Joseph Kirchhoffs

Henricus Joseph Kirchhoffs (Also known as Jozef Kerckhoff(s)) (Herzogenrath, c. 1724 - Herzogenrath, May 11th 1772) was a barber surgeon in 's-Hertogenrade and presumed leader of the Bokkenrijders.

Birth and youth

Joseph Kirchhoffs was a son of Nicolaes Kirchhoffs and Catharina Douveren. He had five brothers and a sister: Johanna (1705 - 30-10-1785), Joannes (born 13-02-1706), Balthasar (27-09-1707 - 07-03-1771), Dionys (born 22-11-1708) en Peter (1720-1771). Balthasar and Peter were also convicted as leaders of the Bokkenrijders.

There is little known about Kirchhoffs' birth and youth. The birth registers of Herzogenrath from before 1736 have been lost, so it's impossible to say when exactly he was born. However, by assuming Kirchhoffs joined the army at age eighteen, it is possible to make an estimate. On March 13th, 1743, he received his so-called "Leerbrief" from his teacher, barber surgeon Johannes Jacobus Wagener, which proved he'd successfully finished his studies. That same year, Kirchhoffs joined the Austrian army. Thus, Kirchhoffs was probably born between March 14th, 1724 and March 13th, 1725.

It is certain Kirchhoffs was born in Herzogenrath, as multiple sources mention him being born there, such as a letter by Jesuit priest Joseph van Grupello, written to the abbot of Kloosterrade in 1752:

‘…whose name is Joseph Kirchhoffs, born in Herzogenrath.’

Army years

Kirchhoffs joined the Austrian army in 1743, during the War of the Austrian Succession. In 1746, Kirchhoffs and the rest of the second company under captain count of Spada of the first battalion of the royal infantry regiment Hertog Karel van Lotharingen were located in Kerkrade, near Herzogenrath. He was a petty officer of the battalion, rather than a surgeon. His name is nowhere to be found in the medical registers, but he was sent to Bohemia to recruit for the army in the winter of 1746/1747.

When the war ended, Kirchhoffs' troop department was moved to Brussels, where he became an (assistant) barber surgeon in the regiment.

Return to Herzogenrath

In the autumn of 1752, Jesuit priest Joseph van Grupello told Kirchhoffs the town of Herzogenrath needed a new barber surgeon. It is probable his teacher, Wagener, died then. On November 28th, 1752, Kirchhoffs sent a application letter to Goswin Fabritius, abbot of Kloosterrade. Frans Gercken, Jesuit and chief chaplain of the army in Brussels, sent a letter of recommendation as well.

"The appreciation of the doctors and surgeons after the exam will be convincing proof of the suitability of the man named Joseph Kirchhoffs, born in Herzogenrath. [...] Besides, I can assure you I have never heard of any behavior which would have gotten him reprimanded. Yes, even better, I can assure you he has always been humble, chaste, modest and full of respect towards his superiors. The military service, which is not far from wickedness, has never let him stray from the just path, but rather kept him from evil and within the proper bounds of Christian chastity and a just Christian life, more concerned for the life of others than his own."

Kirchhoffs got the job. On February 28th, 1753, he returned to his place of birth, Herzogenrath.

Normal life

In March 1753, Kirchhoffs arrived in Herzogenrath. He moved into a house on the modern-day Kleikstraße. The Burg Rode, where he, as well as many others, would be imprisoned during the Bokkenrijders trials, was located right across the street.

In 1759 he got married to Anna Elisabeth Mans, the daughter of his neighbor. They had six children:

Joannes Franciscus (February 16th 1760)
Maria Josepha (June 11th 1762)
Joannes Franciscus (January 10th 1765)
Barbara Catharina (July 9th 1767)
Joannes Arnoldus (July 21st 1768)
Matthias Josephus (September 13th 1771, a month after Kirchhoffs' arrest)
Kirchhoffs was well-known in the area, as proven by how many people say his name during trials, even outside his own city. He was also, probably, a frequent visitor of the Burg Rode. While he wasn't present at interrogations and torture, he was the person to take care of prisoners after torture or ill prisoners, as that was a cheaper option.[10] It is a possibility that this is why so many prisoners call him an accomplice: those imprisoned in Herzogenrath knew him from his visits as a surgeon.

It is also possible Joseph Kirchhoffs was the person to care for his brother Balthasar Kirchhoffs on March 6th, 1771, who had lost consciousness during torture, making him the person to declare Balthasar dead.

