Johann Christian Woyzeck

Born and raised in Leipzig, he lost his mother at the age of 8 and his father at the age of 13: he began his apprenticeship with a barber and, in 1798, he began to travel until his enlistment. It was during this time that he had a son by a woman he did not marry, however. He returned to Leipzig in 1818 and began a relationship with Johanna Christiane Woost, widow of a famous surgeon. The relationship was undermined by the constant betrayals of Johanna, who used to hang out with soldiers with whom she amused herself. Out of jealousy, Woyzeck stabbed Johanna on 2 June 1821. Quickly arrested near the scene of the crime, Woyzeck immediately admitted the facts. == The trial ==

The legal proceeding lasted more than three years. On 11 October 1821 and, for the second time, after a long psychiatric controversy, on 12 July 1824, the court sentenced Woyzeck to death. Amid a crowd of spectators who flocked to the scene, Woyzeck was beheaded. == Works dedicated to Woyzeck ==

The incident, which had a wide national impact, inspired Georg Büchner's play fragment Woyzeck, written between 1836 and 1837 and left unfinished due to his death. == Notes ==