Breaking wheel
Breaking wheel
!Execution wheel (German: Richtrad) with underlays, 18th century; on display at the [Märkisches Museum, Berlin](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/17XXRichtradanagoria.JPG/250px-17XXRichtradanagoria.JPG)
Breaking wheel
The breaking wheel, also known as the execution wheel, the Wheel of Catherine or the (Saint) Catherine('s) Wheel, was a torture method used for public execution primarily in Europe from antiquity through the Middle Ages up to the 19th century by breaking the bones of a criminal or bludgeoning) them to death. The practice was abolished in Bavaria in 1813 and in the Electorate of Hesse in 1836: the last known execution by the "Wheel" took place in Prussia in 1841. In the Holy Roman Empire, it was a "mirror punishment" for highwaymen and street thieves, and was set out in the Sachsenspiegel for murder, and arson that resulted in fatalities.
Punishment
!Illustration of execution by wheel ([Augsburg, Bavaria, 1586): Classic example of the "breaking wheel" punishment, with wheel crucifixions in the background](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3e/KlassischesRadern.png/250px-KlassischesRadern.png)
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