Posted on 02/22/2010 7:17:03 PM PST by mware
When the fearsome Baltic pirate Klaus Störtebeker was executed 600 years ago his headless body is said to have walked 12m (40ft) along the length of Hamburg quayside. He had struck a deal with the elders of the port: any of his 70 men that he managed to pass in his post-decapitation walk should be spared. The quivering corpse passed 11 fellow pirates before the executioner put out a foot and tripped him up. Little wonder, then, that the skull of Störtebeker has fascinated Germans for so long — and that its theft from a Hamburg museum last month has kept police busy.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Headline = flawless victory.
Check out St. Dennis.
...but then the executioner did not keep his head either.
How far did he get without his head?
Great stuff.
“After chopping off the heads of all of Störtebeker’s pirates the executioner was asked if he was not a little tired. He replied that he had enough energy to execute the senate elders as well. This was probably intended as a joke — but the senate ordered the executioner to be beheaded.”
That will ruin a good day at work.
That’s quite a tale...
.
For some reason this reminds me of Pirate Jenny number from the 3 penny opera.
I wonder if their senate was anything like our senate?
Walking corpses, Pirates and Hells Angels: with a few Ninjas this could be an awesome story!
Oh dear, this has the making of a dead thread.
*hoopla!*
You know, I’ve heard this story before and found it fascinating, and it reminds me of another story:
“Does the head remain briefly conscious after decapitation (revisited)?
June 12, 1998
Dear Cecil:
In the answer about the guillotine in your online archive, you say that “the fatal blow induces immediate unconsciousness.” In actuality, the human head does remain conscious fifteen to twenty seconds after decapitation. This was proven when a scientist condemned to the guillotine in the 1700s told his assistant to watch and that he would blink as many times as he could. The assistant counted fifteen to twenty blinks after the head was severed, the blinks coming at intervals of about one second. So the head does remain briefly alive.”
Read on at the website for more interesting details.
However, I will bring up one more interesting story, of which many may have read of.
Ayn Boleyn, after beheading and whose head was held up to the crowd, was observed to be still in the act of prayers and I believe also looked up at the audience to her heartless execution.
“legend has it that after his execution Hamburg senators found that the masts of his ships had cores of gold and silver.”
O_o
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