Barbara Ernie's secret chest (4 photos)

This pretty woman became the last person to publicly executed in Liechtenstein. What did she do that she deserved "honor"?





Estimated date of the birth of Barb - February 15 1743. The girl's life was far from cloudless, but all because she was born to the homeless - residents of the Austrian town of Feldkirche, and not from the nobility, or at least ordinary peasants. And the whole life of the child was a succession trials and struggle for survival.

Probably, poverty and hunger forced Barbara masterfully and without teachers to master the art of cheating. The girl married a certain Franz, who was connected with the underworld. But data on married life and children were not preserved. It is only known that she start a solo criminal career. Partly contributed to the success the youth and attractiveness of a woman who had the right features face and shock of blond (according to other sources, red) hair.



This is what Barbara looked like

So what kind of criminal business plan did Ernie come up with? She depicted a traveler with a large suitcase. which, according to the statement ladies, was chock-full of valuables. And therefore keep it in the common room or the hotel bedroom where Barb rented a room was not allowed. Couldn't dear innkeeper place a chest with treasures in a special place? Ideally, where he keeps his own wealth. It's the most secure area in the building, isn't it?

Usually men did not see anything suspicious and were led to the request of a charming guest, accompanied by a pleading look huge eyes, and locked the suitcase at night with a key.



But the morning in the hotel began with problems - tears, moaning, foul language. After all, neither a nice guest, nor a suitcase, nor valuable things of the owner for a long time was not in sight. But how?

History has not preserved the name of the beauty's partner, but it was dwarf man. Which, in fact, was the main treasure and the contents of a suitcase. At night, he quietly crawled out of his shelters, filled the container with the master's goods and opened the door. For which partner was already waiting. The couple quickly faded from the institution, and when there was a noise, even the dust on the road behind them settled safely.

According to some reports, a criminal enrichment scheme been used by thieves for 15 years. Maybe a little less. But of any rope there is always a tip. And in the end, in 1784, Ernie with a compact partner was caught in the north of Liechtenstein, in the town of Eschen and placed in the local prison.



At the trial, the thief pleaded guilty to committing 17 thefts, since there was no point in denying it - evidence, witnesses and all such. The life of a creative swindler ended on December 7, 1784. The persuasive criminal was stripped of her creative head. Gaze at the execution a crowd of about a thousand onlookers gathered. The fate of the small Barb's accomplice remained unknown. It is possible that the dwarf successfully got out of history, because the experience of opening various locks and he had a door. And very solid.

Since Ernie, not a single person has been executed in Liechtenstein, until the introduction of a formal ban on executions in 1987.