The black death

     

 
 

 Altenberg, April 24, 1578

1. Martha stood in front of the house. The Grape Church was eaten bald because of the nasty moth. Everywhere they spun their cocoons and the tree now looked covered in white. Martha was her father's maid. She was just 17 years old when she was still young. Her father was a widower and he owned the Altenberg sawmill. Martha should soon take his apprentice Karl Bärich as husband and it was fair because the two loved each other. Martha was raised in a German Christian way. Her mother had died in childbed and she had laid out this beautiful garden, Martha stood there plowing the vegetables for her stew. When, from a distance, she saw a figure approaching. When she saw the figure, she recognized a single man with blue lips and black tint on his face. He fell to the ground, panting, and stammered to himself. Martha hurried to his aid and God have mercy, what a grave sin the man was charged with, because he made such a guilty impression. When she knelt next to him, she was shocked at the appearance of the man, who was wrapped in rags and smelled of grave filth. She helped him get up and hid him in her father's shed. She cooled his forehead with a cold towel and gave him a drink. She had also brought him a blanket before he fell asleep and continued looking there.

There was hot sweat on his forehead. His breath was short and he was now tugging at the collar of his coat and reared up briefly.   

His skull stood out like a skull. His eyes were blood red. In the darkness of the shed, engulfed by his own shadow , he finally returned to his nightmares. Martha had no idea how sick he really is and went back into the house.   

In the house, she washed her hands clean, looked in the mirror, and straightened up again. She had a lot of questions, but she wanted to be patient. As soon as her father gets back from the sawmill, she would tell him about the man in the shed. But first she wanted to avoid thinking about him and started to prepare dinner. Gradually it got dark and the evening began. In the next quiet hour, when the table was set, the landlord came in through the door. Martha remained calm and didn’t show anything when she greeted her father reverently, as she did every evening.

2. It was evening and Tillmann van Huter was sitting at the other end of the table. His daughter handed him the drinking horn. It was filled with wine. He was angry because Martha was so tired of living a complete stranger to set up a camp in his shed. He says how could you do that. I'm sure he's some sort of country thief or some other criminal who is on the run "." No, godfather, definitely not, he's sick and I want to help him ". ,, help with dear daughter, he is filthy and dirty. You don't know what he's got, daughter, he can kill us if he's very sick, which I think dear daughter ". It came from Tillmann and had become grumpy." Let the doctor come, dear godfather, and have mercy ". said Martha pleadingly. "When the meal is ready, I want to go see what's wrong with him, but first I want to tell you about the city," said Tillmann and also told you about the pigskin he had bought at the wholesale market. He also bought the gold leaf for the furniture that was being worked on. "Our woodworks are flourishing Martha, we can be proud of your father". He says and then when his voice wanted to suggest another sentence, the plague bell rang in the distance. Tillmann got up from his chair in fear. Martha also saw himself now afraid after the glockenspiel. Now only silence was audible between the two of them. Those are the plague bells. Godfather said Martha, frightened. "Yes, death will soon spread in Altenberg". said Tillmann and took another strong sip from the drinking horn. They soon found out about the many plague sufferers in the villages and the shock was great.

Even more when a lot of people had gathered in the old main square.

They conferred when many of the audience coughed bloodily in white handkerchiefs and disappeared from the crowd. A theatrical moment as well as the mayor of Altenberg, Cornelius Riedberg, went to one side. He left the desk that had been set up to take his place in the front row of the audience when the crowd became too much for him and he made room for someone else who was now bursting at the lectern. A mourning community had already formed because some of the people had died of the plague. One woman was sobbing softly. When she went to the desk and reported an incident. She told of the heavy, flowers and wreaths that adorned her son's coffin . But my son said she wasn't dead when he was buried. But my husband insisted, took his plague-sick body and put it in the coffin that he still had left. He was completely insane. As you citizens of the city know, my husband is an undertaker by profession . He and my older son then escorted my dead boy into the dead earth while still alive. For my husband, my youngest son was possessed by the devil, so he buried him himself without a priest. Now my husband has it himself and I am a widow. When he too fell ill with the plague, I also had him buried alive this villain.                                  
     

A shadowy moment suddenly fell over the crowd when the woman's bitter words had fallen silent. The people were stunned, gnawing at a nasty wound, which alone was the plague. Was Altenberg's existence in danger?   

