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File:Iron Maiden of Nuremberg.jpg
The Iron Maiden of Nuremberg
"Iron maiden" redirects here. For the band of the same name, see Iron Maiden. For other uses see, see Iron maiden (disambiguation).

An iron maiden is an iron cabinet built to torture or kill a person by piercing the body with sharp objects (such as knives, spikes, or nails), while he or she is forced to remain standing. The condemned bleeds profusely and is weakened slowly, eventually dying because of blood loss, or perhaps asphyxiation. It is often associated with the Middle Ages, but in fact was not invented until the 19th Century.

Physical examples of iron maidens only date back to the late 1800s, and some historians have suggested that the device was never actually used during the medieval period. The most famous device was the iron maiden of Nuremberg. Historians have ascertained that Johann Philipp Siebenkees created the history of it as a hoax in 1793. According to Siebenkees' colportage, it was first used on August 14, 1515, to execute a coin forger. The Nuremberg iron maiden was actually built in the 19th century as a probable misinterpretation of a medieval "Schandmantel" ("cloak of shame"), which was made of wood and tin but without spikes. Accounts of the iron maiden cannot be found from any period older than 1793, although most other medieval torture devices were extensively cataloged.

The iron maiden of Nuremberg was anthropomorphic. It was probably styled after Mary, the mother of Jesus, with a carved likeness of her on the face. The "maiden" was about 7 feet (2.1m) tall and 3 feet (0.9m) wide, had double doors, and was big enough to contain an adult man. Inside the tomb-sized container, the iron maiden was fitted with dozens of sharp spikes.

Several nineteenth century iron maidens are on display in museums around the world, but it is unlikely that they were ever employed. Ironically, the iron maiden probably was not used until the twentieth century. In 2003, an iron maiden was discovered in an abandoned soccer field in Iraq by invading American forces, and former athletes stated that it had been used to punish athletes who were not performing up to standard. The device was likely used under the direction of Uday Hussein when he was in charge of the Iraqi Olympic Committee.

Iron maidens in fiction

  • Kurt Vonnegut describes the iron maiden of Nuremberg in Slaughterhouse-Five.
  • Bram Stoker wrote a short story about the iron maiden titled "The Squaw" (1893).
  • Roald Dahl's novel Matilda contains a device similar to an iron maiden called "the Chokey."
  • Alejandra Pizarnik wrote a short story about the Countess Bathory regarding Valentine Penrose's work which briefly details the countess' use of an iron maiden (1968). It has been reprinted in The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales, edited by Chris Baldick.
  • An iron maiden was always present on the classic television series The Addams Family (1964-66), usually seen in the "play room", but sometimes was found upstairs in the living room. Cast members and house guests were often seen getting in and out of the Addams' spiked-filled iron maiden. An iron maiden is also seen briefly in the 1991 Paramount film, The Addams Family.
  • An iron maiden appears in the Tim Burton movie Sleepy Hollow, in a dream by Johnny Depp's character, Ichabod Crane (1999). Ichabod's puritanical father killed his wife by trapping her in an iron maiden; young Ichabod opened it and found his mother's corpse inside.
  • Several iron maidens are also featured in the Oogie Boogie part of Tim Burton's movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).
  • In the 1975 movie version of Tommy by Ken Russell , Tina Turner as the Acid Queen morphs into a highly stylized iron maiden with, presumably, LSD-filled syringes instead of spikes.
  • In Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, the protagonists of the story go back in time to medieval Europe and are sentenced to the iron maiden, which they associate with the heavy metal band Iron Maiden, screaming "Excellent!" and playing air guitar until the king says "Execute them".
  • In Batman Returns, another Tim Burton movie, an iron maiden in Bruce Wayne's collection has a secret trapdoor to the Batcave.
  • At the beginning of the Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror XVII", an iron maiden is shown killing Moe Szyslak.
  • A similar device is described by Franz Kafka in his short story "In the Penal Colony" ("Die Strafkolonie"). The whole story is dedicated to witnessing the one final session of the torture device by the narrator. While Kafka's device does not envelop the whole body, the type of piercing described can well be compared to that of the iron maiden.
  • In Angela Carter's short story, "The Bloody Chamber", (a re-telling of the Bluebeard story) one of the wives is killed by torture in an iron maiden for an unspecified amount of time.
  • In the videogame Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, four iron maidens appear in the boss room of the PuppetMaster.
  • In the videogame Shadow Hearts: Covenant, an iron maiden is seen in the torture room of the St. Margurite Island Prison
  • Jen, the protagonist from the videogame Primal is locked into an Iron Maiden at one point.
  • In the videogame Resident Evil Code: Veronica an iron maiden appears at one point with a hole for a sword to be driven through in addition to the internal spikes.
  • The video game Resident Evil 4 features an enemy called an "Iron Maiden", which is a humanoid creature that is covered head to toes with spikes. The "Iron Maiden" attacks you by grabbing the body of your character and hugging them against their spike covered bodies; this is similar to the method of the Iron Maiden torture device.
  • The computer game Diablo II and its expansion, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction both feature a Necromancer skill named Iron Maiden. The skill inflicts a self-damaging curse on any enemy that isn't a boss level.
  • In the computer game Haunting Ground, there is a premature bad ending to the game that involves the protagonists untimely demise should she lock herself inside an Iron Maiden.
  • In Shaman King, a young girl who refers to herself as Iron Maiden Jeanne is the leader of the X-Laws. She spends the major part of time inside of an iron maiden full of spiked vines to augment her own spiritual powers.
  • An iron maiden was used by Jasdebi against Baron Aleister Crowley III in chapter 107 in the D. Gray-Man manga.
  • In the 1981 Mel Brooks comedy film History of the World, Part I, an Iron Maiden is featured in the Spanish Inquisition segment.
  • The character Donovan Baine of the Darkstalkers series carries a Iron Maiden seen in his opening and win poses.
  • In the 2007 animated feature film Shrek the Third, one of the girls at Artie's school says, "I'd rather get the black plague and lock myself in an iron maiden than go out with him."
  • In the video game Escape from Monkey Island, Guybrush Threepwood comes across an iron maiden in the "Hall o' Justice" at Lucre Island. When prompted by the player, he responds "Iron Maiden! Excellent! I have no idea why I just said that." This is a reference to both the British Heavy Metal band Iron Maiden and the 1989 movie Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (see above).
  • In the episode "Abracadaver" of The Powerpuff Girls the zombie magician Abracadaver is killed after getting trapped in an Iron Maiden.
  • The Volfoss videogame contains a race named "Iron Meiden", which represents mutilated womans in Iron Maiden.
  • In the video game, Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, the party escape from Maella Abbey using a secret passageway disquised as an iron maiden.
  • In the video game, Ultima Online, a working Iron Maiden is available as a promotional gift. Also many non functioning Iron Maidens are seen in dungeons.

Sources

Notes

  1. Vortrag Klaus Graf: Mordgeschichten und Hexenerinnerungen - das boshafte Gedächtnis auf dem Dorf, June 21, 2001 July 11, 2007
  2. Wolfgang Schild: Die Eiserne Jungfrau, 2002
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