Judicial Corporal Punishment Of Women: Stories And Novels

[nsur1]

Thanks, elephas!

Yes, indeed, the sentence was very harsh. I'm not sure whether there is a historical record of how many lashes she received at each of the six separate floggings, but the Naumann novel seems to say around twenty by which time she had lost consciousness. That would make 120 lashes in total, suffered by a virginal educated middle class vicar's daughter in the most public way possible to a baying mob in front of her father's house, in front of Potsdam Town Hall and at the four gates of the town. That puts the punishment well into "Miss Berkeley's Voyage" territory -- similar number of lashes, similarly public humiliation, same number of separate locations (six), but unlike that story this one is entirely historical and documented.

It was argubaly more humiliating as she was entirely innocent and the punishment came out of the blue, without any sort of formal trial: dragged out of her respectable father's home by soldiers, forcibly stripped and examined for virginity in jail (which she passed, but which didn't save her), then strung up on the whipping post outside her own home in front of all her neighbours and her father's parishioners, presumably stripped at least to the waist and whipped to the blood until she was lifeless. Revived and dragged by cart to the Town Hall on the other side of the main square, where she was strung up and flogged again, and again -- again -- again -- and yet again in another four places around the perimeter of Potsdam to make sure every lowlife in town has had the chance to gawk at her nudity and hear her screams. Half-dead she is then flung onto the cart and delivered for lifelong incarceration to the workhouse in Spandau, a prison set up for fallen women and whores who are forced to spin wool for 12-15 hours a day, with constant abuse, humiliation and punishments by cruel jailers.

It doesn't take much imagination to fill in the details here -- whatever the published accounts are too coy to say, it is impossible to think that there wouldn't have been endless mortifying humiliation, pain, physical, sexual and mental abuse during the public punishment and the subsequent incarceration.

 

[elephas]

Thanks, elephas!

Yes, indeed, the sentence was very harsh. I'm not sure whether there is a historical record of how many lashes she received at each of the six separate floggings, but the Naumann novel seems to say around twenty by which time she had lost consciousness. That would make 120 lashes in total, suffered by a virginal educated middle class vicar's daughter in the most public way possible to a baying mob in front of her father's house, in front of Potsdam Town Hall and at the four gates of the town. That puts the punishment well into "Miss Berkeley's Voyage" territory -- similar number of lashes, similarly public humiliation, same number of separate locations (six), but unlike that story this one is entirely historical and documented.

It was argubaly more humiliating as she was entirely innocent and the punishment came out of the blue, without any sort of formal trial: dragged out of her respectable father's home by soldiers, forcibly stripped and examined for virginity in jail (which she passed, but which didn't save her), then strung up on the whipping post outside her own home in front of all her neighbours and her father's parishioners, presumably stripped at least to the waist and whipped to the blood until she was lifeless. Revived and dragged by cart to the Town Hall on the other side of the main square, where she was strung up and flogged again, and again -- again -- again -- and yet again in another four places around the perimeter of Potsdam to make sure every lowlife in town has had the chance to gawk at her nudity and hear her screams. Half-dead she is then flung onto the cart and delivered for lifelong incarceration to the workhouse in Spandau, a prison set up for fallen women and whores who are forced to spin wool for 12-15 hours a day, with constant abuse, humiliation and punishments by cruel jailers.

It doesn't take much imagination to fill in the details here -- whatever the published accounts are too coy to say, it is impossible to think that there wouldn't have been endless mortifying humiliation, pain, physical, sexual and mental abuse during the public punishment and the subsequent incarceration.

I agree with you: Doris was too young and innocent, her punishment was absolutely undeserved, so don't go too deep into details. But we can imagine such a story not as a historical event, but as a fantasy in a kingdom reminiscent of old Prussia, where the girl would be somewhat older, and for such a harsh sentence there would be more "solid grounds". That could be a good JCP storyline.
Also I would like to ask you, what interesting JCP stories in German do you know?

 

[nsur1]

Also I would like to ask you, what interesting JCP stories in German do you know?

Not a lot, I'm afraid. The old Mitternachtsbibliothek.de site had a mix of factual and fictional stories covering judicial torture and public punishments, but it was always small with terrible navigation. It's now down but you can browse some of it through the link in my first message yesterday via the Wayback Machine. Other than that, I recall coming across a few fairly dry academic treatises and some terribly written stories which I'm trying to forget. However, Krystan Knight has a few JCP stories in German, which are reasonable:

Geschichten

Anfangs habe ich es kaum für möglich gehalten, doch nun gibt es von mir so viele Geschichten, dass mancher von euch leicht den Überblic...

geschichtenderfinsternis.blogspot.com

Getting back to Doris Ritter, her story was a subplot in an old German TV movie about the conflict between Frederick II and his father: Der Thronfolger. The actress cast as Doris Ritter was Dietlinde Turban, but I can't find any photos of footage of her in the role. The film is out on DVD, if somebody wants to check it out.

I've never seen it, so I have no idea how they treated the whipping scene -- as it was filmed in 1980 and is PG rated, I would expect very little. The TV movie is based on the 1937 novel "Der Vater" by Jochen Klepper, which has only this very short passage about the punishment. The author is distinctly unsympathetic to the (fictional) Doris:

 

[elephas]

However, Krystan Knight has a few JCP stories in German, which are reasonable:

Geschichten

Anfangs habe ich es kaum für möglich gehalten, doch nun gibt es von mir so viele Geschichten, dass mancher von euch leicht den Überblic...

geschichtenderfinsternis.blogspot.com

Thanks, Krystan Knight is an interesting author. I found at least one JCP story on his site: "Die gefallene Kaufmannsfrau - Die Bestrafung der Diebin".

