A bumbling policeman or friend of sinister companions?

In this story, we tell the story of a hard-working officer called Albin Respita. From a young age, he had worked for the Vienna Police Security Guard. Some physical weaknesses caused him problems. The policeman had poor eyesight and hearing. The policeman concealed this fact because he did not want to retire.

Albin Respita also had to transfer arrested criminals from the police station to the prison. The arrestees were transferred in an open wagon. An officer, often Albin Respita, accompanied the transport. As the wagon was open, many a criminal managed to jump out.

Josef Fritz, the charming crook

One of the most frequent “guests ” at Vienna police stations was a certain Josef Fritz, a former soldier and occasional burglar, who appeared charming and won the sympathy of the older officer. One day, Josef Fritz was once again arrested and sent to prison. On this trip, the delinquent asked his guard if he could drop in on his landlady, with whom he had fallen in love.

The good-natured policeman allowed him to visit and kept “watch” outside the front door of the apartment on the first floor. Josef Fritz did not come out of the apartment. Albin Respita confronted the owner of the apartment, who sobbed and replied that he had jumped through the ground floor window onto the street . The criminal ‘s greed also turned him into a murderer. His victim was the master watchmaker Kaspar Kaufmann on Spitalsplatz, now Lobkowitzplatz, whom he stabbed in the chest with a knife during the robbery.

Despite the serious injuries, the man, who was lying on the ground in a pool of blood, managed to hold the criminal. He was able to give credible assurances that he had robbed him and stabbed him. This is how the police officers rushing into the store witnessed the harrowing scene. Josef Fritz was sentenced to death by hanging. The sentence was carried out on the Wienerberg .

Time Travel Tip:

1) The location of the former police prison until 1885 was in today’s Sterngasse No. 4 in the 1st district. Today, the Marc-Aurel-Hof stands on this site, built in 1890/91.

2) Lobkowitzplatz in the 1st district, where the store of master watchmaker Kaspar Kaufmann was located.

Editor: Michael Ellenbogen

Sources: Tartaruga Ubald, Der Wiener Pitaval, ed. Seyrl Harald, Edition Seyrl, 413 pages, ISBN 3-901697-08-X, Vienna-Scharnstein, 2000