Literary walk through Schongau: With Oliver Pötzsch on the trail of the "hangman's daughter"

Created: 06/17/2022, 10:03 am

By: Rafael Sala

Oliver Pötzsch, together with the city guides Kornelia Funke (middle) and Gisela Sporer, welcomed the participants with his ukulele and the song "Ja so warn's die alten Henkersleut".

© Tourist Info Schongau

With author Oliver Pötzsch and city guides Kornelia Funke and Gisela Sporer, around 40 literary walkers recently set out on the trail of the "hangman's daughter".

Schongau – A literary walk through the old town of Schongau with Oliver Pötzsch, the well-known author of the novel series “The Henker’s Daughter” – you can expect surprises.

There are details lurking on almost every street corner, on every building, that are not always to be found in his books, but are no less exciting.

How did he actually learn that so many of his ancestors were executioners?

Why did he want to be a writer when he was a boy?

And: Why were the gallows actually on hills visible from afar?

43 participants had the opportunity to learn all this and much more.

Time travel through Schongau: With Oliver Pötzsch on the trail of the "hangman's daughter"

Stations of the walk with Pötzsch and the city guides Kornelia Funke and Gisela Sporer included the Ballenhaus, the Kassel Tower and the monastery garden, places where a lot of historical events have taken place and which are naturally the scene of the plots in Pötsch's books again and again.

On the search for literary traces with Oliver Pötzsch: many people from Schongau did not want to miss this.

One of the stations of the tour was the town hall.

© Rafael Sala

The history of the venerable Ballenhaus is well known, but being able to take a look at the council chamber as the undisputed center of power in medieval Schongau is nothing ordinary.

"This is where politics was made, this is where the important gentlemen sat," Pötzsch explained to the audience.

It is precisely here that crucial passages play again and again in his books - after all, it was precisely these powerful gentlemen who could decide the weal and woe of each individual, acquit them of an accusation or even impose the death sentence on them.

In any case, the penalties for serious offenses were cruel.

This is precisely why the execution sites were located on hills: "Not so that the condemned still have a nice view before they die," as he remarked with a smile, "but so that their deeds are a deterrent".

The time factor included: the carcasses hung on the gallows for months so that no one passing by would think of doing the same.

A performance that will send shivers down your spine.

The legendary executioner's sword is now in the Schongau City Museum

Everything in the Kassel Tower revolved around herbs and medicinal plants, which expert women used to handle at the time – and thus risked their lives as “witches”, because all of this was of course “the devil’s stuff” for the church.

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His books deal a lot with violence, villains and sinister fellows - the author himself, on the other hand, is a peaceful fellow and has even done community service.

The creepy implements such as swords, daggers, lances and the like play no role in his own life - on the contrary: he is glad that the legendary executioner's sword of his ancestor Jakob Kuisl - today housed in the Schongau City Museum - has not been used for a long time.

"It ended up killing people."

(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Schongau newsletter.)

Even as a child he wanted to be a writer, "my lifelong dream", as he explained.

Only: about what?

He had been looking for a suitable substance for a long time, he was about to throw in the towel when the rescue came, "my key experience": A relative once showed him Pötzsch's own, widely ramified family tree.

In earlier times it was teeming with executioners, and he knew in a flash: That's it.

There lies my future.

Success was not long in coming, his books are published by the well-known Ullstein-Verlag.

The Tourist Information Schongau is offering the next literary walk with Oliver Pötzsch on Saturday, October 1, at 10:30 a.m.

Anyone who wants to register can do so by calling 08861/214-181 or by email to touristinfo@schongau.de.