Diary of a Hangman

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George Presigel of Gnotzga, who killed his wife and afterwards hanged her so that it might be supposed she had hanged and destroyed herself; had also formerly stabbed a man. An interesting read, albeit less in-depth then I would have liked compared to the Faithful Executioner.

Christoff Hauck, alias the Fiddling Cobbler, from Neuenstadt on the Aysch, a shoemaker by trade, also a fiddler and drummer and a great thief; he also played the jester at the town festivals; hanged at Nuremberg; took leave of the world as a Christian. Anna Strölin of Grefenberg, a murderess, who with premeditation murdered and slew her own child, a boy of six years of age, with a chopper. Margaret Dörfflerin (50 years old) from Ebermannsstatt, Elizabeth Ernstin (22 years old) from Anspach, Agnes Lengin (22 years old) of Amberg, three child murderesses.

The Meister Schmidt was an interesting person, and the fact that as an executioner, kept a diary of all of the various tortures, executions, crimes, and other various tidbits of life at this time is fascinating! It was interesting what the crimes were that he wrote about and how trivial some where to be executed for. Use of the archive is by appointment only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays (during term-time) and Fridays. The first sets the scene explaining what legal life was like in late medieval/early renaissance Germany and why the legal system worked how it did. The diary entries alternate between terse single lines, “A thief hanged” and long passages giving tantalizing details of the crimes for which people were punished.

Eight years later, in September 1932, after another bout of heavy drinking, Ellis died by suicide, cutting his throat with a razor. Others were more interesting, going into great depth about the criminals, their nicknames, the crimes they committed, and how they went to their deaths. 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.

Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Originally published more than eighty years ago, A Hangman's Diary gives a year-by-year breakdown on all of Master Schmidt's executions, which include hangings, beheadings, and other methods of murder, as well as explanations of each crime and the reason for the punishment. Whether this was due to his experiences at the Thompson hanging is open to dispute, especially since he performed 11 more executions (among which was one of another woman) before he withdrew.