As part of the commemorative year marking the 500th anniversary of Jakob Fugger’s death in 2025, a collaboration was established with the Augsburg State Theatre and the ninth episode of the TV series *Tatort*, entitled ‘Walsturz’. The play takes an event from Jakob Fugger’s life as its starting point and weaves a fictional crime story inspired by it. During an interactive theatrical tour, visitors experienced a narrative centred on Jakob Fugger’s visit to Dillingen in 1517. The theatrical format combined historical facts with a fictional narrative centred on a poison attack, bringing to life the political, economic and social contexts of the time. The performances have now concluded; no further performances are currently planned. Find out more here about the historical background on which the fictional crime story is based.
Which historical event does ‘Tatort’ episode 9, ‘Walsturz’, refer to?
In the summer of 1517, Jakob Fugger (1459–1525) travelled to Dillingen with his entourage. The occasion was a visit to the newly elected Prince-Bishop of Augsburg, Christoph von Stadion (1478–1543), whose election Jakob Fugger had supported. During this stay, Jakob Fugger suddenly fell seriously ill. The Provost of Bamberg Cathedral also displayed similar symptoms. Both were immediately taken back to Augsburg. Jakob Fugger survived the illness and did not die until eight years later.
This incident is recorded in only a single contemporary source: a letter dated 19 July 1517 from the Augsburg canon and humanist Bernhard Adelmann von Adelmannsfelden (1459–1523) to his friend Willibald Pirckheimer. In it, under the heading ‘The new Bishop of Augsburg – an ominous beginning’, he reports on the events in Dillingen. He states that an accident had already occurred whilst the cannons were being fired to mark the ceremonial reception of the guests, in which a confidant of the bishop lost his life. That night, Jakob Fugger and the Provost of Bamberg reportedly fell so seriously ill that their lives would have been in danger had they not been taken back to Augsburg immediately for treatment. At the time of the letter – that is, a few days after the incident – according to Adelmannsfelden, one of the two was still ill; furthermore, one of them had nearly drowned on the return journey. ‘These are “the first fruits of our new bishop”’, Adelmannsfelden goes on to write. However, he gives no details as to the causes of the illness. Although the Fugger scholar Götz von Pölnitz mentions in his biography of Jakob Fugger rumours of a possible poisoning attempt that were circulating in the town following the Dillingen incident, he unfortunately provides no evidence.
Conclusion: Whether the illness during the visit to Dillingen was due to a natural cause, food poisoning or even a deliberate attack cannot be historically determined. In any case, the available sources provide no indication of any criminal motive. At the same time, the event occurred during a period of great upheaval: in 1517, Augsburg was marked by religious, political and economic tensions, and Jakob Fugger, as a powerful merchant and a figure actively involved in church affairs, was at the centre of admiration, criticism and envy. This constellation provides a fertile starting point for this fictional narrative – inspired by a real event.
What role did Adelmannsfelden actually play?
Bernhard Adelmann von Adelmannsfelden was a respected clergyman and scholar who, amongst other things, headed the cathedral school in Augsburg and associated with many prominent humanists of his time. As an advocate of radical church reforms, he spoke out strongly against practices such as the charging of interest or the sale of church offices. On several occasions, Adelmannsfelden criticised Jakob Fugger in this context, often with a rather malicious undertone, as in his letter of July 1517. However, at the time of the Dillingen incident, a personal motive is also likely to have been relevant: Adelmannsfelden himself wanted to become Bishop of Augsburg in 1517, but was unable to prevail over Christoph von Stadion. Adelmannsfelden continued to sympathise with Reformation movements and figures such as Martin Luther, and engaged in public debates with the opposing side, for example with the scholar Johannes Eck, who argued on behalf of Fugger and the corporations. Adelmannsfelden died in Augsburg in 1523. His surviving letters provide an interesting insight into contemporary history, not only in connection with the incident in Dillingen.
Were there historical models for Jakob Fugger’s servants in the play?
The characters appearing in the play – the cook, the bodyguard and the clerk – are purely fictional. Jakob Fugger certainly employed female cooks in his household and clerks in his business, but no names have been handed down in this regard. The character of the female bodyguard also has no historical counterpart. Whilst merchants certainly travelled with armed escorts on their trading expeditions, there is no record of a personal bodyguard, particularly a female one.
What was Jakob Fugger’s relationship with his niece Regina Meuting?