Trial until May 4th

While only Kirchhoff's death sentence is still around, it is possible to make up a lot of his trials from other sources. One of those sources is Joseph Keyser, who was arrested in late 1770 and made the following confession on February 22nd, 1771:

"He also declared that he saw, among the accomplices in Hoenghen, another person on a small black horse, which looked a lot like the horse of the barber surgeon Kirchhoffs, who lives in Herzogenrath but is not very well-known by the prisoner, but whom he saw sometimes while he was imprisoned in the gate of Herzogenrath. He thinks it's the same surgeon, but he is not sure."

After this confession, more prisoners started to call Kirchhoffs an accomplice until, eventually, he was arrested on August 14th, 1771. Right after morning mass, he was taken to the Burg Rode. Joseph Keyser was still alive then, but it is unknown how the two interacted upon meeting.

The Diary of Unusual Events of Kloosterrade also mentions Kirchhoffs' arrest. This entry also has one of the most iconic and well-known lines in Bokkenrijders history: “Auri sacra fames, quo non mortalia cogis spectora!”[13] It is a quote from Vergil's Aeneid, which can be translated to: "accursed hunger of gold, to what dost thou not compel human hearts!"

To prove his innocence, Kirchhoffs requested a testimony of two pastors, those of Afden and Herzogenrath. Both assured they had never heard a single bad thing about him, but it did not help. On October 10th, 1771, Kirchhoffs was sentenced to a so-called "scherp examen". Torture. The Diary of Unusual Events of Kloosterrade says the following about the event:

"The gentlemen Thielen, Ernst and Limpens attended the interrogation and torture of the poor barber surgeon Kirchhoffs at the castle of Rode, who had all levels of torture before and after lunch, but never confessed.”

On November 12th and 13th, 1771, the same happens: Kirchhoffs remains silent. On November 14th, he lost consciousness during torture, but, according to Kloosterrade's chronicler, he still remained silent:

"Kirchhoffs was tortured once again until he lost consciousness, but confessed nothing."

Final days

S. J. P. Sleinada's book is our main source for Kirchhoffs' final days. While not completely reliable, it is the best way to reconstruct the week of May 4th, 1772, the date of his death sentence, to May 11th, the date of his execution.

The death sentence was written on May 4th, 1772, and read to Kirchhoffs two days later, on May 6th, by clerk Cox, despite the fact Kirchhoffs never confessed a thing. There was 'enough proof' of his guilt.

In his death sentence there are nine crimes of which Kirchhoffs would have been guilty. He was sentenced to death by hanging, but before that he would be tortured once again. which is pretty rare in the Bokkenrijders trials:

"As punishment for these terrible crimes, the prisoner has been sentenced to death by hanging on the gallows by the executioner, where he will be choked to death and will be left hanging as an example for others. [...] and that he, prisoner, will first be tortured again [...].

Eventually, Kirchhoffs was tortured for two days, May 6th and 7th. According to Sleinada, a Jesuit priest from Aachen called Zünder had, one day, brought all of the children in Herzogenrath to the chamber next to the dungeon where Kirchhoffs was being tortured to pray for the soul of the prisoner. Kirchhoffs still didn't confess and the torture was halted. At that moment, he supposedly said:

"Gentlemen, are you satisfied now? If not, take me, cut off each of my limbs and throw them into the fire. Thus, you will hear as much from me as you have done thus far."

After this, Zünder brought him to the room the children were in. Kirchhoffs supposedly asked for the priest's name and replied the following once he knew the name:

"Then you surely have come to the right person, for I am a great sinner!"

It is a pun which resulted from the name Zünder and the Dutch word for sinner, zondaar, sounding quite alike. Zünder quite probably had little time to reply, as Kirchhoffs was soon praying with the children.

While the Diary of Kloosterrade does mention Zünder visiting Kirchhoffs, it is unlikely this situation, like Sleinada describes it, actually happened. Kirchhoffs was tortured for the final time on May 6th and 7th - Zünder only arrived to guide Kirchhoffs through his final hours on May 9th.

On May 11th, 1772, on 11 o' clock in the afternoon, Joseph Kirchhoffs was executed on the Beckenberg in Herzogenrath. His final words were: "Jesus, for you I lived, Jesus, for you I die!"

According to the chronicler of Kloosterrade, there had never been such a large amount of people in the town.

In popular culture

• Joseph Kirchhoffs is the main character in De Bende van de Bokkkenrijders by Ton van Reen, as well as the TV show based off these books, in which Gene Bervoets plays the role.
• Bernard Bekman wrote a novel about Kirchhoffs' life from 1752 onward: Dokter Joseph Kirchhoffs - Kapitein Der Bokkerijders.
• The main character of Piet Ecrevisse's book De Bokkerijders was quite probably loosely based off Joseph Kirchhoffs.
• Joseph Kirchhoffs is one of the main characters in the Villa Volta movie.