 

3. The streets were narrow, littered with household supplies and cattle. The alleys dirty and filthy. It was an old town, that of Altenberg. It had tiny towers and houses. Where the masters lived with their journeymen. The city was centuries old. Like the old market in Altenberg. A fountain was there for everyone, to drink and to cool your hands. Martha, too, was now standing by the well, and was on her way to the church. The maids were on their way and just wanted to go home. The plague bell had been ringing for hours and Martha wanted to convince herself of the horror. Tillmann had burned his shed because the man Martha prayed there was one of the plague sufferers of those who have already died. The fire tortured him until he was burned in the fire except for a few scraps. A couple of farm boys hurried over from the village and wanted to know what was going on in Tillmann van Huter. "The plague is going on," he roared and then the flames rose over his shed until he charred and collapsed to the ground a lot. Tillmann was full of anger because Martha was so unreasonable and had broken away from him. He told him that Not boys, and took a few steps into the burned down shed. Everything burned he thought and then climbed up to the tower of his room, where he wept bitterly in his hands. Many weeks went by where he missed his Martha. It was without her The house was so empty that Tillmann could hardly come up with a proper thought. Often in the quiet of his house he would start talking to himself. He ate less and less, took an oath to put an end to the evil hustle and bustle. He was afraid of being at the mercy of his feelings Tillmann did not think about an evil deed. How else would you get rid of the plague. He complained again that Martha was not with him. She had the patches of his shirt so good sewn and now, Tillmann had to wear his clothes to the patch seamstress of the village. Tillmann got drunk because of his grief and then he fell asleep soundly in his bed. 4. Martha made a vow before God in the church that she would be there for the sick. She now marked the cross and went with her sister to the town where the plague lay. She had run away from her godfather when he told her that it was better to burn the sick in the shed alive. She couldn't see that. Now in this hut where sickness and death reigned, her tender voice from then could hardly be heard. She sounded loud and distinctly different now than when she was just her father's maid. The miserable dress, the expensive thing she was wearing on her body was only a hindrance to her new job, so she tore it and soon she looked like the sisters who were there for the sick. In her new clothes she now climbed the stairs to the sick person. They were lying next to each other on the floor on sacks of straw and, if you were lucky, on a lounger with real sheets. Martha immediately took in the cloud of feverish haze, like the groans of the many sick people. Martha wanted to help. For the sake of mercy. Her faithful godfather was worried, but what did she care when she had decided on the only right thing to do, to help people. Tillmann van Huter did not think like his Martha. He couldn't be proud of her because the plague troubled him. He had soon met with the city council and discussed arrangements. In the evening he went into the tavern after he knew that there were already over three hundred plague sufferers in the village. The plague was also discussed in the tavern. She was the subject that always caused a riot. The men like the son of the mayor Mathias Riedberg and Friedrich, a student of the young doctor Mr. von Brauner, were also in the inn, like the stable master Hermann Wibert and the painter prince Otto von Schotter. Like the rest of the men, they sat on chairs and benches and listened to Tillmann van Huter, who was tired of waiting for the plague to go away on its own. "We should intervene, he shouted," and everyone agreed. "Let the plague booth go up in flames". he shouted into the crowd and was drunk like the many others who were now looking around at him and looking up at his intrepid figure. He was wrapped in an expensive fur coat and you could see his wealth as always. Tillmann was known to everyone in the inn, too, and his authority was respected. When he talked about burning down the plague hut, it was the only right thing for everyone. "Up to his shoulders, Tillmann urged his body to play up immediately. He saw the deceased plague patient in front of him again, whom he had set himself on fire a few hours ago and felt how right he was, that the fire alone could separate the bad from the good. He was recently on a boat trip, it was the autumn months when all the many rust-red colors prevailed in and around Altenberg. Only Tillmann could not see it, because the wide sea lay in front of him and he had come across all the blue alone on his journey. Now that his voice sounded hard and decisive, he had forgotten the colors of the water. Now the colors of the disease predominated, the blackish rims under the eyes, filthy and shabby festering the wounds. When Tillmann thought of it, he thundered his fist on the table with determined determination and called on the men to set fire to it. “To hell with the holiness of the church. “What could the pastor from the parish do? no prayer can drive away the plague, he said, and the men agreed drunk with him.             