Regina Meuting was one of the four daughters of Jakob’s elder sister, Barbara Meuting. According to the historian Martha Schad, Barbara’s marriage to Konrad Meuting, who came from a former merchant family, was extremely beneficial to Jakob’s own business. The company benefited from Konrad Meuting’s experience and knowledge, and as a brother-in-law by marriage, Konrad presumably had a greater say in matters than other relatives by marriage. Jakob’s niece, Regina Meuting, married Hans Lamparter in 1515; his father had business dealings with Jakob Fugger. Jakob paid the couple a ‘marriage gift’, a customary practice also applied to Regina’s siblings, as well as other nieces and nephews. There is, however, no evidence to suggest that Regina was given preferential treatment by Jakob. There is no record of a will drawn up by Jakob around 1517. However, Jakob’s will of 1525 sets out very generous bequests and legacies for Barbara’s family. Furthermore, Barbara is the only sister named specifically in relation to any potential objections to the provisions of the will. However, Jakob also grants this right of objection to his wife and other heirs. Regina herself is bequeathed the same amount in the will as her married sisters and her brother. In any case, neither Regina nor any other relative would have been eligible to succeed Jakob. Female and clerical family members were paid out, or they could leave their share in the company without any say in its management. Sole authority over the business and also over the foundations rested with the heirs in the male line; after Jakob’s death, therefore, with the sons of his brothers.
What role did Matthäus Schwarz play in the historic event of 1517?
None at all. Matthäus Schwarz worked for Jakob Fugger as an accountant, initially on a trial basis from autumn 1516 and then permanently from 1517. The idea that he, as an accountant, took part in his employer’s trip to Dillingen is pure fiction.
What was Jakob Fugger’s relationship with Bishop Christoph von Stadion?
Jakob Fugger himself spoke on several occasions about his role in the election of the bishop and attributed von Stadion’s success to his own personal intervention. In fact, the ailing Bishop Heinrich von Augsburg had already appointed Christoph von Stadion as his coadjutor with the consent of the cathedral chapter – von Stadion therefore had a strong starting position. He was regarded as a capable and devout cleric, but was apparently also in competition with Bernhard Adelmann von Adelmannsfelden. Jakob Fugger presumably exerted his influence during the election. In any case, Pope Leo X appointed Christoph von Stadion as Bishop of Augsburg on 10 April 1517. The episcopal consecration took place on 5 July 1517 in Dillingen. Jakob Fugger apparently arrived there as a guest a few days later. Initially, relations between the new bishop and the merchant were apparently good: in the same year, the two worked together in response to a famine, and in 1518 the bishop enfeoffed Jakob Fugger with several farms within his domain. However, as patron of the chapter of St Moritz, the bishop found himself on the opposite side to Fugger in the dispute over the preaching post at St Moritz. Furthermore, he publicly denounced the vices and venality of the clergy and called for reforms, though, unlike Adelmannsfelden, he did not come out in support of Luther. Jakob Fugger, meanwhile, soon became very disappointed with his former protégé, who had by then also refused to fulfil his duties of protection and assistance regarding his estate at Biberbach. The Fugger scholar Max Jansen summarises Jakob’s remarks from a letter dated July 1519 to Duke George of Saxony: The Bishop of Augsburg “would have been a poor canon without the friendship of any person of standing. Without his help, he would never have become a bishop. Although he had done him no harm, the bishop was behaving as though he had killed his father”.
What do we know about the state of construction of the Fuggerei in 1517, the main setting for the ‘Walsturz’ episode of *Tatort*?
After Jakob Fugger had purchased the necessary plots of land in the Jakobervorstadt, construction of the Fuggerei began in 1516. The first residents were able to move into their houses that very same year – as recorded in the Augsburg tax registers. By 1517, around 20 houses in the Fuggerei had already been completed and were occupied. At that time, the complex comprised the houses on Saugasse, Hintere Gasse and a large part of Mittlere Gasse. Construction of the Fuggerei initially proceeded at a rapid pace during the first phase: Between 1516 and 1519, around three-quarters of the entire complex was built. In a second, considerably slower phase of construction between 1520 and 1523, further houses were added, including those on the west side of Herrengasse and, finally, Ochsengasse. With the construction of the last two houses, the Fuggerei was finally completed in 1523, comprising a total of 52 houses. Following its destruction during the Second World War, the Fuggerei was rebuilt and expanded. Today, the social housing estate comprises 67 houses and provides a home for around 150 residents. Various locations featured in the TV series *Tatort* within the Fuggerei did not yet exist in 1517, but date from a later period.
