The executioner

The last execution in the baroque city of Fulda took place on November 21, 1856, carried out by master executioner Johann Conrad Lucas. He was practically born into the profession, as his family had held the office of executioner in the city since the 16th century. The executioner’s duties also included those of a Wasenmeister. This involved skinning animal carcasses and burying them in the meadows outside the city gates. Johann Conrad Lucas was born on January 1, 1815, the son of the official surgeon Johann Peter Lucas and Elisabeth Schmitt. In 1848, he married Walburga Braun, the daughter of executioner Andreas Braun, with whom he had nine children. He lived with his family in Henkersgasse, now called Meistergasse, and was an executioner from 1848 to 1856. He then worked as a surgeon and Wasenmeister until 1876. The last execution was a spectacle that drew thousands of onlookers to the execution site at Rabenstein, which was located right next to the Lehnerzer cemetery. On the idyllic green meadow, which was located on an arterial road to deter passers-by, 51-year-old blacksmith Benedikt Blösser from Keulos was beheaded with a sword. He had cold-bloodedly murdered forest ranger Johann Adam Maul from Künzell. On November 1, 1855, at around 6 a.m., Johann Adam Maul was armed with his double-barreled shotgun and on his way to his hunting grounds to track down poachers. He was particularly interested in the blacksmith Blösser, who was poaching in his hunting grounds. He had repeatedly expressed his displeasure with this poacher to other forest rangers. After forest ranger Maul had been missing without a trace for two days, his body was found in the bushes in the vicinity of the village of Pilgerzell. The forensic examination revealed that he had first been shot and then killed by several objects that had been used to stab and beat him. Blösser, the blacksmith, quickly came under suspicion, but he vehemently denied the crime. Blösser had already been sentenced to four weeks in prison for poaching and setting rabbit snares. He had also been remanded in custody for hunting offences and mistreating a gamekeeper. However, he was not convicted due to lack of evidence. This time, however, the evidence was overwhelming. Blösser had deliberately shot Maul because he had caught him poaching. He then tortured him with various tools until he was dead. These atrocities were not committed in the heat of the moment, but were the cold calculation of a murderer. On January 16, 1856, he was sentenced to death by the sword. This sentence was carried out on November 21, 1856. Accompanied by guards and clergy, Blösser was driven to Rabenstein in a ladder wagon, wearing a white shirt and a pointed cap on his head. After a 45-minute journey, a huge crowd was already waiting for the poor sinner. He had to kneel before the executioner, and Johann Conrad Lucas performed his duties as executioner one last time. With one blow, he severed the blacksmith’s head from his body. This marked the end of Johann Conrad Lucas’s era as executioner.