Johann Georg Grasel
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Johann Georg Grasel (; 4 April 1790 – 31 January 1818) was a
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...
robber and murderer. His name is used in
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...
as a common term for a rascal or villain () to this day.


Biography

Grasel was born in
Nové Syrovice Nové Syrovice is a municipality and village in Třebíč District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 900 inhabitants. Nové Syrovice lies approximately south of Třebíč, south of Jihlava, and south-east of Prague ...
into the poor family of a
knacker A knacker (), knackerman or knacker man is a person who removes and clears animal carcasses (dead, dying, injured) from private farms or public highways and renders the collected carcasses into by-products such as fats, tallow ( yellow gre ...
. Both his father and his mother helped themselves by stealing, occasionally ending up in prison. Young Johann was forced to steal to survive and at the age of 9 he entered prison for the first time (for 2 weeks). Grasel became leader of several groups of brutal robbers in south
Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...
and northern
Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...
. He managed to escape from prison several times. In 1815 he and his group of 66 were caught by the authorities. Grasel was accused of 205 crimes, including several murders and sentenced to death. Sixty thousand people watched when he and his two colleagues were hanged in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
; when Grasel saw the crowds, he uttered his last words: "Jesus, so many people". Unlike many others of his kind Grasel entered folk legends, both as a noble hero who took from the rich to give to the poor and as a brutal rascal. The second interpretation made it into Czech and the word ' (meaning "villain") is now commonly used, even without knowledge of its origin.


Popular culture

In the Czechoslovak TV series ' (''Famous bandit stories'', 1985), Grasel is portrayed by Czech actor
Ivan Vyskočil Ivan Vyskočil (born 21 May 1946 in Prague) is a Czech actor. He starred in the film '' Poslední propadne peklu'' under director Ludvík Ráža Ludvík Ráža (3 October 1929, in Mukachevo – 4 October 2000, in Prague Prague ( ; ) is t ...
.


References


External links


Grasel's biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grasel, Johann Georg 1790 births 1818 deaths People from Třebíč District Czech people convicted of murder Executed Czech serial killers People executed by hanging Czech robbers People from the Austrian Empire