Bedburg Werewolf

It didn’t stop there. His limbs were broken with the blunt side of an axe-head. This was, according to the executioners, to prevent him from rising from the grave and continuing his evil murdering. 

picture courtesy of Amoeba.com

Stumpp was then beheaded and burned on a pyre. As a reminder to anyone who practiced witchcraft or who thought they were a werewolf, a pole with the torture wheel and a wolf figure attached was put on public display. What was more chilling was that Stumpp’s severed head was placed at the very top. It was a warning the same fate would follow anyone caught and found to be a witch or werewolf.

The fact remains that it is almost impossible to actually determine for sure if Stumpp committed such crimes. There was no doubt he was a serial killer and a brutal and barbaric one at that. But certain details written about him were inconsistent with true historical facts.

Political Motive?

What is known is that Stumppwas converted to follow Protestantism and his crimes (1582 – 89) were in conjunction with the internal wars in the Electorate of Cologne. Armies fought bloody battles and plague was common. Even locals appeared to embrace that violence and even murder was the rule.

The Protestants were defeated in 1587 and Bedburg Castle became the main headquarters for Catholic Mercenaries. They were ruled by the new lord of Bedburg-Werner, Count of Salm-Reifferscheidt-Dyck. This ruler was a staunch Catholic who was hell-bent on reintroducing and establishing Roman faith.

Rumours followed that Stumpp’s gruesome crimes and satanic worship meant the trial was more political than fact. This was backed up by key members attending his trial and execution. There had been many executions in Germany based on werewolves and usually the higher aristocracy would not normally attend.

So today this man would probably have been tried on suffering from lycanthropy, the mental disorder where sufferers claim they transform into animals, mainly the wolf by the term lycan.

But for whatever reasons or motives drove Stumpp to commit such terrifying crimes, this story set the stall for others to follow where the legend of the werewolf could roam and stalk his next victims…