Richtstätte

The Richtstätte in Hohenems stands in a quiet clearing called Sündergass, just outside the old village. It is a flat, open space at 414 metres above sea level, still free of buildings today. A small wayside shrine without a name or inscription marks the spot; it is protected as a historic monument. The shrine sits twenty metres from the railway line that runs between Lindau and Bludenz. A few steps west, a street sign reads Galgenholz, meaning ‘gallows wood’, near the cinema on Graf-Kaspar-Straße. The site recalls a time when the lords of Hohenems held the right to carry out death sentences. In 1489 Emperor Friedrich issued a deed confirming this power to Hans von Ems and his family. The document listed the blood jurisdiction over Hohenems and Dornbirn among their privileges. Most executed people were buried nearby in unconsecrated ground, sometimes straight after the sentence. Folk belief held that their remains carried strong magical force. Visitors find a simple memorial in an ordinary landscape. The shrine is small and unadorned, with no words to explain its purpose. The railway hums faintly in the background, while the Galgenholz sign points to the past use of the land. The open ground shows no trace of gallows or graves, only grass and a single stone marker. The place asks for quiet reflection rather than spectacle.