He had struck a deal with the elders of the port: any of his 70 men that he managed to pass in his post-decapitation walk should be spared. The quivering corpse passed 11 fellow pirates before the executioner put out a foot and tripped him up.Störtebeker (aka Nikolaus Storzenbecher) had reputedly offered to pay for his freedom with "a chain of gold long enough to enclose the whole town of Hamburg", and then asked the authorities to release as many of his 73 companions as he could walk past after being beheaded.
His alleged skull, stolen from a Hamburg museum last month, has reportedly "become a trophy in the turf wars between rival biker gangs" for control of "northern Germany's lucrative drugs trade". Police have been unpersuaded by the skepticism of the museum's head of archaeology - why let facts get in the way of a headline - with claims that -
"The piratical skull and crossbones is certainly part of the insignia of aggressive motorcycle gangs," a police investigator said. "Störtebeker is a hero for some of these people."My interest was piqued by the report that -
The Hamburg Senate failed to keep its promise to Störtebeker and the 11 men were not spared. After chopping off the heads of all of Störtebeker's pirates the executioner was asked if he was not a little tired. He replied that he had enough energy to execute the Senate elders as well. This was probably intended as a joke - but the Senate ordered the executioner to be beheaded.
