In the year 1470, an 11-year-old boy was captured, having squandered his life through theft. He was sentenced to be hanged until dead. However, at the request of his family, he was "only" drowned instead.
Drowning was primarily used for executing potential witches, but it was also applied to young criminals. As was customary with medieval drowning, the offender was bound in a crouching position. In one hand, the executioner held a rope that kept the convict’s feet just above the water. With the other hand, the executioner used a stick to push the condemned person’s upper body under the water.
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| Diebold Schilling Chronicle, Folio 80v |
Also present, sitting in the boat with the executioner who had come from Zurich, were the council judge with a sword, the town clerk, and a city servant at the oars. The executioner did his work while the others' eyes were fixed on the face of the drowning person, from whose mouth the breath of life escaped. It was a cruel method of execution, face to face.
The boy, named Hans Hegenheim, was thrown into the water at the right bank of the river under the Egg and was slowly carried by the current to the left bank under the Reuss Bridge.
Upon reaching the opposite shore, the assistant executioner pulled him from the water, cut his bonds, and left him lying there. After a while, Hans Hegenheim moved his mouth and gradually regained consciousness. He lived for many years afterward, became an upstanding man, took a wife, and had beautiful children.
From the Chronicle of Diebold Schilling the Younger, 1513, Folio 80v.
