Pranger

Pillory is a pillar, where in the Middle Ages so-called "penalties of honor" were performed. The stone pole standing on the Poznań market is topped by a figure of a executioner dressed in a knight's costume, with a raised sword.

The stone pillory had stood in Poznan next to the Town Hall in 1535. It had been built from the money obtained from penalties that were paid by handmaids for wearing too opulent clothes. The former wooden pole was replaced by a gothic, octagonal column.

The figure of a executioner with a sword on one side symbolizes a righteous and inevitable punishment, which awaited anyone who committed a crime. On the other hand, he points to the medieval "law of a sword" that Poznań had, in other words an execution of death sentences. The original figure is placed in the Museum of the History of Poznań, and a copy has been placed on the pillory.