Bernhard Matter
Bernhard Matter (born 21 February 1821 in Muhen , died May 24, 1854 in Lenzburg ) was a thief and burglar from the canton of Aargau . He is regarded as Swiss Robin Hood .
Table of Contents
1life
2Bernhard Matter in the art
3References
4Weblinks
5Single Signs
Life [ Edit | Edit Source Code ]

The "bear" - Matters' home
Born and raised in Muhen on February 21, 1821, he often went to school there and, as a boy, he regularly committed theft. In 1836, he was first in court because he had facilitated an Aarauer jeweler around four gold rings. In 1841 he married the seamstress Barbara Fischer. The chronicler noted: "But even this woman, who was six years older than a sensible woman, could not restrain the untiring fellow." [2]
By skillful methods he usually understood how to withdraw from the police. In the poverty of that time, Matter won many friends, because he was only to steal wealthy and to have spread the booty liberally. After an arrest, he was sentenced to a prison sentence: he had to help construct the barracks Aarau . At the same time, at night, he made his donnings and supplied Muhens with the stolen goods at low prices. When he was able to arrest him, he always found an escape route. He hid in Muhen, and the villagers did not reveal his whereabouts. One day the circumstances of a villagers were so vexed that he revealed Matt's whereabouts.
He made his burglaries and thefts in the very beginning or as the head of a gang. Gradually they made almost the whole of the Swiss Mittelland uncertain . In addition to his role as Robin Hood , he also played the part of Don Juan : he had many women's admirers and loves, danced happily and was apparently very attractive: "All Maitli were shot into him!" [3]
Matter was condemned to 16 years of Zuchthaus (Kettenhaft), but after a short time he broke out of the penal institution in Baden and continued his diets. He was to serve a 20-year prison sentence in the Lenzburg penal institution from 1851, but he also found an escape route. Shortly afterwards he was arrested again and taken to the fortress of Aarburg . After three unsuccessful outbreaks, he filed a motion for transfer to a foreign criminal colony. Even the Federal Council wanted to help, but could not make a success either.

The guesthouse "Herberge" in Teufenthal
On 11 January 1853, in a storm night, his masterpiece succeeded: After several weeks of preparation, he "left" the hitherto break-out breed. On the New Year's Day 1854 he was discovered in the hostel Teufenthal and again arrested. The responsible judges condemned their "National Enemy No 1" on 15 April to death . A last outbreak attempt failed, and his grace was rejected by the Aargauer Grand Council, after the Supreme Court had also confirmed the verdict. On the evening of the 24th of May 1854 the Volksheld was led and beheaded in front of more than 2000 spectators in Lenzburg. [4]
To many people he became a martyr ; To them he remained as a friend of the poor and the rightless. Numerous stories and anecdotes revolve around him.
Today it is hard to understand how someone who has never hurt a man, let alone killed, could be condemned to death. A comparable "fame" - at least in parts of the Swiss population - was enjoyed by the East Swiss "Ausbrecherkönig" Walter Stürm in the 1970s and 1980s .
Bernhard Matter in the art [ Edit | Edit Source Code ]
The Bernese singer-songwriter Mani Matter has dedicated his chorus Dr Dr Bärnhard Matter (also known as Ahneforschig - for example in the program Ir Ysebahn ). The point is that one is never sure what one is going to be, because one might have a criminal in the family tree.
Reto Gloor and Markus Kirchhofer portray the life of Bernhard Matter in two comics volumes, Matter and Matter .
The Swiss author Kurt Hutterli, who lives in Canada, wrote two pieces about Matter: a play entitled Matterköpfen (premiered 1978) about Matter and a dialect theater piece Gounerbluet (premiered 1992).
References [ Edit | Edit Source Code ]
Nold Halder : Life and death of the notorious crook Bernhart Matter. An episode from the legal and moral history of the 19th century . Sauerländer ( contributions to the history of the penitentiary and prison system in Aargau Canton, issue 3), Aarau 1947.
Charles Tschopp : The Master Thief . Good Writings , Berne 1964.
Mani Matter: Dr Bärnhard Matter . In: Us emee lääre Gygechaschte. Berndeutsche chansons . Candelaber, Berne 1969
Current edition: Zytglogge , Oberhofen 2011, ISBN 978-3-7296-0828-3 .
Kurt Hutterli: Throat blood. The life of the imprisoned and imprisoned King Bernhart Matter posthumously portrayed by himself and supplemented with materials from the collection of his writer . Limmat , Zurich 1990, ISBN 3-85791-174-3 .
Hans A. Jenny : Bernhard Matter. Masterdieb and Robin Hood. In: Swiss originals. Portraits of Helvetian Individuals , Volume 2. Nebelspalter , Rorschach 1992, pp. 34-39, ISBN 3-85819-176-0 .
A track search. The truth about the life of Bernhard Matter . Association for Homeland Security Suhrental, Muhen 2004 (Jahresbericht).