Oliver Pötzsch - The Werewolf of Bamberg

“Megenberg’s Book of Nature ,” he explained. “For hundreds of years the standard work about all living things. You are no doubt familiar with it. Konrad von Megenberg devotes one chapter completely to animal men, or human animals-and he mentions the werewolf, though his description is very vague.” He turned to another page showing a wolf standing erect while it was eating a child. Only the poor child’s feet protruded from the wolf’s mouth. Simon couldn’t suppress a shudder.

“There have no doubt been stories about werewolves for as long as there have been people to tell them,” Samuel continued. “I’ve read about them in German legends. The Roman historian Pliny the Elder also mentions such wolf-men. They are always hybrid creatures imbued with enormous strength because of a pact they have made with the devil, and they kill sheep and cattle, just as wolves do. In their wolflike form they cannot control themselves-they keep killing and devouring their prey and are practically invincible.”

“Practically?” Simon asked, curious. “So it is possible to defeat them?”

Samuel shrugged. “Well, it is said that a potion made from the highly poisonous wolfsbane flower, commonly called monk’s hood, can kill them. Others swear by silver bullets. It is safest to completely burn their bodies.” He snorted disapprovingly. “I suspect this is the method Suffragan Bishop Harsee would prefer. He can cite as his authority The Hammer of Witches and a few more recent writings. Scholars, however, are not in complete agreement whether the werewolf is truly transformed or if the change is just a perfidious illusion. On the other hand, no one denies their existence. To dismiss it as nonsense would be tantamount to blasphemy.”

Simon looked again at the drawing of the wolf-man devouring the child and shook his head.

“Do you think there really are such creatures?” he asked. “To tell you the truth, I’ve never seen a werewolf, a real witch, or a sorcerer, even though most scholars are convinced they exist.”

Samuel grinned. “Interestingly enough, a few hundred years ago, people were put to the stake for saying witches and sorcerers did exist. Times have changed. But have they really, as far as the werewolf is concerned?” He walked to the bookshelf and took out a little book, which he handed to Simon. It contained a number of old, crudely drawn engravings, among them a wolf on its hind legs attacking a child. Other illustrations showed a chase with hunting dogs, a trial, and finally an execution, in which the head of a wild-looking old man was chopped off while he was tied to a wheel. Simon put the book down with disgust.

“That’s the execution of Peter Stump,” Samuel explained, sipping contentedly on his coffee. “Years ago you could buy this print at any fair for a few kreuzers. Almost a hundred years ago, in the vicinity of Cologne, they say Stump killed two pregnant women and thirteen small children. He ate the brain of his own son before he was finally caught and executed. The case was a sensation all over the Reich, but there were many more like it. Just a few decades ago, in France, hundreds of so-called werewolves were tried and burned, and in Franconia there were werewolf trials, as well. The last case I heard of was just a few years ago.” The physician set his cup down carefully on a pile of books. “Everyone talks about witches and charlatans, but most people are much more afraid of werewolves.”

“You didn’t really answer my question,” Simon quickly replied. “Are there werewolves-or not?”

Samuel remained silent for a long time, then began to speak hesitantly. “For some years I’ve been a member of the Academia Naturae Curiosorum, a circle of honorable men who are dedicated to scientific research into the natural world, and believe me, Simon, this world contains more wonders than you can even imagine. I’ve seen the tusk of a real unicorn. . There are camelopards in Africa with necks as long as trees. . And washed up on the shores of our oceans, eyeballs have been found as large as pig heads. So I can’t rule out the existence of what the common folk call werewolves. Perhaps they are just especially large, aggressive dogs; perhaps they are men who have been turned into monsters by a cruel fate-who knows? But I’m afraid that the pursuit of such a monster here in Bamberg will hurt many innocent people. That’s just what we saw during the last witch trials. In any case, we’ll have to proceed very carefully in the council.”

“Which you have announced I’m joining as a famous scholar, without asking me,” Simon replied with a smile. “I hope no one expects me to cite references from the standard works in this field.” His face turned serious again. “And it would be a good idea for you to fill me in on what’s been happening in Bamberg the last few weeks, so I don’t make a complete ass of myself before the council.”

“Very well, then.” Samuel took a deep breath. “It all began about four weeks ago, when the venerable councilman Klaus Schwarzkontz set out on a trip to Nuremberg-a trip from which he never returned. Most people thought he had been attacked somewhere in the forest. These things happen. As luck would have it, some children found his left arm in a pile of garbage down by the Regnitz but still within the city walls.”

“His right arm was found in the forest along the shore of a swampy branch of the river,” Simon interjected. “My father-in-law thought it had been severed cleanly, with something like an ax.” Simon had told his friend earlier about the strange finding in the Bamberg Forest.

“Perhaps.” Samuel shrugged. “In any case, two weeks later, Barbara Leupnitz, the miller’s beloved wife, disappeared after she’d left on a visit to relatives in neighboring Wunderburg. And, as you told me, two severed legs belonging to a woman have been found in the city since then. Whether they belonged to the miller’s wife or someone else, we can’t say.”

“One of the legs appeared to show she was tortured. And then there is the corpse of the young prostitute whose thorax had been ripped open.” Simon sipped his coffee, musing. “This werewolf’s behavior is becoming stranger and stranger.”

“Indeed,” Samuel replied. “Very strange. The people started to take notice, in any case, when, only a few days after the disappearance of the miller’s wife, another prominent citizen, Johanna Steinhofer, also vanished. Johanna is the granddaughter of the late Julius Herrenberger, an esteemed city councilor. Just prior to her disappearance, she had a quarrel with her fiancé, who was younger than she.” Samuel rubbed his temples. “And now the highly regarded wife of the apothecary Rinswieser has also vanished.”

“Is it possible these cases have nothing at all to do with each other?” Simon asked. “A robbery, wild animals in the forest, a young woman who runs away after a quarrel with her husband. .”

“And the severed limbs that have shown up in the city? The signs of torture? The furry beast inside the city walls that the night watchman told us about?” Samuel shook his head. “Something strange is going on here, Simon, and if it’s not a werewolf, then it’s something else. A werewolf would, of course, be the simplest solution for many Bambergers. A monster like that would be capable of anything.” He stared at Simon. “Dear friend, it’s not just as a joke that I want to bring you along with me to the council meeting. You have a sharp mind and were always skeptical of supernatural things. Please help me solve this riddle. Otherwise, I fear the worst for our city.”

Simon set his cup down. Suddenly, not even the coffee he loved so much appealed to him, and he had a queasy feeling in his stomach. “I’m afraid you’re overestimating my intelligence, Samuel. I don’t know how I can-”