As of: March 28, 2024, 8:26 p.m
By: Felix Herz
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Criminals, Nazis - but also resistance fighters like the Scholl siblings: Johann Reichhart executed them all throughout his life.
Regensburg – Johann Reichhart, born in 1893 near Regensburg in the Upper Palatinate, is considered the busiest executioner in Germany. The Bavarian executed 3,165 people throughout Germany and at times in Austria and Hungary. Apparently he had no moral concerns - even if it is reported that the execution of two innocent people gave him a hard time.
Johann Reichhart: He followed his calling early on – and with passion
Reichhart comes from a dynasty of executioners, reports
spiegel.de
in a portrait of the executioner. But it took a while before he was able to pursue his dream profession - after stints as a soldier in the First World War, butcher, innkeeper and haulage contractor, in 1924 he took up the position of executioner for Bavaria in the place of his uncle Franz Xaver Reichhart. On July 24, 1924, he guillotined Rupert Fischer, who had killed his wife. It was the first of a total of 3,165 sentences carried out by Johann Reichhart.
Johann Reichhart was Germany's busiest executioner. He first carried out sentences for the Nazis - after the end of the war he hanged them. The man from Upper Palatinate defended his profession throughout his life. © United Archives International / IMAGO
During the 1920s, Johann Reichhart's execution was not particularly profitable; at the turn of the decade, he complained about not enough orders. Reichhart was paid a lump sum for each sentence, but many people who had been sentenced to death were pardoned.
However, that changed when the Nazis came to power. Suddenly Reichhart had his hands full, his bloody art was in high demand among the Nazi leadership and the executioner from the Upper Palatinate executed political opponents, criminals, “pests” and resistance fighters – including the siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl. He traveled all over Germany and beyond the country's borders, earned handsomely, wore the Nazi party badge and was a sought-after man. Reichhart executed ten to twenty people per day, and he refined and optimized the execution technique.
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First Nazi opponents at the guillotine, then the Nazis on a rope: Reichhart executed everyone
When Germany surrendered in 1945, Reichhart was initially confronted with serious accusations from the victorious powers - they called him a murderer, a Nazi, a bastard. But ultimately they also had a need for his craft. According to
spiegel.de,
he killed 156 Nazis by rope on their behalf. Afterwards, however, they no longer had any use for the executioner - and things went steadily downhill for Reichhart from then on.
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According to reports, Reichhart learned that he had executed two innocent people because of a name mix-up, writes
augsburger- Allgemeine.de
. This news is said to have finally caused him to resign from his profession.
Reichhart also had to justify himself to the Allies in a tribunal trial in Munich. He said he wanted to serve the state through his work and followed lawful laws. He was convicted, but because of poor health - he was almost beaten to death by Nazis in the internment hospital - he was spared the labor camp. He only had to give away thirty percent of his assets.
Impoverished, loathed and lonely: Reichhart died in a care facility
Throughout his life, Reichhart had to contend with a lot of opposition to his bloody profession. He was insulted and mocked, and his children also suffered greatly from their father's job. His son Hans committed suicide in 1950. Johann lived until 1972, keeping himself afloat by breeding dogs and producing hair tonic and perfume.
After a temporary stay in the Algasing mental hospital, he finally died completely isolated in a care facility in Dorfen,
writes
faz.de.
Germany's busiest executioner stuck to the expediency of his profession - according to
spiegel.de,
Reichhart remained an advocate of the death penalty until the end of his life.
(fhz)
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