Horror, Sleaze and Trash.

tensetrips:

Franz Schmidt, or “Master Franz” was the most well-documented executioner of the German middle ages. His father Heinrich was a woodman from the town of Hof in Bavaria who was forced to hang three men under penalty of his own death from the margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach. As a result of this action, Heinrich was condemned to become a hangman for life.  Under his father’s supervision, Franz became executioner in Bamberg at the age of 18 in the year 1573. He maintained a diary which chronicles the 361 executions and 345 other punishments he inflicted on criminals during his lifetime. This drawing in the margins of a court record is the only depiction of Franz which was rendered in his lifetime.