 | |
| Native name | Erfurter Latrinensturz |
|---|---|
| Date | 26 July 1184 |
| Venue | Erfurt Cathedral |
| Location | Erfurt,Mainz Electorate,Holy Roman Empire |
| Cause | Floor collapse due to excessive load |
| Deaths | ~60 |
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TheErfurt latrine disaster (German:Erfurter Latrinensturz,lit. 'Erfurt latrine fall')[1][2][3] occurred on 26 July 1184 in the German city ofErfurt. KingHenry VI was conducting aHoftag ("court day") with local nobility on the second floor of a building. The combined weight of the assembled attendees caused the floor of the building to collapse through the ground floor and into thelatrinecesspit below. Sources say that approximately sixty attendees died, some of whom drowned inhuman waste after falling into the cesspit.
A land dispute betweenLandgraveLouis III of Thuringia andArchbishop Conrad of Mainz, which had existed since the defeat ofHenry the Lion, intensified to the point where theHoly Roman Emperor and his family were forced to intervene. On his fatherFrederick I Barbarossa's orders, eighteen-year-oldHenry VI diverted from his military campaign en route toPoland to travel to Erfurt and mediate the situation.[4]
Henry VI convened aHoftag to meet on July 25, theFeast of Saint James, which was attended by Landgrave Louis, Archbishop Conrad, members of Henry's court, local nobility and bishops, and prominent citizens of Erfurt.[4] Sources agree that the meeting took place on the upper floor of a two-story building close toErfurt Cathedral, but disagree on whether it was theprovost's building or the bishop's residence nearby.[5]
The upper floor's wooden support beams were rotten, and on July 26, the floor collapsed under the combined weight of the meeting's attendees.[5] The impact of people and debris caused the ground floor to collapse as well; some continued falling through the ground floor into an undergroundcesspit. About 60 people in total are said to have died of injuries from the fall, being crushed by debris, or suffocating in the cesspit's sewage.[6][7] TheChronicle of Saint Peter's in Erfurt lists noblemen who perished: Count Friedrich I ofAbenberg [de], CountHeinrich I of Schwarzburg [de], CountGozmar III of Ziegenhain [de], Gozmar's brother-in-law Burgrave Friedrich I ofKirchberg [de], Count Burchard ofWartburg, Behringer von Wellingen, and "other lesser names" who were not recorded.[8][9]
Henry VI and Archbishop Conrad were sitting in a stone window alcove and avoided the fall; they hung on until rescuers with ladders were able to arrive and let them down.[7] Landgrave Louis had fallen in the collapse, but survived and was rescued.[5]
After the disaster, Henry VI immediately departed Erfurt and resumed his military campaign, leaving the dispute between Landgrave Louis and Archbishop Conrad unresolved.[5] Heinrich I of Schwarzburg's estate passed to his brotherGünther II [de]. Gozmar III's estate passed to his daughter Liutgard, who would later marry Landgrave Louis's brotherFriedrich [de]. Friedrich I of Kirchberg's estate passed to his son Heinrich.[10] Burchard of Wartburg's estate passed to his son Ludwig.[citation needed]
The tale of the Erfurt latrine collapse eventually entered localfolklore;Ludwig Bechstein included such a story while compiling hisDeutsches Sagenbuch, published in 1853.[11] The retelling focuses on Heinrich of Schwarzburg, who allegedly had a habit of saying "Tue ich das, so müsse ich im Abtritt ersaufen." ("If I did that, I'd have to drown in the privy.") Aptly, he ends up drowning in excrement during the disaster, along with Friedrich ofAbenberg.[11] The story differs from the historical record in places: Heinrich I of Schwarzburg is referred to as Heinrich VII, Friedrich of Abenberg is called Friedrich ofArnsberg, Gozmar of Ziegenhain becomes two people (Gozmar of Hesse andGottfried of Ziegenhain [de]), theHoftag is called aReichstag, it takes place at theBenedictineMonastery of Saints Peter and Paul (where an Imperial Diet was held in 1181), and it collapses into a sewer instead of a cesspit.[11]