Prügelbock
A Prügelbock, also called Strafbock or Strafbank, is a type of spanking furniture that was used in Germany for prison corporal punishment until the mid-20th century. This also includes CP in concentration camps, which were de facto prisons.
Design
Prügelbocks were constructed from wood and were generally not upholstered. They are about table-high. The delinquent was mounted on them in a half-standing position. Their top is often slightly curved in a U-shape for added stability when the delinquent is positioned. Usually, the head end is slightly lower than the rear end. In some variants, the delinquent was kneeling instead of standing.
There was usually some kind of restraint for the feet (often in the form of a stocks-like apparatus) so the delinquent couldn't kick their legs or escape. A leather strap restrained the delinquent's torso across their back, preventing them from getting up. The delinquent's wrists were not tied but simply held by one or two officers or other prisoners.
The similarities to the Canadian strapping bench can be explained by the form follows function principle.
Usage
The implement used for chastisement was not standardized. Paddles and straps were uncommon in Germany, so instead, a whip, cane, stick, or bull pizzle was typically used. The delinquent usually remained fully clothed for the procedure.[1] For more severe punishment, they were also beaten on their bare skin. In rarer cases, a whipping was given on the back instead of the buttocks.
The number of strokes depended on the offense and was typically in the range of 5 to 50. The delinquent was usually required to count the strokes out loud. If they were unable to continue counting, the SS men would often restart their counting from 1. Sometimes, the punishment continued even when the delinquent fainted.
Such harsh corporal punishment usually led to open wounds and sometimes even injury to the kidneys.
Name
The word Prügelbock is a compound of two words. Prügel means beating or spanking. While the word Prügel literally refers to a stick, it is used in practice for any kind of implement and even the open hand; the word is rather unspecific. Bock corresponds to the English word "buck". Like its English equivalent, it is used to refer to some male animals, but also for objects such as trestles, sawbucks and vaulting-bucks.
In French, the device is known as chevalet à bastonnade. A chevalet is a trestle, and bastonnade means caning.
The synonymous word Strafbock (which means "punishment buck") is used in wider contexts than Prügelbock. Today, Strafbock is commonly used to refer to modern BDSM furniture that serve a similar purpose, but come in various designs (spanking benches) and usually look quite different from the historic Prügelbock. They are usually padded and also use other spanking positions, such as the kneeling position and the bent-over-object position. Some resemble vaulting-bucks or birching horses. They are used in consensual BDSM and not in prisons.
History
The history of the Prügelbock remains obscure. The best-known examples are those used during the Nazi era by the SS, which are preserved or were rebuilt for display in museums such as:
- Dachau concentration camp memorial site (about Dachau concentration camp)
- Gedenkstätte und Museum Sachsenhausen (about Sachsenhausen concentration camp)
- KreisMuseum Wewelsburg (about a medieval castle that was used by the SS from 1933 to 1945)
- Mahn‑ und Gedenkstätte Ravensbrück (about Ravensbrück concentration camp)
- Mémorial Struthof (also called Struthof Concentration Camp Museum, about Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp, in France)
The use of the Prügelbock most likely ended in 1945. The exact date when corporal punishment in German prisons was officially abolished is unknown.
Spanking videos
Lupus Pictures, a spanking video producer in the Czech Republic, has made a series of "Headmaster" caning videos set in the 1900s that feature a shorter variant of the Prügelbock that's equipped with leather restraints.
- From the Headmaster's Study: Anarchy, Victorian era (photos, video)
- From the Headmaster's Study: A Note for Absence (photos)
- From the Headmaster's Study: Crime & Punishment (Niki Flynn), photos, Xhampster video, Spankbang video
- From the Headmaster's Study: Pater Familias (2005), photos,
References
- ↑ If the punishment was announced some time before its execution, the delinquent would sometimes pad their trousers with paper or cloth. However, if this was discovered, it was punished severely.
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See "sting and thud" for more on this distinction. |
External links
- An older (more than 110 years) Prügelbock, another photo, in the museum of Bertholdsburg castle in Schleusingen. It came originally from the town hall in Hildburghausen, which is 10 km from Schleusingen.
- Flyer der vollzuglichen Sammlung - Justizvollzugsanstalt with a photo of a Prügelbock in Justizvollzugsanstalt Celle that was in use until 1913
- Another photo of the Prügelbock in Justizvollzugsanstalt Celle
- Mannequins, one dressed as an SS guard and the other as a concentration camp inmate, are posed in a scene echoing punishments inflicted upon prisoners. The photo was taken on the first anniversary of the liberation of Dachau. (Lager Föhrenwald, Germany, 1946)
- Photo of a Prügelbock, a reconstruction from 1945 in Dachau concentration camp museum
- Old photo of the Prügelbock in Stutthof concentration camp, with a slightly different design
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