Iron maiden (torture device)

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The Iron Maiden of Nuremberg

An iron maiden is an iron cabinet allegedly built to torture or kill a person by piercing the body with sharp objects (such as knives, spikes, or nails), while the victim is forced to remain standing. The victim bleeds profusely and is weakened slowly, eventually dying because of blood loss, or perhaps asphyxiation.

The most famous, and probably the first, 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 misinterpretation of a medieval "Schandmantel" ("cloak of shame"), which was made of wood and tin but without spikes. The "cloak of shame" did not harm the body, but was used as a chastisement for poachers and prostitutes, who were made to wear it in public for a certain time. It was destroyed during World War II air raids in 1944. ^[1]

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. Supposedly, they were designed so that when the doors were shut, the spikes skewered the victim, yet missed vital organs, permitting the victim to remain alive and upright. The spikes were also movable in order to accommodate each victim.

The condemned person was kept in an extremely confined space to maximize his level of suffering by claustrophobia. Mobility was nearly impossible, and as the victim was weakened by the ordeal, the piercing objects would remain in place and tear into the body even further, causing even more intense pain.

The doors of the maiden could be opened and closed one at a time, without giving the victim opportunity to escape. Supposedly, this was helpful when checking on the victim.

[edit] 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 appears in the Tim Burton movie Sleepy Hollow, in a dream by Johnny Depp's character, Ichabod Crane (1999).

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 [1], 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.

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 "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.

The computer game Quake II and its immediate sequel, Quake 4 both feature enemies called Iron Maidens, which are members of the Strogg (a cybernetic alien race).

In Shaman King, Iron Maiden Jeanne is the leader of the X-Laws

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 History of the World, Part I, an Iron Maiden is featured in the Spanish Inquisition segment.
The character Donovan Baine of the Darkstalkers series carry a Iron Maiden seen in his opening and win poses.