Frankenstein gravediggers scandal

The Frankenstein town gravediggers scandal

Chapel of St.Nicholas in Ząbkowice Śląskie
Duration	20 September 1606 - 13 February 1607 [1]
Location	Ząbkowice Śląskie southwest Poland
Coordinates	50°35'33.9"N 16°48'46.7"E
Convicted	A total of 17 people were executed in this case, by mutilation and burning at the stake [2]

The Frankenstein town gravediggers scandal - the case of the capture and sentencing in 1606 of gravediggers from the town of Frankenstein in Czech Silesia in the German Reich (now Ząbkowice Śląskie in Lower Silesia, Poland ), accused of bringing the plague, witchcraft and desecration of corpses. These events are related to the small chapel of St.Nicholas that still exists today, standing on the site of the old cemetery founded in 1552 at today's ul. 1 Maja in Ząbkowice Śląskie.

History

In 1606, there was a plague in the city. Eight gravediggers were accused of causing it (three women and five man): Wacław Förster, a gravedigger for 28 years, and his assistant Jerzy Freidiger from Strzegom – for the mixing and preparation of poisons. Both were outed by the farmhand Förster.” In total, eight people were arrested.

During the investigation, the suspects were subjected to torture, during which they admitted that they had prepared poisonous powder from the corpses . They scattered this powder several times in various houses and on their doorsteps. They also smeared it on door handles and knockers, which caused many people to get poisoned and die. Moreover, they stole money from houses and robbed corpses, taking cloaks from them. They were also supposed to cut open the bellies of dead pregnant women to extract the fetuses, and eat the hearts of small children raw. They admitted to robbing local churches of altar cloths and two wind-up clocks, which they also powdered to use in witchcraft . One of them, was also supposed to defile the body of a young girl.

The trial took place on September 20, 1606. The accused were found guilty and sentenced to death by mutilation and burning at the stake . On October 5 of the same year, the trial of the accomplices whom the gravediggers identified under torture was still underway. They were also sentenced to death. The last execution took place on February 13, 1607. A total of 17 people were executed in this case.

Echoes of the scandal

These events were famous throughout Europe, as evidenced by, among others, publication of sermons in Leipzig. It is also known that it was then covered by the newspaper " Newe Zeyttung " published in Augsburg . Modern publicists speculate ^{[3] [4]} that the English writer Mary Shelley may have known this story, hence there is probably an analogy between the name of the town Frankenstein and the title of her famous novel about Dr. Frankenstein's monster prepared from human corpses stolen from cemeteries

External links

• https://culture.pl/en/article/the-polish-town-that-may-have-inspired-frankenstein
• https://3seaseurope.com/frankensteins-monster-zabkowice-slaskie-poland/
• https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/the-horror-the-terrifying-history-linking-a-small-silesian-town-to-mary-shellys-frankenstein-7709

Bibliography

• Paweł Kaptur, Rethinking Inspirations for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: A New Look at the Case of the Silesian Gravediggers’ Scandal of 1606 [1]
• F Toenniges 700 Jahre Frankenstein Schlesien 1286- 1986, Eine Sammlung zeitgenössischer Documente, Kürten 1986, p. 19