Die gefallene Kaufmannsfrau - Die Bestrafung der Diebin

Die gefallene Kaufmannsfrau - Die Bestrafung der Diebin „Nein! Lasst mich los!“, schrie sie verzweifelt, als die beiden kräftigen...

geschichtenderfinsternis.blogspot.com

 

[elephas]

Another story about old German justice.
Recently I found a huge collection of erotic novels on asst.org, where in a novel called "The Submissives" there is a curious chapter on justice in Saxony in 1802.
I will not give a detailed description, only a brief introduction to the events.


"The Submissives" by Dr. Willis Lamb

The Submissives by Dr. Willis Lamb

mr double, sex stories, sexstories, erotic stories, adult stories

www.asstr.org

Chapter Five: Johanna


1802, Anhalt, Saxony (175 miles to the northeast of Berlin).
The main characters are Karl Bodenheim, Herr Magistrat of Anhalt and Johanna Meist, a girl from a simple family.
"Karl Bodenheim was forty-eight, bearded, stern-faced, but if one looked at him closely, one saw the signs of bloating and dissipation from too much good food and wine and beer, too much wenching."
Johanna Meist, twenty, was the daughter of a wood-cutter and a seamstress. She was tall, "magnificently built, like some young Nordic goddess, perhaps the incarnation of Freya." At her age she was not even engaged. All the young men lusted for her, and among them was Karl Bodenheim himself, but she had refused his attentions.
Not far from the Meist house was the Ernst Mühlhaus farm, where Ilse Kroner, a young girl of fifteen, a helpless, homeless waif, lived as a worker. Frau Bertha Mühlhaus, the farmer's wife, disliked the girl and often punished her with a strap.
When Ilse met her neighbor Joanna, she sympathized with her, consolated her, and even promised to adopt Ilse. Once, on a stormy night, comforting the girl, Johanna involuntarily began to cuddle and kiss her, then their bodies entwined in a hug.
When Ilze returned to the farm, Frau Mühlhaus suspected something was wrong and, under the threat of another strapping, forced the girl to admit where she was and what she was doing.
The next day, being a crafty and vindictive woman, Frau Bertha Mühlhaus went to the town of Anhalt to meet Herr Magistrat Karl Bodenheim and complain about her neighbor Johanna Meist, who seduced Ilse, a young and innocent girl.
"Investigating" the case, the judge decided to arrest and interrogate Ilse. Soon the young girl ended up in prison and was taken to a whipping room.

"As one of the men holding the sobbing girl knocked upon the door, the bald bailiff, Kasper Ebelduring, swiftly opened it. "In here, boys!" he jovially commanded. Ilse Kroner's lovely hazel eyes widened with horror as she saw the low, wide whipping bench, the buckling straps affixed to the legs and at the middle, with a round wooden bolster placed at the center for the victim's belly, a precaution recommended by the Herr Magistrat himself, so that the bottom of the victim would be lewdly and tightly offered up to the flogging. On a table near by lay various instruments of investigation: a tawse, a bull's pizzle made from the bull's nerve and fiendishly biting, a five-thonged leather whip, and a long peeled birch switch. In a bucket near the wall, from which dangled metal gyves, there was steeping a very slim birch rod, made from about half a dozen long birch switches, the buds from which having been cut off. At the end of the room was a low desk and a velvet upholstered chair, where the Herr Magistrat himself would sit, acting as both judge and questioner. On his sign alone the whipping would start and end, and on him alone, too, would depend the severity and the nature of the flogging."
...

 

[nsur1]

I've been reading up on the Doris (or Dorothea) Ritter story ever since I came across her name in passing in the (excellent) spanking novel "The Prussian Girls" by P.N. Dedeaux (link). It's strange that there doesn't seem to be a fictionalised account of her (true) story by one of the spanking authors here or elsewhere. The serious historical sources give quite a bit of detail on her background and her (non-)affair with the Crown Prince as well as the King's actions in imposing her punishment, but are very coy as to what the details of the punishment actually were.

There are a few stories, some mainstream and some not, that feature parts of Doris Ritter's story:

In German: "Vater und Sohn", from the now defunct site "Mitternachtsbibliothek.de" (link via Wayback Machine). This has a lot of the historical background, but instead of re-telling the true story of Doris's punishment it concentrates on the torture of a fictional friend of Doris's. Doris's punishment is only briefly summarised:

"Die Rektorstochter Doris Ritter holte man ins Stadtgefängnis um zu überprüfen ob sie noch Jungfrau wäre. Friedrich Wilhelm glaubte dass sie seinen Sohn verführt hätte. Laut Untersuchungsbericht der Baderinnen, war Doris jedoch Jungfrau. Aber der König kam zum Schluss dass gerade deshalb sein Sohn der Dirne verfallen wäre. Also das sie ihn reizte, weil sie ihm sich nicht preisgab. Der damals 16jährigen konnte keine Logik helfen. Der Spruch des Königs stand.

