After more than two centuries, modern scientific methods finally unveiled the true identity of the skeleton long believed to belong to the infamous German bandit Schinderhannes. The University of Heidelberg announced that recent analyses clarified a historical case of confusion regarding the skeleton of the famous robber, according to Die Zeit.
A multidisciplinary research team comprising anatomists, radiologists, anthropologists, genealogists, and molecular biologists collaborated to solve the riddle. The team was led by anatomist Sara Doll from the University of Heidelberg and molecular biologist Walther Parson from Innsbruck, as reported by the Frankfurter Allgemeine. "For me, it is super important to know whom I have here," said Doll, the curator of the Anatomical Collection at Heidelberg University, according to Die Zeit.
Johannes Bückler, known as Schinderhannes, was one of the most notorious German robbers of his time, feared by the rich and hunted by law enforcers. Born in the late 1770s in the Rhineland-Palatinate community of Miehlen, his family moved to the Hunsrück region. With his gang, he operated as a thief, robber, and murderer, raiding the houses of wealthy merchants and extorting larger sums of money with threatening letters.
His gang is said to have committed 211 crimes in nearly six years, with all attempts to capture them failing. However, in 1802, Bückler and many of his accomplices were captured. In November 1803, they were sentenced to death by guillotine and executed. Historical sources indicate that Schinderhannes ended under a guillotine, but Doll explained "the person was killed by a sword and not by a guillotine."
The remains of Schinderhannes were not buried but preserved. Jacob Fidelis Ackermann, the first chair of anatomy at Heidelberg University, brought two skeletons to his institute, believed to belong to Schinderhannes and an accomplice named Schwarzer Jonas. Over time, due to repeated changes in collection numbers, a mix-up occurred, leading to the incorrect assignment of the skeletons.
Skepticism had long surrounded the authenticity of the skeleton attributed to Schinderhannes. "I wanted to know more precisely," Doll stated, as per Die Zeit. Motivated by doubts, she began examining the skulls and took a course in forensic anthropology to aid her investigation. Chemical analyses and imaging procedures indicated a possible mix-up of two skeletons in the Anatomical Department of the University of Heidelberg.
Clarity was provided by a living descendant in the fifth generation through a genetic comparison. "It is a descendant of Schinderhannes' sister," Doll explained. "According to the Medical University of Innsbruck, definitive certainty has now been achieved with this analysis," reported Die Zeit. "The data suggest that Schinderhannes had brown eyes, dark hair, and a rather pale skin tone," Parson added.
The University recently acknowledged the historical confusion. "Apparently, at the beginning of the 19th century, under Ackermann's successor Friedrich Tiedemann, there was a mix-up of the collection numbers—and thus began the incorrect assignment of the skeletons," the institution stated. This mix-up led to the skeleton of Schinderhannes being wrongly identified for over 200 years.
"Together, we were able to determine beyond doubt: The skeleton that had long been assigned to Schwarzer Jonas is that of Schinderhannes," the scientists wrote in the journal Forensic Science International: Genetics, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine. The genetic data show that "it is billions of times more likely" that the skeleton previously assigned to Schwarzer Jonas is that of Schinderhannes.
The real skeleton was removed from the exhibition in Heidelberg for conservation reasons. "A replica is on display in the Anatomical Collection of the Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology," reported Die Zeit. As for the second skeleton, Doll stated, "In any case, the second skeleton certainly does not belong to this robber."
"There are men in question; nothing has been confirmed so far," she added.
The University Hospital suspects that the second skeleton was possibly stolen under the assumption that it belonged to Schinderhannes or borrowed and never returned. "It still needs to be clarified who is behind the former Schinderhannes skeleton," reported the Frankfurter Allgemeine.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.