Punishment Chair @museum.de

M2: "The punishment chair is a fine invention, which probably dates back to medieval times. It is a straight-backed armchair into which the delinquent is strapped, with belts around his neck, chest, abdomen, arms and legs, so that the circulation of the blood stalls, causing unbearable pain and designed to force blood out of the nose and ears at times."

F: Otto von Corvin, describing the use of the punishment chair. The man knew what he was writing about; after all, he had experienced the chair first hand. In 1849, Corvin had fought on the side of the Baden revolution. After it failed, he was not only obliged, as head of the general staff, to surrender the fortress of Rastatt to the besieging Prussians, but also to sign the declaration of surrender.

M: Corvin was put on trial and sentenced to death. However, the sentence was commuted to ten years in solitary confinement. Corvin was sent to Bruchsal prison, where he became painfully acquainted with the punishment chair. This was, if you like, a Bruchsal speciality. The local prison was the first in the Grand Duchy of Baden to use such a punishment chair.

F: The 1888 "Handbook of Prison Management" includes a passage on the use of the chair:

M2: "The punishment chair (...) may not be used on prisoners for more than six hours a day, or for more than a week at a time. As a short, sharp form of punishment, it performs well. (...) it allows the delinquent to experience his complete powerlessness in the most telling manner."

F: The congestion caused by the belts damaged the internal organs. There were injuries to the spine. Venous thrombosis. Sometimes entire body parts died off. To end up in the punishment chair, all you had to do was violate the prison rules. A violation might be, for example: lack of cleanliness. Laziness at work. Looking out of the window, talking through the heating vents, indecent behaviour in speech, gait and posture, or creating a disturbance by coughing, knocking or singing. The punishment chair was last used in Bruchsal in 1911.