Gottfried "Götz" von Berlichingen was no ordinary knight. A formidable figure in 16th-century Germany, he earned both fame and infamy as a mercenary, rebel, and folk hero. Born around 1480 into a minor noble family, Götz lived through the waning days of the medieval knight, when chivalry was giving way to gunpowder. But rather than fading into obscurity, he forged a legacy—quite literally. After losing his right hand to cannon fire during a siege, Götz commissioned a remarkable iron prosthetic that allowed him to continue fighting. With this mechanical marvel strapped to his arm, he returned to the battlefield, undeterred and unyielding. Götz’s life inspired Goethe’s 1773 drama Götz von Berlichingen, which helped turn the iron-handed knight into a lasting icon of rebellion and individual will.
A relief of Götz in Weisenheim am Sand with his famous quote: "Tell him, he can lick my arse". Credit: Wikimedia Commons
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