Information in English

The Schierlinger Gennßhenkher

It is November the 5th, in the year of our Lord 1633. The Swedish Army now occupies Regensburg after a brutal Siege. Soldiers set out into the countryside to search for food und supplies in preparation for the oncoming winter. As they arrive in Schierling, the people, hungry themselves, fear for their safty. They can barely provide for themselves, never mind a hungry, marauding army.

The castle lord fears that the last of his precious geese will be discovered, an so promptly rings their necks and hangs them in what he thinks is a safe hiding place at the rear of the castle. As fate would have it, the soldiers discover and confiscate the geese while ridiculing the castle lord, giving him and the residents of Schierling a new name... "Gennßhenkher" (Goose Hangmen).

This derogatory name "hangs" over the good people of Schierling long beyond the end of the 30 Years War in 1648. The residents of the surrounding villages ceaslessly insulted them with the hated name. Evidence of this appears in a law suit from the year 1670 wherein a resident of Schierling charged a man with insulting him and was awarded the sum of 1 Florin, 8 Heller and 4 Batzen. The verbal abuse did not end there, however. They continued into the 1960s, locals insist, many a brawl has been instigated by the call: "Here come the Gennßhenkher from Schierling!"

The Schierling Historical Society and its Living History group.

"Die Gennßhenkher" were founded to both reenact and demonstrate how people lived in Bavaria during the 17th Century.

For more information contact us at info@gennshenkher.de