Im September 1730 trat der gemeine Hangmann vor das Haus des Rektors, Doris' Vaters. Man ergriff die Tochter. Zog sie hinab auf die Strasse. Entblößte sie ihrer Kleider, vor all dem Mob, welcher dem Aufruhr Zeuge wurde. Dann peitschte ihr der Henker die arme Seele so lange aus dem nackten Leib, bis sie zu Boden ging. Man hob sie auf und schlief sie weiter. Vor dem Rathaus, später vor jeder weiteren Ecke von Berlin, bis zum entfernten Spinnhaus, wurde Doris erneut ausgepeitscht. Die Bevölkerung von Berlin frohlockte. Kein Spott der sich nicht obendrein auf das arme Kind ergoss. Im Spinnhaus angekommen, sollte sie verrotten. "

In German: Cornelia Naumann: "Scherben des Glücks - das Leben der Wilhelmine von Bayreuth" (link on Amazon.de). This is a mainstream historical novel based on the life of Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia, the sister of Frederick the Great who had just as much conflict with her father as the prince had and was suspected by the King to be part of the escape plot in 1730 that resulted in the flogging of Doris Ritter. The first chapter has a fictional passage in which the Princess's lady in waiting is threatened with flogging and both the Princess and her lady in waiting are forced to witness the flogging of Doris Ritter. The description of the flogging is pretty graphic and certainly better written than the above story:

"In diesem Moment war von der Straße Trommelwirbel zu hören. Eversmann schlenderte ans Fenster und sagte wie beiläufig: „Richtig, Euer Hoheit. Ich versprach Ihnen ein Schauspiel. Hier ist es!“ Eine Auster schlürfend sah Wilhelmine zum Fenster hinaus. Zwei Trommler bogen um die Ecke des Schlosses. Ein Trupp Soldaten in preußisch-blauen Uniformen und mit hohen Blechkappen folgte ihnen. In ihrer Mitte führten sie ein Mädchen von höchstens sechzehn Jahren, das sich kaum auf den Beinen halten konnte. Sie
lief barfuß, war an den Händen gefesselt, ihre offenen, braunen Haare hingen wirr in ein Gesicht, das sicher einmal hübsch gewesen war, nun aber vor Angst und Schmerz dunkel und verzerrt aussah. Ihr einfaches, hellblaues Leinenkleid war verschmutzt und zerrissen.

Die Soldaten zerrten das Mädchen zu dem Schandpfahl an der Ecke, zu der die Menge der Gaffer schon geströmt war, und banden es mit gefesselten Händen an einen Eisenring am Pfahl, der hoch über ihrem Kopf angebracht war. Der Offizier entrollte ein Papier und verlas mit lauter Stimme: Er tue allen kund und zu wissen, dass diese schandbare Metze namens Dorothea Ritter den Kronprinzen verführt und ihn zur Flucht verleitet habe. Wegen Unzucht mit einem Mitglied des Königshauses und gemeingefährlicher Verschwörung solle sie an allen Straßenecken Berlins ausgepeitscht und danach ins Spinnhaus der Festung Spandau verbracht werden, um dort zu lernen, womit sich eine achtbare preußische Jungfer zu beschäftigen habe. Damit wolle Seine Majestät, der Allergnädigste König Friedrich Wilhelm I., ein Zeichen setzen für alle verwerflichen Subjekte, jene Verschwörer, die Sympathie für den Kronprinzen und seine schändliche Fahnenflucht gezeigt hatten.

Die Soldaten ließen den Henker – ein zwar kurz geratener, aber kräftiger Mann, der eine neunschwänzige Katze hervorzog – durch. Mit kräftigen Schlägen drosch er auf den Rücken des Mädchens ein, während die Soldaten laut mitzählten. Noch bevor der Henker die Zahl Zwanzig erreicht hatten, brach die Unglückliche lautlos zusammen. Sie wurde losgebunden, die Soldaten nahmen sie wieder in ihre Mitte und schleiften sie mit sich. Der Henker folgte.

Wilhelmine war kreidebleich geworden. „Sonsine! Bring mich weg von hier!“ Voller Verachtung sah das Fräulein den Kammerdiener an und trug die halb Ohnmächtige mithilfe der Mermann zu ihrem Stuhl zurück. Wilhelmine erbrach sich über das kostbare Frühstück, das sie hatte genießen wollen. Die Amme hielt der Prinzessin den Kopf und strich ihr sanft über die Haare. „So lauten also die Befehle des Königs“, fragte die Hofmeisterin, außer sich vor Zorn, „ein Frühstück mit Henker?“ „Genau so“, erwiderte Eversmann ungerührt, „der König zwang auch den Kronprinzen, der gerechten Bestrafung eines Verschwörers zuzusehen …“ „Verschwörer? Der Enthauptung seines besten Freundes Leutnant Katte musste der arme Prinz zusehen!“ „… analog dazu wünscht der König, dass die Prinzessin der Auspeitschung der Mätresse ihres Bruders, einer Mitverschwörerin, zusehe. Sie solle begreifen, welche Strafe weibliche Verräter und Verschwörerinnen erwartet“, beendete Eversmann kalt seinen Auftrag. Wilhelmine griff nach einer Serviette, wischte sich den Mund ab und fragte ungläubig: „Die Mätresse meines Bruders?“ „Ja, diese Dorothea Ritter, mit der er fliehen wollte.“ Wilhelmine sah ihn ungläubig an, dann geschah etwas Merkwürdiges. Blass, beschmutzt und mit wirren Haaren fing sie an zu lachen. Sie lachte ein so schreckliches Lachen, dass alle verstummten. Dann hielt sie plötzlich inne und sagte sehr ruhig: „Das arme Mädchen, arme Doris. Sie war niemals die Mätresse meines Bruders und sie wollte auch nie mit ihm fliehen. Das weiß ich am allerbesten. Was will der König wirklich?“

„Der König befahl mir, im Verlauf des Tages alle Vorbereitungen für Ihre Hochzeit zu treffen, Euer Hoheit. Er schwur bei Tod und Hölle, dass er auch Sie, seine eigene Tochter, in die Festung Spandau sperren werde, sollten Sie sich seinem Willen nicht unterwerfen.“ Dann wandte er sich an die Hofmeisterin und sagte: „Auch Sie sollen sich die Auspeitschung genau ansehen, weil Sie die Ursache für den Ungehorsam der Prinzessin seien. Vorher jedoch wird er Sie an allen Straßenecken Berlins auspeitschen lassen, genau wie Demoiselle Ritter.“

