A sad piece of contemporary history

The Kunstkubus Cham is exhibiting Melk Thalmann's dramatic Graphic Novel about a special criminal case in Zug.
 

The Kunstkubus (Art Cube) in Cham has dedicated its last exhibition in its ‘Year of Drawing’ to the tragic story of the homeless Jost Schanz, who was executed in Zug on 23rd of December 1847 for arson, during the turmoil of the Sonderbund War.

In his introduction at the opening on Sunday, Ignaz Staub, the communications officer for the Kunstkubus, described the comic as: ‘Drawings that tell a story,’ or, as it would be better to say in this case: ‘Drawings that tell history.’ The subject matter of Melk Thalmann's drawings is an inglorious episode in Zug's history. This prompted the Kunstkubus to present the historical criminal case in the modern form of a ‘Graphic Novel’.

At the beginning of the year, the commission was awarded to the Lucerne-based graphic artist Melk Thalmann, who has already illustrated historical themes. ‘I first made rough sketches of each page in pencil, then worked out the structures with fineliners and brushes and designed them digitally,’ explained the artist, who has already received a Recognition Award (Anerkennungspreis) from the city of Lucerne.

Interrogation transcripts from the state archives
The comic strip ‘Zündholz – Die wahre Zuger Geschichte einer Gewalteskalation’ (Matchstick – The true Zug story of an escalation of violence) is now available. The black-and-white drawings, a selection of which can be seen in the exhibition, tell the dramatic pictorial story of a poor man, a vagrant and homeless person, supplemented with many quotations.

The comic strip is mainly based on the handwritten interrogation transcripts from 1847, which were collected in the ‘Acta in Kriminal-Untersuchungs-Sachen gegen Jost Schanz, heimatlos, betreffend Brandstiftung’ (criminal investigation against Jost Schanz, homeless, concerning arson) and are kept in the Zug State Archives. Melk Thalmann created the picture story based on these sources. The research was carried out by Zug historian Renato Morosoli.

Melk Thalmann's drawings recapitulate an inglorious event in Zug
The artist Melk Thalmann
The story is available in book form
The Zug historian Renato Morosoli researched the background to the case
The vernissage in the Kunstkubus attracted many interested visitors.
Photos: Bea Zürcher
 

Ultimately a sad story
But who was Jost Schanz? The book depicts a man who led an unsettled life due to many adversities: born out of wedlock, given away as a baby, poor, homeless, married twice, nine children with two women – and always afraid of the police.

The comic stripstarts the story in August 1847. During the interrogations, the sad life of this man is revealed in retrospect, a life that ended in December of the same year at the hands of the executioner. The audience listened spellbound to Renato Morosoli: "I’ve been fascinated by Jost Schanz ever since I read the following note in the “Neue Zuger Zeitung” on 25 December 1847: 'For more than 20 years, no death sentence has been passed or carried out in our canton. On Thursday, the 23rd, we witnessed this sad spectacle for the first time again. The homeless basket weaver Jost Schanz was beheaded in the morning by the skilled hand of the executioner from Schwyz’”.

According to Renato Morosoli, the execution had a lot to do with the special circumstances of the time. Zug was then a small, very poor, rural canton. And, there had been extreme political tensions in the Swiss Confederation around 1847, with the threat of civil war.

He was suspected from the very outset
On Sunday, 29th August 1847, a barn on the Zug Allmend that belonged to the Freimann brothers burned down. The investigation revealed suspicion of arson. A suspect was soon arrested: he had been hanging around the area at the time and claimed he was not responsible. The suspect was Jost Schanz. The severe alcoholic had already been caned and branded for theft in Schwyz and Obwalden. ‘But was he really the perpetrator?’ Renato Morosoli asked the audience

Due to his lifestyle, Jost Schanz was considered to be highly suspicious from the very outset. Homelessness was a major social problem at the time. Without a certificate of residence, there were no settlement rights, no chance of marriage and no prospect of a civil existence. Homeless people wandered around, scraping by with odd jobs, and had a bad reputation as an immoral and irreligious rabble.

As Renato Morosoli explained, compulsory naturalisation in the municipality of residence was not introduced until 1850, although this was only a legal solution, and not a social one. Anyone caught committing a crime faced a terrible fate, as in the case of Jost Schanz.

He confessed after lengthy interrogations
The interrogating judges were convinced that Jost Schanz was the arsonist, probably in order to reach a quick verdict in those difficult times. There were extensive interrogations, including with witnesses. Schanz denied the crime, but he was worn down after lengthy interrogations, and eventually confessed.

His motive was revenge: some years earlier, he had stolen pears from the Freimann farm, and the farmer had caught him and mistreated him. When Jost Schanz passed by the farm again, he realised that most people were at Sunday mass, and saw an opportunity for retribution: he therefore set fire to the barn. His inhibitions were probably also lowered at the time by the consumption of too much schnapps.

His confession sealed his fate, and the authorities wanted to show harshness and determination: on the 20th November 1847, the criminal court sentenced Jost Schanz to death. An execution would have normally been carried out a few days after the verdict, explained Renato Morosoli. But nothing was normal at that time: the canton of Zug was occupied by federal troops and the old ‘Sonderbund’ government had been recently overthrown.

Jost Schanz was almost forgotten in prison, however, until the new provisional government remembered this unresolved matter and organised his execution. ‘They probably wanted to demonstrate that order and security still prevailed, even under the new government. That was the last execution at this location, and the execution site was demolished during the later construction of the railway. There were no further executions until that of Paul Irniger by guillotine in 1939, but that's another story,’ explained Renato Morosoli

Association president Barbara Stäheli had the following to say about the comic project: ‘It was made possible thanks to support from the public sector and private sponsors, even though we had hoped for a little more funding.’ Next year, the Kunstkubus will turn its attention to the theme of ‘Women’.
 

Further information:
Melk Thalmann's drawings can still be seen at the Kunstkubus Cham on the 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd November, from 11 am to 2 pm each day.
The book by the artist, ‘Zündholz’, has the ISBN No. 978-3-033-11610-8.