Sobre este lugar
For 39 years, from 1578 to 1617, Franz Schmidt served as Nuremberg's public executioner, and his extraordinary diary turned the most feared profession in the city into an archival masterpiece. Beneath the Old Town Hall, in the Lochgefängnisse, prisoners awaited interrogation in cells of roughly two metres by two metres, sealed from all light. The complex included a torture chamber the guards called the Kapelle. Schmidt's role placed him at the centre of this system: court-ordered interrogation was the executioner's legal domain. Over his career he recorded 361 executions and 345 lesser penalties, pushed for more humane sentencing, and treated an estimated 15,000 patients as a healer alongside his official duties. In 1624, Emperor Ferdinand II formally declared him an honourable man, lifting the social stigma that had defined executioners for generations.
Datos clave
- 361 executions — Recorded personally by Franz Schmidt in his meticulous diary over 39 years as Nuremberg's public executioner.
- 15 cells — The Lochgefängnisse held prisoners in fifteen cells of roughly 2x2 metres, kept in complete darkness below street level.
- 15000 patients treated — Alongside his duties as executioner, Franz Schmidt also practiced as a healer and is estimated to have treated around 15,000 patients.