of his father), he performed more than 350 executions during his forty-five years of service. The journal is edited, with occasional notes in brackets explaining that information has been cut (generally items in lists, for example with thieves, where 2 or 3 thefts are given details and others left out for space). Pierrepoint, arriving at Chelmsford prison slightly intoxicated on 13 July 1910, had started a row, and would have beaten Ellis up, had not warders intervened.

It's interesting to know how things like this were dealt with in the past and in other countries, and how much we've changed and improved. Some of these remarks are about the criminal's conduct before execution - "Behaved very wantonly at the end" (175), "He was a godless man" (187) and "He sang all the way when he went to his death" (210). The accusation was made through jealousy (which he confessed in prison), he having previously killed a man and also robbed several burghers and women of Lauff of their reputation and honour. Sometimes difficult to get through because of repetitiveness, and some sections seem to drag on, due to perhaps Meister Schmidt's particular feelings on a specific execution or torture. At the age of 22 he applied to the Home Office to become an executioner and was invited to attend training at Newgate Prison.

An interesting read, albeit less in-depth then I would have liked compared to the Faithful Executioner. A bit disappointed as I had expected a diary where Master Franz Schmidt detailed not only the morbid deeds of his job as an executioner, but - more interesting - any moral conflict he felt at doing what he had to do (after all, some of the crimes for which an execution were handed out were beyond paltry by today's standards - small-time theft, infidelity). Women being tied up in sacks and thrown in rivers, and many other archaic practices were commonplace. Only downside is the absence of sources because I want to do extra reading and some pointers would be good. I learned a lot from the extensive introduction about crime and punishment at the time and kept thinking what an interesting premise it would be for a book of short stories, since each execution described is a little micro-story in and of itself.

This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. If you would like to book a private tour for between 5- 25 people we offer these on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Some include extra remarks from Schmidt some personal like "This was my first execution with the sword" (110) while others of a more generic nature like "No one had been executed in the town for 106 years" (186).