Schinderhannes, the 'King of the Soon Forest'

Highway robbery, attacks upon farmsteads and blackmail were all committed by "Johannes through the woods", as Hans Bückler, the "Schinderhannes", called himself. He used this name to sign passes for movement in and through his area. The right to give these passes as well as the right to collect taxes were rights the "King of the Soon Forest" gave himself. It is no wonder that the authorities as well as the population didn't put up with it for too long. In 1801, the farmers made their first revolt against this robber baron.

Eventually he was caught and, in 1803, brought to court. Bückler, who had enlisted in the Austrian army under a false name, made a complete confession. At the same time, though, he asked for mercy for some of the members of his band and for his wife Julie Bläsius who had given birth to a son during incarceration in the wooden tower in Mainz. The plea for his followers and for his wife so impressed the public in the courtroom that he was suddenly seen not as a notorious robber, but as a gentleman robber baron and helper of the poor, like Robin Hood.

Photo: The ruins of the Schmidtburg Castle near Bundenbach in the Hahnenbach Valley on a cold and foggy December day, with more snow to come. The Schinderhannes and his accomplices had found shelter there for some time.