''The Hangman's Daughter'' (original title in ) is a novel by

Oliver Pötzsch Oliver Pötzsch (born 20 December 1970) is a German author of popular fiction. He was among the first writers to achieve bestselling status by publishing e-books. His works include '' The Hangman's Daughter'' (), the first book in the series of th ...

. First published in Germany by

Ullstein Verlag The ''Ullstein Verlag'' was founded by Leopold Ullstein in 1877 at Berlin and is one of the largest publishing companies of Germany. It published newspapers like '' B.Z.'' and '' Berliner Morgenpost'' and books through its subsidiaries ''Ullstei ...

in 2008, it was translated into English and issued digitally under the AmazonCrossing

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

in 2010. A paper edition was released in English by

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company ( ; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, and reference works. The company is based in the Financial District, Boston, Boston Financial District. It was fo ...

in 2010. The book is set beginning in 1659, while its

prologue A prologue or prolog (from Ancient Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier st ...

briefly recounts events from 1624. The characters continue in the sequels ''The Dark Monk'' (2009) (), ''The Beggar King'' (2010) (), ''The Poisoned Pilgrim'' () (2012), ''The Werewolf of Bamberg'' (2015) () and ''The Play of Death'' (2017) () and ''The Council of Twelve'' (2018) (). The most recent novel in the series is ''The Hangman's Daughter and the Curse of the Plague'' () (2020). The series had sold over 800,000 copies in all formats by the time the fourth title in the series, ''The Poisoned Pilgrim'', was published in 2012. The primary setting for each of the books in the series is the

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

n town of Schongau, which is located along the River Lech, between

Landsberg am Lech Landsberg am Lech (Landsberg at the Lech (river), Lech) is a Town#Germany, town in southwest Bavaria, Germany, about 65 kilometers west of Munich and 35 kilometers south of Augsburg. It is the capital of the district of Landsberg (district), Lands ...

and

Füssen Füssen () is a Town#Germany, town in Bavaria, Germany, in the district of Ostallgäu, situated one kilometre from the Austrian border. The town is known for violin manufacturing and as the closest transportation hub for the Neuschwanstein and Sc ...

. The main entrance to the town is the Hof Gate, inside of which live the respected tradesmen, hence the houses look sturdier and are built exclusively of stone. Those with wealth had been able to move away from the pungent tanners' quarter, on the banks of the Lech, or the butchers' quarter to the east.

Main characters

*Jakob Kuisl, the town's hangman. He is married to Anna Maria. The couple are parents to Magdalena (for whom the book is named) and twins Georg and Barbara *Simon Fronwieser, the son of the town's physician Bonifaz Fronwieser *Konrad Weber, the parish priest *Resl, server at the Goldener Stern Inn

Aldermen

*Johann Lechner, court clerk *Karl Semer,

burgomaster Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, ) is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief magistrate or executive of a city or town. The name in English was derived from the Dutch . In so ...

and landlord of the inn *Matthias Holzhofer, burgomaster *Johann Püchner, burgomaster *Wilhelm Hardenberg, superintendent of the Holy Ghost

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the poor of a locality, for those who had held ce ...

*Jakob Schreevogl, stovemaker and trial witness. He is married to Maria. They are guardians of Clara *Michael Berchtholdt, baker and trial witness *Georg Augustin, wagon driver and trial witness

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hangman's Daughter 2008 German novels German historical novels Novels set in the 1650s Novels about witches and witchcraft Novels set in Germany Bavaria in fiction