Many of the men had it non-stop. And the clack of the wine bottles rang out over the heads of one of the speakers. Tillmann looked over the furnishings in the inn, saw the full ones            

Baskets of fruit and smelled the venison in the hot oven. It was for the brother of the journeyman merchant who had come back from a long journey that night. He had come across the Alps and was now listening to what Tillmann van Huter had to say. In front of him a large plate where the game was served to him.                   

,, So let's go burn the plague hut, he said again and finally urged to go. The pale candles in the inn's booth burned down as long as Tillmann encouraged the men. They rose from their chairs and began to pick up kerosene and matches. There were barrels full of them in the basement of the inn's stall and they carried them on their shoulders to the Pest hut.

And it turned out to be a major event. For the good room, which was the plague hut, was burned along with the good pastor and all those suffering from the plague. The fear on their faces in the sacred atmosphere of the church could be seen in the villagers. The picture of Christ on the wall in the plague hut was the first to be burned. The sick blood dripped from the wounds as the hot flames touched them. Soon it became a sea of ​​flames in which the form of man and his face came to an end. Their hearts were frozen to death and life was in its old order as the grass grew green every day when the fire engulfed people forever.                         

 

5. Martha helped wash the sick. She knew the hallways and corridors of the hut inside out. It was a large cabin with lots of interiors and corridors. Much too big as Martha thought. Unauthorized access to the hut was forbidden. Only the nuns in monastery robes and their auxiliary sisters, including Martha, were allowed in. She had been on her feet for many hours and a few tears shimmered on her cheeks. She was pretty exhausted. The nuns' meager fasting food was wholesome, but it was barely enough for a meal and too little to start the day refreshed. The abbey of the monastery was not far from the hut up on the hills. A small stream ran from there directly to the Pest hut.                          

A tiny field where a lot of vegetables grew belonged to the hut but had hardly been plowed since the plague. The hut was dark like no other. A few candles burned on tiny holders and nothing else.       

Martha gathered up her skirt and pushed the thought of it away.

 She hadn't seen her godfather for a long time and now she carried pots and buckets into the hut. Without giving yourself a break. Anna Wilbert was with her and called her to fetch more water from the well. The hem of her dress was already very dirty and she washed it clean at the well. The steps in the hut were brittle and should be climbed with caution. As she was about to climb it, she heard the men of the inn come from afar into the sick bed of the plague sufferers. 

She could already understand every word of the men who were feeding more and more to the plague hut. A haughty bunch determined to do something bad. Martha could only hope now. The dissatisfaction that was approaching was clearly audible. Martha immediately felt aversion as the situation worsened significantly .              

 

A shiver ran down her spine because the men had come to do something bad. The godfather was there and asked her to step aside immediately. But she exclaimed, dear godfather was a kind man, and leave the plague sufferers alone "." Yes, daughter , your mind has now been completely lost ". Tillmann was furious and tore her away from the door. The sister with the white robe stepped out and helped Martha back on her feet, because Tillmann had knocked her over when he said go to my side, you woman " without a hint of affection in his voice. He sniffed at his men: " If you are already men, he yelled at his men and set the hut on fire. Immediately a red and gold flame glowed . Soon it flared up to a considerable size and burned all the plague sufferers who were still alive in the plague hut. The surrounding houses were also killed in the flames. Even the city ​​wall was in the flames. There was a lot of shouting going on in Altenberg and people still talk about how the hot flames of the fire turned the city into red light. How Martha helped to save the burning sick from death and how Tillmann marched in the burned walls of the hut and looked at the charred corpses, including those of his daughter's Martha, people had talked about for a long time. Everyone was proud of Tillmann van Huter, but he lost his Martha for all his determination. Because of this, Tillmann became more and more miserable, but the heartache was not alone. Because from the last intoxication of the night he had contracted the plague himself and is now dying of it, alone in his house. A stone tablet tells of Tillmann and his Martha, who says Martha had brought the plague and Tillmann had taken her with him to the realm of the dead. Karl was now very sad and left alone, but at least Tillmann had bequeathed the sawmill to him in his will and he lived in the van Huter's house until his death and was always close to Martha. He had also written a book for her, it was called The Plague and the Maid. end