Punker () is a legendary figure of the 15th century from the German village of
Rohrbach Rohrbach or Röhrbach may refer to:
Places Municipalities in Switzerland
*Rohrbach, Switzerland, in the canton of Bern
Municipalities in Germany
*Rohrbach, Bavaria, in the district of Pfaffenhofen, Bavaria
*Rohrbach, Birkenfeld, in the district o ...
(now part of the city of
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
).
According to the ''
Malleus Maleficarum
The ''Malleus Maleficarum'', usually translated as the ''Hammer of Witches'', is the best known treatise on witchcraft. It was written by the German Catholic clergyman Heinrich Kramer (under his Latinized name ''Henricus Institor'') and first ...
.'' around 1430 there was an extremely accurate archer named Punker who was rumoured to possess supernatural powers. It was said that he had enabled the capture of a castle (''castrum Lendenbrunnen'', presumably
Lindelbrunn near
Dahn
Dahn is a municipality in the Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated in the Palatinate Forest, approximately 15 km southeast of Pirmasens, and 25 km west of Landau. It is part of the ''Verbandsgemeind ...
) almost single-handed with deadly shots from his bow. In addition a legend about him, similar to one told about the Swiss
William Tell
William Tell (german: Wilhelm Tell, ; french: Guillaume Tell; it, Guglielmo Tell; rm, Guglielm Tell) is a folk hero of Switzerland.
According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albr ...
, is recounted in ''Malleus Maleficarum''. The story goes that even the Count Palatine,
Louis III of the Rhine
Louis III (german: Ludwig III. der Ältere or der Bärtige) (23 January 1378 – 30 December 1436), was an Elector Palatine of the Rhine from the house of Wittelsbach in 1410–1436.
Biography
Louis III was the third son of King Rupert of Ger ...
, was in awe of Punker, so outstandingly accurate he was, whether on the battlefield or in the hunt. In order to try and trap him into admitting his magic powers, he ordered him to use his own son as a target and
shoot a penny from the top of his beret. If he failed, the penalty was death. For a long time, Punker refused because he was worried that the devil might cause his normally safe hands to waver. Eventually he agreed to the test. Punker placed a bolt in his crossbow and then drew a second and tucked it in his tunic. He then fired and struck the penny off without grazing the boy's beret. When asked by the count why he had prepared a second bolt, at first he responds that it was out of habit, but when assured he will not be killed for answering honestly, he said "If the devil had caused me to miss and kill my boy then, sir, I would have put this second bolt through you because I was doomed to die, but I would have avenged my son."
[Alexander Schöppner, "The Bavarian Tell" (''Der bayerische Tell'') in ''Book of Legends of the Bavarian Land'' (''Sagenbuch der Bayerischen Lande'') 1852.]
The street of ''Punkerstraße'' in Rohrbach and the district magazine ''der punker'' are named after him.
References
External links
{{Wikisource, Puncker von Rohrbach, Puncker von Rohrbach im Badischen Sagen-Buch (1846)
Punker of Rohrbach in the ''Book of Legends of the Bavarian Land''Stadtteilmagazin ''der punker''
Legendary German people
Military personnel from Heidelberg
Medieval legends
History of Heidelberg