# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1849 01 09_S74
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

74

flames of the burning houses, in order to escape the bestial soldiers; 53 women had their heads cut off by the Croats in the Katharinen Church, while they were begging on their knees for their lives. One boasted of having impaled 20 infants; but since Pappenheim had had some houses set on fire at the very beginning, and the wind blew into them with malicious glee, the whole city was soon in flames and burned down, except for 137 small houses and the fireproof cathedral, into which 4000 people escaped. All the other inhabitants of Magdeburg perished by the sword or in the flames. Many who had hidden themselves in the cellars were discovered only afterward by the soldiers rummaging for booty, and were slaughtered. These scenes lasted until the 22nd of May; only then did Tilly himself betake himself to the burnt site and restore discipline and order; the fugitives in the cathedral, protected by a guard from the very first, obtained mercy and, for the first time in three days, something to eat. Tilly probably found himself flattered by the Latin address with which the cathedral preacher Bake threw himself at his feet. One saw this dreadful Tilly, a gaunt figure on a great steed, in a short slashed jacket of green satin, on his high pointed hat a still higher red feather, under a wrinkled brow large, glaring eyes, under the pointed nose a bristling moustache, stiff, ghostly, hollow-cheeked, with a certain insane expression, which, however, in view of his vanity seemed only affected. So he stood on the ruins of Magdeburg, looking proudly down on the 30,000 corpses of the inhabitants who had fallen gloriously or been shamefully murdered, on the 24th of May, 1631. Of this "Magdeburg wedding," as his soldiers called it, he wrote to Vienna full of delight: "that since the conquest of Jerusalem and Troy no greater victory has been experienced and heard of, and he regretted not to have had Your Imperial Majesty's ladies themselves as spectators and to have received from them the thanks of knighthood." The Catholics celebrated this lamentable destruction of Magdeburg with festivals of victory. —

Let us now turn away from this horrible destruction to a memorial of divine help, which a preacher of that time experienced in unhappy Magdeburg, and which he relates thus from his diary:

After I, Christoph Thodänus, preacher at the Catharinen Church in Magdeburg, on Tuesday, the 10th of May, 1631, by God's grace had delivered my regular weekday sermon, and had closed it with prayer and the customary wish of peace, and had thereupon gone home, the news was brought by some people from the parish of St. James that the enemy was already on the wall and in the city. At this we were greatly frightened, and yet at first would not believe it. But when it was all too true, I left my house and everything standing open, and together with my wife and our maid went to my colleague, the Senior of the Reverend Ministerium and pastor at St. Catharine's, Johannes Malsius, into his house, whither also very many other people came running, where we then comforted one another, prayed together, and committed our souls to the faithful God, whom He has bought very dearly by the blood and death of His dear Son, and as poor sheep for the slaughter awaited in great fear and terror how it should go with us according to God's will. — How many bitter and hot tears, especially from the sorrowing womenfolk, were shed at that time in abundance, how many sighs of the heart were uttered, the merciful God knows best of all, who without doubt counts our flight and our tears and gathers them into a bag. — In the meantime a distinguished colonel of our people, as I remember one of the nobility, sent to me from the Long Neck, an inn, he having been very dangerously shot in the neck, desiring that I should come to him and comfort him, as he would probably not last long; which I consented to, had my coat fetched and took leave of my wife, committed her and all others to the faithful God, saying with a troubled heart: Now we shall see each other here in this life no more, yet we will see one another again with joy in eternal life. And although my wife, with the shedding of many bitter tears, said: Ah, will you now leave me here alone, then be it complained to God; yet I quieted her and gave her to understand that this was my office, and I could not refuse the good gentleman. So I went out of the house in God's name and faithfully committed myself to dear God with body and soul.

But when I had come upon the broad footbridge, some pious hearts of women and maidens ran to me and asked what they should do. To them I answered: I knew no other counsel to give now than that they should pray diligently and surrender themselves to God the LORD. — Thereupon I went into the house at the Long Neck, and in the foremost room found the wounded man lying on the ground, very weak, whom I comforted as well as I could at the time in the terror.

But when the enemy was already in the city, and was driving the poor people before them on the broad way like herds of cattle, and shooting among them, whoever was hit lay there, whoever could run did so: then my wife came running with the maid to me in the room, and because the same was full of rifles and firearms, and it was easy to think that if the enemy saw such things they would be greatly embittered over it, she dragged me by force out of that room, while the enemy were already before the windows and shooting, so that the smoke and powder-smoke came streaming in at the windows; and we all three went into the rearmost chamber toward the court, and placed ourselves there side by side not far from the door, waiting how it would go with us. Presently they were at the door, and when it was bolted, they beat upon it with might, and it was soon opened at the host's command, and so they came in upon us with great uproar. The first party demanded at once of me that the priest should give money. Now I had with me a little box, in which were about six or seven thalers; this I gave to the one, who also took it gladly; but because there was no gold with it, as he looked diligently for it, he would not have it, I should provide him gold also; but when he heard my excuse, he took it and went away. In the meantime everything was broken open and taken in the room and chamber, and whatever could not walk was pocketed and carried away. Among these was a fine young fellow, compassionate, to whom my wife said, weeping bitterly: Ah, I beg you for God's sake, protect us; but he answered: Dear young woman, we cannot do that, we must pursue our enemy. And they ran away again.

And so the first scourging by the rabble was over. Then we supposed that now everything was past and endured, since I had never yet been in such a school of fencing. But it did not last long before another band came, which also demanded money of us, and we satisfied them with two rix-dollars and two silver spoons which our maid had put in her pocket in our house; they took these and went away, and attempted nothing else hostile against us. Soon after came some, among whom was one who looked like the very devil, had two muskets, and in his mouth in each cheek a bullet, looking at me with a grim countenance and saying: Priest, give money! for that was the watchword on their side. But when I excused myself, saying I had nothing more with me, and did not belong to this house either, he would not be content with that, but took aim at me with a musket, and when the match would not properly kindle, he blew upon it and pulled the trigger. In the meantime my wife took courage, strikes the musket upward, so that the bullet flew over my head into the wall, and she held him by the arms so that he could not stir. And because he demanded money, but we had nothing more, he said, Then give me silverware. Then she remembered that she still had silver hooks on her bodice, which she herself cut off and gave him; he, however, stood before her, looked on, but touched her not with a finger. Another wanted also to have money from me; then I reached into my pocket and found yet three old Bohemian groschen in it, of which I had not known, laid them before him on the table and said that in truth I had no more; he stroked them into his hand and took them and went away. Thus again a woe was past. Here it is to be noted that none among all these had searched us to see whether we might have somewhat more about us, at which, nevertheless, one must greatly marvel.