The Hangman's Daughter

Sometimes at night he wants to hear stories about these people, and I tell him what I know about them. Happy stories, sad stories, frightening stories. For him the family is a safe refuge, a link binding him to many people whom he loves and who love him. I once heard that everyone on this earth is at least distantly related to everyone else. Somehow this is a comforting idea.

This book is a novel and not a scholarly thesis. I have attempted to stick to the facts as much as possible. Nevertheless for dramaturgical reasons I have often had to simplify. Even in those cruel times, torturing of a prisoner would have required a few more official documents, and the town of Schongau would probably not have tolerated such a dominating court clerk as Johann Lechner. In municipal matters it was the aldermen and the burgomaster who actually ruled, and not the Elector’s representative.

So-called dwarf’s holes or troll’s tunnels (Schrazellocher in German, like the ones where the children had their hiding place) are not found in the Schongau area, although there are many elsewhere in Bavaria. The purpose of such tunnels has not been established.

The figure of Johann Jakob Kuisl, unlike that of the physician Simon Fronwieser, is historical—as is that of Kuisl’s wife, Anna Maria, and their children, Magdalena, Georg, and Barbara. Many Kuisls were considered to be well-read, and their reputation as healers extended beyond the borders of the town. It was probably for this reason that doctors with medical training always tried to interfere and reported them to the authorities. One of my ancestors complained bitterly in a letter that he was not allowed to take any medical examination. Otherwise he would soon show how much more progressive he was than those academic quacks!

Everything in this book about the work of a hangman is factual, according to the latest scholarly findings. I venture to express my doubts as to whether my ancestor actually came to the aid of a midwife whom he had tortured, but I can in any case imagine it to be possible. After all, he was my great-great-grandfather, and as we know, we never want to doubt our families.

Many people have contributed to the preparation of this book. I would like to especially thank the curator of the Schongau local historian’s circle, Helmut Schmidbauer, who supplied me with necessary details; Franz Grundner of the Schongau Museum; Frau Professor Christa Habrich of the German Museum of Medical History; Rita Kuisl, who graciously allowed me access to her husband’s archives; my brother Marian as initial editor, friend, and supporter; my father as adviser for medical matters and Latin; and last but not least my wife, Katrin, who bravely struggled through the pages in the evening—and earned the money we needed so that I could during this time fulfill the dream of my youth.

OLIVER POTZSCH, MAY 2007

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Oliver Potzsch, born in 1970, has worked for years as a scriptwriter for Bavarian Public Television. He is himself a descendant of the Kuisls, one of Bavaria’s leading dynasties of executioners. Oliver Potzsch and his family live in Munich.

ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR

Lee Chadeayne is a former classical musician, college professor, and owner of a language translation company in Massachusetts. He was one of the charter members of the American Literary Translators Association and has been an active member of the American Translators Association since 1970.

His translated works to date are primarily in the areas of music, art, language, history, and general literature. Most recently this includes The Settlers of Catan by Rebecca Gable, a historical novel about the Vikings and their search for a new world (2005), and The Copper Sign by Katja Fox, a medieval adventure in twelfth-century England and France (2009), as well as numerous short stories. He presently serves as an editor for the American Arthritis Association newsletter and editor-in-chief of the ALTA News of the American Literary Translators Association.

As a scholar and student of both history and languages, especially Middle High German, he was especially drawn to the work of Oliver Potzsch, author of the best-selling novel die Henkerstochter (The Hangman’s Daughter), a compelling and colorful description of seventeenth-century customs and life—including love, murder, superstitions, witchery, and political intrigue—in a small Bavarian city.