Erfurt latrine disaster

The Erfurt latrine disaster was an event that occurred in Erfurt, Duchy of Thuringia in 1184. A number of nobles from across the Holy Roman Empire were meeting in a room at the Church of St. Peter, when their combined weight caused the floor to collapse into the latrine beneath the cellar and led to dozens of nobles drowning in liquid excrement. At least 60 people died in the accident.[1]

Background

A feud between Louis III, Landgrave of Thuringia and Archbishop Conrad of Mainz which had existed since the defeat of Henry the Lion intensified to the point that King Heinrich VI was forced to intervene while he was traveling through the region during a military campaign against Poland. Heinrich decided to call a diet in Erfurt where he was staying to mediate the situation between the two and invited a number of other figures to the negotiations.[2]

The event

Nobles across the Holy Roman Empire were invited to the meeting, and many arrived on 25 July to attend.[3] Just as the assembly began, the wooden floor of the provost of St. Mary, in which the nobles were sitting, broke under the stress, and people fell down through the first floor into the latrine in the cellar. About 60 people died[4], including Count Friderich of Abinberc, Count Heinrich of Thuringia, Count Gozmar (de) of Hesse, Count Friderich of Kirchberg, and Burchard of Wartburg.[5] King Heinrich was said to have survived only because he sat in an alcove with a stone floor.[3]

Original texts

References
  1. "Curio #1: The Erfurter Latrinensturz – The Fortweekly". Retrieved 2019-09-03.
  2. Rundfunk, Bayerischer (2011-07-26). "26. Juli 1184 : Erfurter Latrinensturz" (in German). Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. "RI IV,2,4 n. 2778, Friedrich I., 1184 Juli 25–26, Erfurt : Regesta Imperii". www.regesta-imperii.de. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
  4. Gabriel, Gottfried (2013-01-05). "Fakten oder Fiktionen? Zum Erkenntniswert der Geschichte". Historische Zeitschrift. 297 (1): 1–26. doi:10.1524/hzhz.2013.0305. ISSN 2196-680X.
  5. "Chronik von St. Peter zu Erfurt". Archived from the original on 2010-10-04.
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