The Wolf of Ansbach and its unusual story (7 photos)

In world history, there have been frequent cases of wolf attacks. As well as werewolves and werewolves.





Usually, these stories stem from the principle of "fear has big eyes." The monsters were either never found, or some abstract wolf that happened to be the first to come along was punished for the deaths of people and livestock. But there were exceptions.



Like most wild animals, wolves primarily inhabit remote areas, maintaining a natural ability to avoid human presence. However, under certain stressful conditions, such as encroachment on wolf territories and food shortages, encounters between wolves and humans can occur, even with rare attacks.

Throughout history, beginning in the Middle Ages, there are numerous documented accounts of people encountering animals and dying at their fangs. Among these historical accounts, one stands out and is quite intriguing.





In 1685, a wolf began attacking livestock and children in the Principality of Ansbach, in what is now the German state of Bavaria, then part of the Holy Roman Empire. Rumors soon began to circulate that the culprit was not a simple beast, but a werewolf. There was no doubt that this creature was one and the same—Michael Leucht, the despised mayor of Ansbach, who had recently died after a long, tyrannical reign.

Suggestions arose that the deeply deceased official had not actually died, but had cheated death by transferring his spirit into the body of a wolf. Reports of his alleged appearance at his own funeral circulated, and one contemporary engraving depicted Michael Leicht, as a wolf wrapped in a white linen shroud, returning to his former residence and frightening the new residents.



Thus, it became necessary to hunt the ferocious beast not only to protect the children, but also to free the city from the evil spirit and the mayor's ghostly legacy. Furthermore, it was an opportunity to exact revenge for years of persecution and mistreatment.

The hunters prepared a Wolfsgrube, or "wolf pit," a hole dug in the ground and camouflaged with branches and straw. A rooster was tied to the bottom of the pit as bait. The wolf, sensing prey, wandered around the area until it fell into the pit trap. The hunters pounced on the captured animal and quickly killed it.



The wolf hunt turned out to be fairly simple, uneventful, and even boring. But what they did with its carcass afterwards is truly horrific.

The animal's lifeless body was displayed on the street to reassure the public that the threat had been vanquished. Then the animal's skin was flayed and its jaws cut off. A cardboard mask depicting Leucht's face was pulled over the wolf's head. A wig and cloak were placed on the wolf, giving it the appearance of a former mayor. The wolf's carcass was then hung from a gallows for all to see.

This grisly nature of the punishment is believed to have served a symbolic purpose.

On the one hand, stripping the wolf of its fur and replacing it with human clothing was meant to show Satan himself that his tricks had failed. The residents of Ansbach were able to recognize the man hiding beneath the fur; it was a warning addressed to the Devil himself – this is how your evil servants end their lives!



On the other hand, there was also an undeniable political aspect. This was a retroactive execution of the former ruler. The common people, having failed to overthrow their oppressor in his lifetime, symbolically did so after his death.

The wolf remained hanging on the gallows for several days, likely as a warning to the new mayor, before it was taken down, and the body was preserved and placed on permanent display in the local museum.