Johann Georg Grasel
Encyclopedia
Johann Georg Grasel was a leader of robber's gang. His name is used in Czech language
as common term for rascal or villain (grázl) until now.
Grasel was born into poor family of a knacker
. Both his father and his mother helped themselves by stealing, occasionally ending in prison. Small Johann was forced to steal to survive and in age of 9 he entered prison for the first time (for two weeks). Grasel became leader several groups of brutal robbers in south Moravia
and northern Lower Austria
. He managed to escape from prison several times. In 1815 he and his group of 66 were caught by the authorities. Grasel was accused on 205 crimes, including several murders and sentenced to death. 60 thousands of people watched when he and his two colleagues were hanged.
Unlike many others of his kind Grasel entered folk legends, both as noble hero who takes from the rich to give the poor (not true) and as brutal rascal. The second variant made it into Czech language and the word grázl (it means villain) is now commonly used, even without knowledge of its origin.
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
as common term for rascal or villain (grázl) until now.
Grasel was born into poor family of a knacker
Knacker
A knacker is a person in the trade of rendering animals that are unfit for human consumption, such as horses that can no longer work. This leads to the slang expression "knackered" meaning very tired, or "ready for the knacker’s yard", where old horses are slaughtered and made into dog food and glue...
. Both his father and his mother helped themselves by stealing, occasionally ending in prison. Small Johann was forced to steal to survive and in age of 9 he entered prison for the first time (for two weeks). Grasel became leader several groups of brutal robbers in south Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
and northern Lower Austria
Lower Austria
Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...
. He managed to escape from prison several times. In 1815 he and his group of 66 were caught by the authorities. Grasel was accused on 205 crimes, including several murders and sentenced to death. 60 thousands of people watched when he and his two colleagues were hanged.
Unlike many others of his kind Grasel entered folk legends, both as noble hero who takes from the rich to give the poor (not true) and as brutal rascal. The second variant made it into Czech language and the word grázl (it means villain) is now commonly used, even without knowledge of its origin.