Johann Georg Grasel: robber and murderer whose name became a Czech curse word
The word "grázl" originates from the name of a real robber. Johann Georg Grasel murdered for money and was executed in 1818 in Vienna.
The robber from Nové Syrovice who became a word
Aktuálně.cz points out that when we call someone a grázl today, few think about the fact that it refers to the name of a real person. Johann Georg Grasel was born in 1790 in Nové Syrovice near Moravské Budějovice and during his short life became one of the most feared robbers of his time. Nevertheless, he gradually transformed into a legendary figure of a noble brigand — an image that does not quite match historical facts.
"Grasel was not actually what is known as a noble brigand. In his case, this legend is pure fiction," says Adam Votruba, an ethnologist and educator at the Regional Museum in Kolín.
Father a knacker, son a robber
Grasel did not come from an environment that would have offered him easy access to a settled life. His father, Tomáš, was a knacker — a man in a profession despised by society at the time, involving the removal and processing of dead animals. Besides this, he made his living from robbery.
In 1792 his father was caught and sentenced to ten years imprisonment in Špilberk. He escaped from prison and, under the name Joseph Haller, moved about near the border region as a trader in holy images and rosaries. With money from robberies, he even acquired a knacker's yard in Hungarian Veszprém. Around 1809 his son joined his father. Together they operated in southern Moravia and Lower Austria, taking advantage of an environment they knew well — isolated knacker's yards and other places suitable for hiding.
"In my view, opportunity played a key role. If a person came from a family background that had connections to the criminal world, or if he was friends with people from that circle, there was a great chance he would come into conflict with the law," says Votruba. "A person's social environment determines them strongly," he adds, while also acknowledging that not everyone from an excluded background becomes a criminal.
A loose group, difficult to catch
Grasel's group today might seem like a prototype of an organised gang, but the reality was different. "For the criminal environment in which Grasel moved, it was typical rather that the organisation of criminal groups was relatively loose," Votruba explains. A leader would take charge of a specific operation, but the group otherwise did not hold together. In the next crime, its composition could change — and that is precisely what reduced the risk of being caught.
A key advantage was knowledge of the landscape and movement along territorial borders. "He took advantage of the fact that the borders of Bohemia, Moravia and Austria met here. He would always flee to another territory where he robbed, and before the authorities had time to send a messenger or deliver a message, he was long gone," describes Olga Žampová, director and founder of the Slavonice Community House. It is precisely Slavonice that lies in the place where the borders historically met.
Desertion and return to robbery
War also intervened in Grasel's story. In 1815 he enlisted in the first artillery regiment in Prague. He soon deserted and returned to his robber's life. Votruba at the same time warns against simplified interpretation: in the Habsburg Monarchy, according to him, it is not documented that the Napoleonic Wars themselves caused an increase in robbery.
Murder in Zwettl and the death sentence
Grasel gradually became much more dangerous than his father. It was not just theft and assault — people were killed in some attacks. One of the most famous cases was the attack in Zwettl in 1814. Grasel and his associates attacked sixty-six-year-old Maria Schindlerová, who refused to reveal where she had hidden her money. According to historical sources, she died in the attack. This case became one of the main points of the indictment.
"If we are talking about his legend, we should not forget that in reality he was capable of murdering for money," says Votruba. Olga Žampová is even more blunt: "He really was a grázl. Cunning, but violent. When someone is called a grázl today, I think it is a similar type to our man here."
Capture, trial and execution in Vienna
The state apparatus at the time struggled for a long time to deal with Grasel's group — it simply did not have the means that would have made it easy to break up robber gangs. Eventually Grasel was captured in 1815 in Mörtersdorf near Horn. This was followed by a trial in Vienna that lasted approximately two years. Grasel and his closest associates Jakob Fähding and Ignaz Stangl were sentenced to death by hanging.
Grasel was executed on 31 January 1818 in front of Vienna's New Gate. The execution became a public spectacle — according to later tradition, tens of thousands of people came to watch, often the figure given is around 60,000. His name is also associated with an alleged last sentence he was said to have uttered when he looked at the crowd: "Jesus, so many people." Where exactly history ends and legend begins is difficult to distinguish in this case.
From murderer to folk hero
Grasel's story did not end with his death. In the following decades his figure began to transform. Novels, fair songs and plays were created, and the real criminal gradually became a noble brigand. According to Votruba, this is nothing unusual — in European culture there was an established image of a person who stands outside the law but also has his own moral code, similar to Jánošík or Robin Hood.
The real Grasel did not match this image. He did not give to his victims, he took from them. And when it was necessary, he killed.
Source: Aktuálně.cz