For others, however, his alternative nicknames evocatively capture the true reputation of the outlaw who wreaked havoc in the Rhineland around the turn of the 19th century: John the Scorcher, John the Flayer and the Robber of the Rhine.<\/p>\n
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- Read more | The real Renegade Nell? The bloody ballad of female highwaywoman Susan Higges<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
B\u00fcckler is thought to have been born in the late 18th century in Miehlen (the exact year is uncertain \u2013 sometimes it is given as 1778, sometimes 1783). His father was an impoverished army deserter and his mother a petty thief. He turned to crime himself at an early age; as a teenager he was caught stealing skins from the tanner to which he was apprenticed.<\/p>\n
Why was Johannes B\u00fcckler called Schinderhannes?<\/h2>\n
From there, B\u00fcckler graduated to burglary and armed robbery. The fact that he picked up the nickname Schinderhannes \u2013 coming from the word \u2018schinder\u2019, meaning \u2018flayer\u2019 \u2013 did not refer to a particular proclivity for violence, though, but was a nod to his tanning days.<\/p>\n
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\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>The legend of Schinderhannes has continued to grow, and was dramatised in a 1958 film directed by Helmut K\u00e4utner. (Photo by Film Publicity Archive \/United Archives via Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n Despite not actually flaying his victims, the truth is that Schinderhannes was no Robin Hood figure. He was a self-serving crook motivated by greed. But he took on a folkloric hero status at a time when this part of Germany had fallen under French rule, undeservedly transforming him into a paragon of resistance against the invaders.<\/p>\n
What were Schinderhannes\u2019s crimes?<\/h2>\n
Schinderhannes\u2019s crime spree across the Rhineland included cattle and horse thefts, extortion, robbery, and murder.<\/p>\n
With a band of fellow outlaws, he knew he could target Jewish people since they could not expect much protection from the law at a time of rampant antisemitism. One accomplice, \u2018Black Peter\u2019, killed a Jewish cattle dealer just for exposing his affair with a married woman.<\/p>\n
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