Wilhelmine erhob sich von ihrem Stuhl. Als sie die Lehne losließ, schwankte sie. Aber sie verfügte über die Würde, mit Domestiken nicht zu streiten. Bestimmt sagte sie: „Ich möchte in meine Gemächer zurückkehren.“ „Aber selbstverständlich, Euer Hoheit.“ Eversmann öffnete die Tür, offenbar hatte er genaue Order. Mit raschem Blick überzeugte er sich, ob Wilhelmine ihm zuhörte, um dann überdeutlich und laut zum Fräulein zu sagen: „Sie tun mir herzlich leid. Eine so schimpfliche Verurteilung zu erfahren, und das in Ihrer Position. Aber es ist an der Prinzessin, sie Ihnen zu ersparen.“ Leise zischte er ihr danach zu: „Wenn das Blut Ihren Rücken hinunterläuft, werden Sie einen schöneren Anblick abgeben als diese gemeine Bürgerdirne! Sicher ist Ihr Rücken schön und weiß, das Blut wird ihn noch blendender hervorheben. Wie verlockend …“ Stumm half das zu Tode erschrockene Fräulein der Amme, die Prinzessin aus dem königlichen Gemach zu tragen. Wie eine Puppe nahmen sie sie in ihre Mitte. Schweigend traten sie den Rückweg an. Die Gänge und Treppen des Schlosses erschienen ihnen dabei noch schmutziger und kälter und unendlich lang."

It occurs to me that in keeping with the rules of this site, I should probably translate at least the most relevant passages of the quoted German text above.

The first quote, from the story "Vater und Sohn" ("Father and son", referring to King Frederick William and his son, Crown Prince Frederick, the later Frederick The Great):

"The rector's daughter, Doris Ritter, was brought to the town jail to examine her whether she was still a maiden. Frederick William believed she had seduced his son. However, the examination report of the bath wives stated that she was virginial. The King concluded that his son was devoted to the whore precisely because of this -- that the appeal was that she did not give herself to him. No appeal to logic could save the then-16-year-old girl. The King's verdict stood.

In September 1730, the common hangman stepped in front of the rector's house, Doris's father. They seized the daughter. Dragged her to the street. Stripped her of her clothes, in font of all the mob which was witness to the commotion. Then the hangman flogged her poor soul from her naked body until she sank to the ground. They lifted her and dragged her along. In front of the Town Hall, then later at every further corner of Berlin all the way to the distant Spinnhaus [women's prison], Doris was flogged again. The population of Berlin rejoiced. Ridicule and abuse was heaped onto the poor child. Once arrived at the Spinnhaus, she was left to rot there."

[NB: The flogging took place in Potsdam, not Berlin, and the "corners" referred to were not street corners on the way to Spandau but rather the four corners of Potsdam Town, but other than that this is pretty much the straight historical record.]

The second quote from the novel "Scherben des Glücks" ("Shattered fragments of happiness") by Cornelia Naumann is too long to translate in total. Much of it is concerned with the reaction of Princess Wilhelmina and her (fictional) lady-in-waiting to witnessing the flogging and the threat that the same punishment would be doled out to the lady-in-waiting if she didn't co-operate with the King. The flogging scene itself reads like this:

"Two drummers appeared around the corner of the palace. A troop of soldiers in Prussian blue uniforms with high brass hats followed. In their midst they led a girl of at no more than sixteen years who could barely keep herself upright. She walked barefoot, with tied hands, her open brown hair hanging bedraggled over a face that was surely once pretty, but was now dark and distorted with anguish and pain. Her plain light blue linen dress was dirty and ripped.

The soldiers dragged the girl to the whipping post at the corner where a crowd of hangers-on had already gathered, and secured her tied hands to an iron ring on the post, high above her head. The officer unrolled a paper and read with loud voice: he declared and let it known that this ill-reputed whore named Dorothea Ritter had seduced the Crown Prince and induced him to deserte. For immoral conduct with a member of the Royal Family and conspiracy against the common good she was to be flogged at each street corner of Berlin and then be delivered to the Spinnhaus at Spandau fortress, there to learn how a decent Prussian maiden is to keep herself occupied. In this, His Majesty, the most merciful King Frederick William I, was to send a signal to all those despicable elements, those conspirators, who showed sympathy to the Crown Prince and his shameful desertion.

The soldiers parted to let the hangman pass -- a short but stout man, holding a cat-o'-nine-tails. With forceful lashes, he flogged the back of the girl while the soldiers were keeping count aloud. Before the hangman reached the count of twenty, the poor wretch collapsed without making a sound. She was unleashed, the soldiers took her again in their midst, and dragged her along with them. The hangman followed."

[This is a more atmospheric description of the flogging, again with the confusion between Potsdam and Berlin, and between street corners and corners of the town. This appears to describe the second of the six floggings -- she had already been flogged once in front of her father's house, and was now flogged again in front of the Town Hall. The passage describes it being witnessed by Princess Wilhelmine from a window of the "Schloss" (palace), but that is permissible as Potsdam Town Palace was directly next to the Town Hall on the main square of Potsdam, and hence the scene would have been visible from both buildings. There is no historical record of the flogging being witnessed by Wilhelmine, but Voltaire later claimed that the King forced Crown Prince Frederick himself to witness the flogging of his alleged lover (and actual musical accompanist.]

