In February 1775, a Danish woman killed her four-month-old baby.



In February 1775, a Danish woman killed her four-month-old baby. 


When the authorities found her with the dead child, she said that she would gladly die for her crime.

Why did such a thing happen?

Because at that time, murder was more forgivable than suicide.

Crimes like this were part of a wave of suicide-murders in the 17th and 18th centuries .

This wave had swept across much of Europe, but in Denmark these strange crimes happened with particular frequency.

In the 18th century, there were one and a half suicide murders per 100,000 inhabitants in Copenhagen. In Stockholm, there were 0.6 to 0.8 cases per 100,000 citizens - and in Hamburg, 0.4 to 0.5.

Crazy as it may sound, people committed murders just to be executed. They found out beforehand exactly what crimes were punishable by death to make sure they would be killed.

At that time, suicide was not only a crime, but also meant that the soul was eternally condemned to hell.

Murderers, on the other hand, if they deeply repented of their crime, went straight to heaven And they were truly revered.

Martin Luther had interpreted the forgiveness of sins in this way. If someone repented at the last moment of his life, all would be forgiven and he would die pure and untainted by sin.

Potential suicides were afraid of killing themselves and therefore committed capital crimes punishable by death.

Unlike the suspected suicides, these murderers were completely open about their crime.

One man even sang on his way to the gallows because he was so happy he was about to die.

Eventually, the courts noticed that something was wrong and increased the sentence.

In Denmark, they began sentencing suicide murderers to an additional nine weeks of flogging before execution.

When the day of execution arrived, the executioner would smash as many of the condemned's bones as possible with a large wheel.

Then the person was hanged from it until he finally died from his injuries.

This is how the military courts did it.

We hope that you have enjoyed reading our blog on the "From Yesterday to Tomorrow: Exploring the Journey of History". If you enjoy this blog please let us know in the comments below. If you are interested in history, we recommend you check out our other blogs here on the "From Yesterday to Tomorrow: Exploring the Journey of History". Thank you for reading.

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