The Smith of Kochel

The Smith of Kochel is a figure from Bavarian myth. According to this myth, he was a soldier in the Habsburg-Ottoman Wars. Armed with nothing but a bar, he supposedly stoved in the gates of Belgrade. He refused rewards for his heroic deed from the prince electors.

Another legend attributed to him is leading the farmer rebellion against the imperial troops of the Habsburg Emperor Joseph I during the War of Spanish Succession. This culminated in the Sendlinger Mordweihnacht. In literature, the smith is described as a man of over 70 years of age, yet great in stature and power. For the revolt, he supposedly armed himself with a spiked club of his own making that weighed over 100 lb . On the night of the massacre, the smith fought in the ranks of the rebels at the Sendling Parish Church. There he died heroically, the last man to fall.