The PDF attached to my second post is 26 pages of detailed biographical background for Doris Ritter and her connection with the Prince, which I certainly won't translate in full. Here, Doris's father is described as "Kantor", i.e. a church musician (J.S. Bach had the same job title), not a "Rektor", which is a type of priest, and Doris is at some length described as an exceptionally well-educated young woman in high culture, literature and music, who was providing music lessons to the Prince. The book includes a small drawing of Doris Ritter, supposedly "based on" contemporary sources (whatever that means):



The punishment itself is described only briefly (reversing the order of the first two floggings from the other sources, i.e. Town Hall first, then Father's house):

"So it came that Dorothea Elisabeth Ritter, 16 years of age, was hauled from her prison cell in the morning of 7 September 1730 and was flogged in front of the Town Hall, then in front of her parents' dwelling on the other side of the Market Square. Another four times, the girl was to suffer this torture ("at all corners of the town"), before she was delivered half-dead to the Spinnhaus at Spandau."

 

[Tiredny]

elephas, earlier you asked about JCP stories in German. Well two of the very best originated in German. One was Nell in Bridewell which you posted the English translated version.

The next is "The Castle of the Whip". Again you posted a Paul Little "re-do". The original German version is much older... possibly 1926?

The Castle of the Whip, from the Private Diary of the Baron de M***, a Flagellant of Note

books.google.com

Regards,
Tiredny

 

[nsur1]

elephas, earlier you asked about JCP stories in German. Well two of the very best originated in German. One was Nell in Bridewell which you posted the English translated version.

The next is "The Castle of the Whip". Again you posted a Paul Little "re-do". The original German version is much older... possibly 1926?

I have never seen the German original of either of these two stories -- has anybody else here found them? Of course, just because a book is presented as a translation of an older foreign book does not mean that this is actually true.

 

[Tiredny]

Nsur1, on a search I found:

Encuentre otro libro

Lo sentimos, la página solicitada no ha sido encontrada.

www.iberlibro.com

https://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.ph...nen_des_Heidelberger_Kurfürsten_Ott-Heinrich.

.

Lenchen Im Zuchthause. Schilderung Des Strafverfahrens (Flagellantismus) in Einem Süddeutschen Zuchthause Vor 1848 ... Zweite, Umgearbeitete Auflage

books.google.com

Not sure whether this helps. For the search term I used: Lenchen im Zuchthause

Regards,
Tiredny

 

[nsur1]

Thanks, Tiredny. At least there seem to be reprints of the book offered online, although there doesn't seem to be a scanned version. Thus, presumably it was a genuine publication rather an invented source for the English book.

The second link you gave may point to a connection between the Doris Ritter story and Nell in Bridewell. After her public flogging, Doris was committed "auf ewig" (for life) to the Spinnhaus in Spandau. That is precisely the type of institution described in Nell in Bridewell/Lenchen im Zuchthause. Your link says:

"Diese Quelle stammt von den fragmentarischen Aufzeichnungen eines Justizgehilfen namens W. Reinhard, aus denen im 18. Jahrhundert eine Schilderung der Strafen und Zustände in einem sogenannten "Spinnhaus" hervorging, die anonym verfaßt, sozusagen illegal privat verbreitet wurde, um ein Anstoß für die Aufhebung solcher Rechtspraktiken zu sein. (Titel der
Schrift: "Lenchen im Zuchthaus"), Danach wurden Mädchen, die sich Sittenverfehlungen zuschulden kommen ließen, in derartigen Zuchthäusern sehr derben Körperstrafen unterworfen. Der sogenannte "Willkomm" war eine an allen Eingelieferten vollzogene Prügelstrafe. Sie bestand als "leichte" Form aus 25 Hieben mit einer Haselgerte für junge Mädchen (14/15 Jahre) oder dem Ochsenziemer für ältere Dimen auf den nackten Hintern. Sie wurden hierzu auf eine Bank geschnallt, die sogenannte Schranne. Prostituierte aber wurden der "scharfen" Form des "Willkomms" unterzogen. Mit der Lederpeitsche verabreichte man ihnen bis zu 50 Hiebe auf alle Stellen des nackten Körpers."

If the Spinnhaus in Spandau had the same sort of policy as described in this excerpt, Doris would have received a second flogging on delivery to Spandau -- as the King had declared her a whore (despite having been proved a virgin on examination), that may have been the "spicy" form of welcome, i.e. "50 lashes delivered with the leather whip to all parts of the naked body", as described in the above quote being the practice for prostitutes. I wonder what the likelihood was of her still being a virgin on leaving the Spinnhaus.

Incidentally, the above quote says that "Lenchen im Zuchthause" was written in the 18th century (i.e. Doris Ritter's time), rather than in the 1840s as more commonly cited.

 

[elephas]

Nsur1 and Tiredny, thanks for this discussion!
As I know, there were two books by Wilhelm Reinhard about Lenchen: "Lenchen im Zuchthause" (1848) and "Lenchens Abschied. Nachtrag zu Lenchen im Zuchthaus" (1906). The second book, as it appears, is a bibliographical rarity and has not been translated into English. It would be great to read this book if it appeared on the net.

Lenchens Abschied. Nachtrag Zu Lenchen Im Zuchthaus

books.google.by

As for "Castle of the Whip", this book can be considered a concentrated expression of the entire genre of JCP literature. The original was the French book "Le Château du fouet" (1910) by Don Brennus Aléra.
"Le Chateau du Fouet, Don Brennus Aléra, Select Bibliothèque, 1910. This work was issued in English as Castle of the Whip by the same publisher in 1926. The translator would not have been Little who was born in 1915. The Grove Press Venus Library Castle of the Whip (V-1111) (A de Granamour) may be a Little translation of the original work, or a reprint of the earlier translation."

Paul Little and French Erotica

The most prolific of erotic discipline authors, best known as Paul Little, is well known as the author of a prodigious quantity of erotic fiction in various genres and under many pseudonyms. Some o…

cpbiblio.wordpress.com

Paul Little (A. de Gramanour) was an American writer, translator and interpreter of French flagellation literature.

Roland Brévannes (Don Brennus Aléra) (1872-1968).

Brévannes, Roland - BiblioCuriosa

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Don Brennus Aléra (1872-1968) - Auteur - Ressources de la Bibliothèque nationale de France

Toutes les informations de la Bibliothèque Nationale de France sur : Don Brennus Aléra (1872-1968)

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There is an interesting Hungarian story "Látogatás a Ludwigsburgi Múzeumban" ("A Visit to the Ludwigsburg Museum"), translated from a German original, wich describes harsh details of so-called "Willkomm" and "Abschied" in a German prison.

Látogatás a Ludwigsburgi Múzeumban

(A.B.W. fordította számomra a freies forum című lapból. Köszönöm.) Lapjukban valamikor közöltek egy írást a ludwigsburgi büntetés-végre...

pimaszok.blogspot.com

 

[Tiredny]

elephas, that is a terrific find on the second book by Wilhelm Reinhard. The difference in publication dates of almost 50 years brings into question whether these books were really written by the same individual. Often times "porn" publishers created "house names" to protect the identity of the actual writers. Indeed the writers had a strong desire in those times to remain anonymous.

Next issue with the new find is it appears to deal with Nell's "farewell". In the first book, near the very end, we are told that "farewells" were soon to be eliminated. I suppose Nell might have gotten an "early release" just in time to have a formal "farewell".

As you said, all the more reason to find a translated version.

In summary, elephas, great finds!

Regards,
Tiredny

 

[windar]

Often times "porn" publishers created "house names" to protect the identity of the actual writers. Indeed the writers had a strong desire in those times to remain anonymous.

Unlike today, when we publish under our real names. I couldn't have done it without the help of my parents, Mr and Mrs Dar. Thanks, your son, Win...

 

[nsur1]

While looking for a German online version of Lenchen im Zuchthause, I've just come across a couple of historical prints depicting medieval judicial punishments of women (more in the humiliation field than corporal punishment), from a book on Heidelberg in the Middle Ages:

"Hurenkarch" (whore's cart) - a perch mounted on a cart to which prostitutes or other women convicted of immorality were tied and then dragged through the town, sometimes towed by other convicted women (as in the print):



"Doppelfiedel" (double fiddle) - a neck fiddle for two by which women who were found to argue excessively with each other were forced to stay in close proximity to and facing their opponent for prolonged periods:

 

[Tiredny]

Unlike today, when we publish under our real names. I couldn't have done it without the help of my parents, Mr and Mrs Dar. Thanks, your son, Win...

Windar, my fault, I wasn't clear. "House names" differ from pseudonyms in that publishers will contract with a number of different writers to produce works that appear to originate from a single source. Keeping the writers anonymous was one goal, but keeping reader's interest and thus continuing to buy was just as important.

People have been writing under pseudonyms since writing began. This tacit has been used as long as people were afraid to admit to the authorship of their works.

Regards,
Tiredny

 

[Jon Smithie]

There is an interesting Hungarian story "Látogatás a Ludwigsburgi Múzeumban" ("A Visit to the Ludwigsburg Museum"), translated from a German original, wich describes harsh details of so-called "Willkomm" and "Abschied" in a German prison.

Látogatás a Ludwigsburgi Múzeumban

(A.B.W. fordította számomra a freies forum című lapból. Köszönöm.) Lapjukban valamikor közöltek egy írást a ludwigsburgi büntetés-végre...

pimaszok.blogspot.com

This kind of thing is right up my alley. However, being handicapped by a regrettable lack of fluency in Hungarian, I resorted to Google translate. I have reworked the English of the translation for clarity and grammar, and occasionally I had to simply make a best guess as to what the English translation meant in actual English. My aim was obviously not to make a particularly accurate translation, but to make the story flow fairly well. Having said that, I hope I have kept to the spirit of the original.


Visit to the Ludwigsburg Museum



An article had been published about the Ludwigsburg Penitentiary Museum. One day, I was able to visit this museum with my mother and girlfriend.

Usually in this museum, schools or groups do pre-arranged tours. We had to ring. While waiting, we looked over the depressing building.

“I wouldn't want to be locked behind these walls,” my lively girlfriend, Christl, remarked anxiously.

The key turned, and an older lady, a certain Mrs. Keller, opened the door and let us in. When she closed the door behind us, she asked if we wanted to walk around the building alone. To this, my mother said that we would be mainly interested in the punishment of women, and we would be happy to receive any information on the subject

Mrs. Keller was not surprised.

“We have a room dedicated to this topic. But it used to be a clerical room without a window grille. The real penitentiary is inside the building and is closed to visitors.”

But seeing our image of Fancsali, [?-js] she said an exception could be made for us.

At the end of locked corridors we reached a thick but open oak door. Behind it was a completely empty room. Mrs. Keller said almost solemnly,

"This room has been the subject of corporal punishment imposed on women for many decades."

Chills ran down my spine. I was thinking of the women who had suffered terrible pain here.

Christl asked if those in the yard had heard the whip strokes and the wailing. Mrs. Keller answered professionally:

“Those in charge were very much aware of the impact of punishment on other prisoners. That’s why they thought of setting an example in the yard, but ended up simply by ordering that the window be opened, saying, “Get fresh air for the chastened.”

She opened the window.

“Do you see?” she asked. “Here stood the whipping horse.”

We looked closely, and could still see the imprints of feet on the floor. Whoever was beaten here writhed desperately as much as the iron ankle and wristbands and the strap that clenched her waist allowed.

Mrs. Keller then showed us to a room that really interested us. She told us all the information along the way. On the walls were drawings, photographs, extracts from enforcement records, and old documents. The most impressive sight to me was the original whipping horse in the middle of the room. I’m not able to describe the feelings and thoughts I had when I saw this device.

"I'm sure," Mrs. Keller said, almost in a whisper, "That you now see it as the most tried and tested tool in the history of chastening women. With a relatively simple construction, the posterior of the woman to be penalized was rendered immobile. That part of the body has been chosen by providence to carry out punishments. So I would be very happy to explain how the Württenberg device works. At one end, right, we see a double stocks. The convict's forearms were inserted into the two smaller lower openings, allowing the upper body, usually, to lean on the elbows. The larger opening is at the top, the neck is here. To the right you can see the iron latch that securely closed the two stocks. The lower stocks served for the ankles, of course. However, this was not fixed in advance! Here, here are the two pairs of rails on the side, on which the ankle stock could be moved up and down. After all, the women were of different heights. However, this rail was not only important because of its size. There were particularly cheeky, disobedient, and obstinate women who were apparently insensitive to beating, and who, like the recidivist perpetrators, deserved harsh punishment.

“In the case of aggravated punishment, the official surgeon had to be present, but the degree of severity of the punishment depended solely on the director of the prison. The essence of the severity was how much tension the muscles in the naked buttocks of the person in need of punishment were tightened. To this end, leather cylinders were pushed under the person’s loins, which were of different sizes, thus modifying the strength of the punishment. And do you know what was the hardest method? When no such round leather cushion was used! At such times, the ankle stocks were pushed all the way forward, meaning the delinquent was forced to kneel on the bench. Quite close to her elbows. Then the leather strap that clenched the waist which hangs sideways here, you see, didn't even have to be applied.

Politicians and doctors, after careful consultation and subsequent exchange of experiences with those concerned, came to the belief that the intense stretching of the skin of the buttocks would necessarily lead to avoidable rupture of the skin when the standard prison whip was used. That is why there was an order to always have a surgeon on hand at such times. In the case of standard punishment, lying on the abdomen was the rule, so in principle no accident could occur. By keeping the convict's head high in the yoke, the abdomen pressed against the bench, so to speak, to lie comfortably. Then the buttocks could receive the blows without the bailiffs straining.

 

[Jon Smithie]

Visit to Ludwigsburg Museum (cont.)


We listened with great attention, and, so to speak, with bated breath, to Mrs. Keller's interesting information.

“This device went on a real triumphant journey from our little kingdom of Württenberg in the old German provinces. It was famous and infamous at the same time, known and terrible. Others were built to the same dimensions. The reclining surface is 1.66 meters long and 65 cm wide from the neck and wrist rest at the front end. The movable ankle stocks separates the legs 32 cm apart and is 15 cm high. The neck yoke keeps the head 40 cm above the level of the bench. At first, in principle, only women who violated the institute's policies were flogged on this device. However, when those in charge realized the educational effect that this mode of punishment had on women, they gave orders to introduce all newcomers to our little bed without a court ruling.

The punishment given in greeting, which was called the “Welcome,” was determined by the warden according to the degree of transgression. At first, the customs of the provinces differed, but eventually a kind of standard emerged. By the way: A minor, i.e. a girl under the age of 21, was beaten with 12 stokes in the case of a moderate Welcome, 15 in the case of an ordinary Welcome, 30 in the case of a doubled Welcome, and 40 strokes in the case of a tightened Welcome, with a naturally rolled up skirt. These strokes may still seem tolerable to us modern people, but for women over the age of 21, the procedure was much stricter. First, they missed the opportunity for a moderate Welcome. Second, the punishment that was considered more bearable meant she received 25 strokes in the case of ordinary Welcome, 50 strokes in the case of doubled Welcome, and 75 strokes in the case of tightened Welcome. The latter could even be repeated after 14 days.

We looked at each other in shock. How good it is to live in the present! After all, even in the case of a short-term prison sentence, our bare butts would have been thoroughly worn out.

Mrs. Keller then described the means of punishment. It was not dictated what kind of whip juvenile women would get. But for mature women, the prescribed prison whip had to be used.

"I've been researching this topic in the archives for a long time," our leader said. “These punishments seem very harsh and even cruel to us, but let us not forget that they were harsh times. No matter how many punishments were carried out in the institute, medical intervention was required only in cases of particularly aggravated punishments and aggravated Welcomes. For all the other whippings, the women wept loudly, but their health was not harmed.

Probably this was precisely the reason why the whipping of women became such a popular punishment with the judges. Judges soon realized that they could take action against whores, vagrants, and thieves without further burdening the already crowded prisons. There, the fearful device was waiting for them, and the judges were well aware that the women feared the monstrous pain from the whiplash that fell on their naked buttocks.

The women would also be expelled from the province, which was a fairly common but ineffective punishment. However, the deportee was first sent to the prison, where a punishment of a specified number of blows was carried out on the naked buttocks. According to the archival records two separate bailiffs had to be contracted to get the job done. These men had by no means an enviable position. They were considered socially inferior, and sometimes they started their work as early as 4am.

There were short breaks between the two punishments, but even so it was 9 in the evening before the last woman could get up from the bench. Or rather, was taken off. It can be seen from the documents that, despite all the expertise of the masters of punishment, there were quite a number of setbacks at first. For one thing, some bailiffs may have been bribed to reduce the rigor of the punishment. And for another, the victim was not properly “tightened” on the horse. In all such cases, the bailiffs were reprimanded and called upon to carry out their work not only in a prescribed manner but also in a professional manner, with great care. After this, the chimney straps were soaked not in water for a short time, but in a particularly strong alkali overnight. Reports for internal use show that certain rules were deliberately disregarded when punishing recidivists.

The delinquent "ladies" didn't have much of a chance. For some particularly obstinate women, the usual punishing whip was complemented by some extra sharply polished-edged straps. Pre-treatment of the buttocks to be whipped was also customary. After several alternating cold and hot baths, the skin was rubbed with a corrosive, iodine-like liquid to increase the pain and reduce the possibility for infection.

Mrs. Keller was visibly passionate about the idea.

“The reports in the archives are full of praise for the bailiffs. Sometimes they also received a separate cash reward; for example, when the courts sentenced every recidivist woman, for whatever crime,to 500 strokes.

“According to medical opinion, after determining the beatability, this was to be distributed in four installments, but all on the same day. It was a hard day for the bailiffs, but it was definitely unforgettable for the woman. At dawn, the aforementioned preparatory procedure was carried out, and then the convict woman was tied to the bench in the aggravated position with her ass raised high. At six o'clock in the morning, the knot snapped for the first time with full force on the fully stretched skin.

“When we're done, I'll show you some of Marianne Eberle's documents, so you don't think I'm making this up. This woman was also punished in an extraordinary way compared to the customs of the time. The two bailiffs were in no hurry. They took turns whipping her strained, unprotected buttocks. They focused all their efforts on this. The punishment of recidivists was certainly always very severe, and was not strictly tied to duration. Each stroke hit the target, and they gave the delinquent at least 20 seconds to feel things well enough.

“When a woman was whipped for the first time, her reactions could be very different. But the women, convicted of relapse already knew exactly how her naked butt would be in flames, just not that it was even more noticeable on the tight skin.

“All convicts were allowed to scream and beg. From the documents it can be seen that Marianne Eberle promised to improve and begged for mercy between the blows and her howls of pain.

“The most common words were ‘Enough! enough!’ And ‘I beg, I beg, stop!’ The surgeon would examine the pulse of the woman, and then just nod for the bailiff to continue.

‘I was personally shocked by what the women at the time were able to endure. There was not a single case in the documents reviewed so far where the punishment had been interrupted for health reasons. When the first 125 strokes were handed out, the convict was still cared for there by the official surgeon, and then taken back to the waiting cell.”

Mrs. Keller then asked if we were not bored by these details, and apologized that, unfortunately, she rarely had the opportunity to talk about such curiosities. We unanimously assured the particularly kind lady that we would be very happy to listen.

"Well, so the next serving was given around 10 a.m., so to speak. Of this, the record merely states that ‘the punished one screams and cries at every blow.’ She received the third installment around 3 p.m., and the fourth at 9 p.m. Then the woman, I would say, beaten soft, was handed over to the police, and they took her over to the border of the province.”

Mrs. Keller smiled a little confused.

"I've read this woman's story several times. Of course, those were tougher times, and we must not forget that the purpose of this terrible device was to provide these women with such severe beatings that they would never forget.

We then looked at the various depictions of the chastisement on the walls, and at the suggestion of Mrs. Keller, we also looked into the archives.

 

[elephas]

Jon, many thanks for this translation!
This museum really exists and there is even a site.

Dauerausstellung

www.strafvollzugsmuseum-ludwigsburg.de

Here is the mentioned punishment bench, or "die Württemberg Prügelbank".

 

[Gillian]

Oh good God. So the victim would have her head up, and her legs very wide apart? All her secrets on display.....

 

[Jon Smithie]

Jon, many thanks for this translation!
This museum really exists and there is even a site.

Dauerausstellung

www.strafvollzugsmuseum-ludwigsburg.de

Here is the mentioned punishment bench, or "der Württemberg Prügelbock".

OMG, Elephas, this is awesome! I had no idea the story was based in reality!

I was having a hard time picturing the device in my mind. I assumed (best guess) that it was a whipping horse, like those used in England, since the translation mentioned the imprints of feet. But I obviously I locked into that assumption way too quickly. I couldn't really visualize how the ankle stocks worked, and the rails, and what was meant exactly by tightening up the buttocks. The picture, of course, makes it perfectly clear. Still don't know how the footprints got there, but whatever. I just had a thought--I wonder if it meant the "feet" of the bench? I had to go back and take a look at it. Here's the auto translate:

- Do you see? Here stood the severe frost. If they look closely, they can see the imprint of the four feet on the floor. Whoever was beaten on this writhed in despair as much as the iron ankle and wristbands and the strap that clenched his waist allowed.

So obviously yes, it's the feet of the bench. And just as a note, masculine pronouns were routinely substituted in the translation where it was clear a feminine pronoun was meant. It was interesting that the device (I assume) was frequently referred to as a "frost." And (again, I think) that it was also referred to as "The God," or the "The Goddess." as in:

They noticed that a perpetrator would go to the case for a longer time than to the prison for a shorter time. There the God waited for them, and the judges took the opportunity that the women feared a monster from the whiplash falling on their naked buttocks.

Of course, those were other, tougher times, and we must not forget that the austere Goddess must have been such an awful beating that the sacrifice will never forget. And so this woman had to put up with what was tailored.

The above is pretty clear. But at times the auto translation from Hungarian to English was completely bewildering. Any suggestions from anyone on good auto translate programs would be welcome.

I checked out the website and discovered that Ludwigsburg is just north of Stuttgart. I've been to Stuttgart many years ago and had a great time there. Had I only known about Ludwigsburg, though, I might still be there, sigh.