Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 8,822
The "Spitstone" of Bremen ...
In the middle of Bremen city center - 18 meters from a side entrance of the Bremen Cathedral - there is a tourist attraction that is hardly ever shown to a tourist - and which is also unknown to many residents:
The so-called "Spitstone"!
This stone is reminiscent of the legendary poisoner Gesche Gottfried ...
... which from 1813 onwards slowly and painfully killed at least 15 people within six years with what was then called "mouse butter" (a mixture of lard and arsenic powder) ...:
- 1. October 1813: Johann Miltenberg (first husband)
- 2. May 1815: Gesche Margarethe Timm (mother)
- 10. May 1815: Johanna Miltenberg (daugher)
- 18. May 1815: Adelheid Miltenberg (daughter)
- 28. June 1815: Johann Timm (father)
- 22. September 1815: Heinrich Miltenberg (son)
- 1. June 1816: Johann Timm (brother)
- 5. July 1817: Michael Christoph Gottfried (second husband)
- 1. June 1823: Paul Thomas Zimmermann (fiance)
- 21. March 1825: Anna Lucia Meyerholz (Music teacher, friend)
- 5. December 1825: Johann Mosees (neighbor, friend, advisor )
- 22. December 1826: Wilhelmine Rumpff (landlady )
- 13. May 1827: Elise Schmidt (three year old daughter of Beta Schmidt )
- 15. May 1827: Beta Schmidt (Friend, maid)
- 24. July 1827: Friedrich Kleine (friend, creditor)
Until the series of murders was exposed, Gesche Gottfried was generally called "The Angel of Bremen" because she always seemed to "lovingly" take care of her relatives, who were languishing in great pain.
The matter came out because her landlord had become suspicious of the many deaths around her and had investigated - and found arsenic balls in her home.
On the evening of March 6, 1828 - her birthday - Gesche Gottfried was arrested. During almost three years of pre-trial detention in the prison at Ostertor (today a museum, before that a deportation prison for rejected asylum seekers, before that a prison) ...
... she gave no motives for her actions.
The cell in which she was imprisoned has been preserved true to the original ...:
#
Eventually Gesche Gottfried was sentenced to death by the sword on the scaffold.
On April 21, 1831 at around 8 a.m. she was picked up from the prison in a horse-drawn carriage and driven to the Domshof, where around 35,000 spectators were already waiting ...:
She was led to the wooden scaffolding, where the presiding judge read her the verdict again. Then the Bremen senator responsible for justice broke a wooden stick as a symbol that the judgment was final.
Then the doomed person was given a glass of red wine (for reassurance), but she only sipped it and then shook hands with each judge.
A little later she was strapped to the chair. She started to pray. An assistant grabbed her hair to pull her head up ...:
A few moments later the executioner ended Gesche Gottfried's life with the sword!
The executioner's sword with which her head was shod is preserved (we Bremen people just love old things!) and shown in the museum today ...:
The Bremen "Spitstone" is - until today! - exactly at that point where Gesche Gottfried's head landed on the pavement after the executioner had cut him off!
It was the last public execution at Bremen ...!
A death mask was removed from Gesche Gottfried's head before he was buried with the body. The death mask is also shown in the museum today ...:
The black stone with a carved cross was set into the pavement shortly after Gesche Gottfried's execution - and since then, passers-by have been asked to express their disgust for the poisoner by spitting on the stone!
And as you can see, that is also done by the initiated ...:
In the middle of Bremen city center - 18 meters from a side entrance of the Bremen Cathedral - there is a tourist attraction that is hardly ever shown to a tourist - and which is also unknown to many residents:
The so-called "Spitstone"!
This stone is reminiscent of the legendary poisoner Gesche Gottfried ...
... which from 1813 onwards slowly and painfully killed at least 15 people within six years with what was then called "mouse butter" (a mixture of lard and arsenic powder) ...:
- 1. October 1813: Johann Miltenberg (first husband)
- 2. May 1815: Gesche Margarethe Timm (mother)
- 10. May 1815: Johanna Miltenberg (daugher)
- 18. May 1815: Adelheid Miltenberg (daughter)
- 28. June 1815: Johann Timm (father)
- 22. September 1815: Heinrich Miltenberg (son)
- 1. June 1816: Johann Timm (brother)
- 5. July 1817: Michael Christoph Gottfried (second husband)
- 1. June 1823: Paul Thomas Zimmermann (fiance)
- 21. March 1825: Anna Lucia Meyerholz (Music teacher, friend)
- 5. December 1825: Johann Mosees (neighbor, friend, advisor )
- 22. December 1826: Wilhelmine Rumpff (landlady )
- 13. May 1827: Elise Schmidt (three year old daughter of Beta Schmidt )
- 15. May 1827: Beta Schmidt (Friend, maid)
- 24. July 1827: Friedrich Kleine (friend, creditor)
Until the series of murders was exposed, Gesche Gottfried was generally called "The Angel of Bremen" because she always seemed to "lovingly" take care of her relatives, who were languishing in great pain.
The matter came out because her landlord had become suspicious of the many deaths around her and had investigated - and found arsenic balls in her home.
On the evening of March 6, 1828 - her birthday - Gesche Gottfried was arrested. During almost three years of pre-trial detention in the prison at Ostertor (today a museum, before that a deportation prison for rejected asylum seekers, before that a prison) ...
... she gave no motives for her actions.
The cell in which she was imprisoned has been preserved true to the original ...:
#
Eventually Gesche Gottfried was sentenced to death by the sword on the scaffold.
On April 21, 1831 at around 8 a.m. she was picked up from the prison in a horse-drawn carriage and driven to the Domshof, where around 35,000 spectators were already waiting ...:
She was led to the wooden scaffolding, where the presiding judge read her the verdict again. Then the Bremen senator responsible for justice broke a wooden stick as a symbol that the judgment was final.
Then the doomed person was given a glass of red wine (for reassurance), but she only sipped it and then shook hands with each judge.
A little later she was strapped to the chair. She started to pray. An assistant grabbed her hair to pull her head up ...:
A few moments later the executioner ended Gesche Gottfried's life with the sword!
The executioner's sword with which her head was shod is preserved (we Bremen people just love old things!) and shown in the museum today ...:
The Bremen "Spitstone" is - until today! - exactly at that point where Gesche Gottfried's head landed on the pavement after the executioner had cut him off!
It was the last public execution at Bremen ...!
A death mask was removed from Gesche Gottfried's head before he was buried with the body. The death mask is also shown in the museum today ...:
The black stone with a carved cross was set into the pavement shortly after Gesche Gottfried's execution - and since then, passers-by have been asked to express their disgust for the poisoner by spitting on the stone!
And as you can see, that is also done by the initiated ...:
