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BERGER MODEL - MAHOGANY

The model shown in the trick photo on the left is a close replica of the 1872 Berger Model guillotine as it existed in 1907 when the picture on the right was taken. The B&W photo is part of a set made in the alley beside the storage building, where the guillotines were kept, on Rue Folie-Regnault. The model is made of mahogany rather than the oak of the original because mahogany has a finer grain that looks better in 1/6 scale than the coarse oak grain. The basket shown with the model is made of mahogany, steel and hemp rope with brass hardware. The rope is stained and varnished which make the fibers stick together and look like the cane that was used in the real basket construction. Inside the basket is a full zinc liner as can be seen in the pictures of the dilapidated Saigon guillotine (See "L'art de bien couper" website).

This is another comparison shot between the model and one of the official 1907 photographs. This time the pictures are taken from the rear. The similarities are obvious but a few differences can also be noted. The oak shield, sitting to the side, was designed to surround the zinc tub to prevent blood spraying during the execution. It has been called the "photographer's" shield, refering to the executioner's assistant in charge of pulling the head of the condemned into the lunette. He was known as "the photographer". The rear support braces differ slightly in the shape of the lower attachment tabs at the base frame. On the model the bascule has been left in the upright position and can be seen above the lunette, while it is in the horizontal position in the 1907 photograph. The 1907 pictures were taken during a "lull" in the executions in France when President Falliere systematically commuted all death sentences. No executions took place from 1905 to 1909 when public opinion turned against Falliere for commuting the sentence of the murderous pedophile, Soleilland. Public pressure forced him to refuse pardon to the next group of thugs awaiting the guillotine. Thus, in January 1909, the executions resumed with a quadruple affair in Bethune, where the "Bandits of Hazebrouck", led by the Pollet brothers, met their fate.

My Berger guillotine models can be completely disassembled as seen in the shots on the left, where I have arranged the parts of two dismantled mahogany models as they would have been stored in Deibler's Folie-Regnault garage or in the shed at Fresnes prison. The lower photo shows one of my best copies of the mouton, which includes cast bronze rollers and a steel spike nearly identical in shape to the real one
After 1872, the real guillotine was always transported from city to city (and after 1939 from prison to prison) to execute condemned criminals. There was only one execution team and 2-3 guillotines for all of France. After 1977, executions for all of France were to take place at the Fresnes prison near Paris, however no one was executed there before the Death Penalty was abolished in 1981.
The design of the modern guillotine was optimized not only to make it easily transportable but also to allow quick and silent assembly required to keep the condemned prisoner unaware of the events to follow until the last minute. French law, unlike US law, specified that the condemned person must not know the time or date of his execution.
The model is designed to be taken apart along the same lines as the real machine. The bascule assembly is secured to the machine with just two nuts at the front and a single bolt at the rear. The lunette is simply slipped in and out of position through a cut-out in the left track and does not require any other assembly. All the main wood members lock together via mortise and tenon joints. Eighteen custom-machined bolts are threaded into embedded metal plates at all the main connecting points between the T-braces, frame, uprights, chapiteau and bascule support. As these bolts are removed the entire machine breaks down into assemblies that were easy to move. After dissassembly, the left post was stripped of the rope storage hooks, the lever and lever bracket were removed, the lunette lock button was pushed in and secured with a screw and the lever rest knob was unscrewed, leaving the post without any protrusions and making it easier to handle.
One of the benefits of copying the design of the real machine down to the connection details is that it makes my models very strong and rugged.

THE SWEDISH GUILLOTINE - 1910

The pictures below are a series of comparison shots of two of my best models against the real Swedish guillotine. Sweden purchased it from France between 1903, when the death penalty law was changed from axe decapitation to guillotine decapitation, and 1910 when the only guillotine decapitation took place. Johan Alfred Ander was the murderer who lost his head on this machine on November 23, 1910 becoming the last person to be executed in Sweden as well. The photographs are taken at "Nordiska Museet" in Stockholm.

This shot shows the blade and chapiteau (Top crossbar) from the condemned man's point of view. On the right side is the 1910 Berger guillotine from Sweden and on the left is my 1/6 scale model. Although the guillotine was designed to be a very humane execution device, it still elicited incredible fear and respect among it's victims. According to the writings of several of the famous French executioners, the criminals were almost always drawn to stare at the blade as they approched the machine. This prompted Nicolas Roch, the head executioner of France from 1872 to 1879, to add a wood shield in front of the blade to hide it from his "customers". This "improvement" was undone by Louis Deibler who followed Roch in the job. The picture of the model shows the rope designed to raise the blade and the hook used to store it. The lifting ring can be seen beside the left upright. The spike protudes from the top of the mouton and is firmly held in the steel jaws of the release mechanism and the top of the pulley can be seen above the chapiteau. The model's tempered steel blade is made by a professional Swiss knife maker. It is partially painted black as it was on the French machine while on the Swedish machine it was left unpainted. The mouton of the real machine weighed 30 kg, the blade 7 kg and the three bolts 1 kg each for a total assembly weight of 40 kg (or 88 Lbs). On the model the assembly weighs about 1.75 Lbs.

Here is another pair of photographs showing the 1910 Berger guillotine from Sweden and my 1/6 scale model. This is a view of the top of the chapiteau with the pulley and the bolts. The specially designed bolts with the "cheese box" head appeared around 1900. A steel rod was inserted through the hole in the head to tighten or loosen the bolts while on older guillotines a wrench was used on more common square head bolts. The height of the bolt heads seems to have varied from machine to machine. As can be seen here, the swedish machine used taller bolt heads at the top of the chapiteau compared to other Berger machines. These variations give model builders some flexibility to pick and choose features they will use on a specific model without building something that is obviously incorrect. The model bolts are made from regular hex-head machine screws that are first drilled then turned on a lathe. The pulley on most Berger guillotines was of the design seen here with six, petal-shaped, spokes and a wide gutter-like groove. The model utilises a custom cast bronze copy of the real pulley design in 1/6th scale. The rope on the real machine is not of the proper design. It is too thin and lacks the metal 8-ring and tether string used to pull it free of the mouton hook. The chapiteau of the real machine was made of several pieces of wood glued or bolted together. Likewise my model chapiteau is laminated from two pieces of mahogany.

These two pictures show a close-up of the claw and spike mechanism that holds up the mouton and blade. On the Swedish machine, the claw has been wired shut as a safety precaution. Behind the spike, the hook, used to attach the rope, is visible. The lower edge of the door that covers the mechanism compartment can be seen at the top of both pictures.

These are taken from the back side of the machine, showing the lunette, T-braces and the shield. The real lunette is lined with brass, which has oxidized and taken a green-grey color barely distinguishable from the rest of the machine. My model uses a copper liner secured with miniature steel screws. The rear T-braces and their cheese-box head screws are visible on both photos. On the model the blade spring stop is also visible, while it is lost in the shadow on the picture of the real machine. The photographer's shield on the real machine was hinged so it could be folded flat during transportation.

These views from underneath the bascule show the bucket that was used to catch the severed head and any spills from the execution. On the real machine, the C-brace, that holds the posts together, is missing and consequently the bucket has been pushed too far back. With the brace in place, as seen on the model, only the low part of the bucket can be pushed beyond the uprights. On both pictures, the post hinge can be seen to the left.

Another pair of views of the area under the bascule where the position of the bucket can be seen. Also a clear view of the rear bascule support and the T-braces. Note that the real machine has two bolts securing the rear brace to the base frame. On the model a single bolt is used at each location. These double-bolts are a feature unique to the Swedish Berger machine, not found on any of its French counterparts.

A good bird's eye view of the two machines showing the inside of the body basket. The zinc liner is visible on the Swedish machine while the model has a layer of sawdust at the bottom of the liner as was done for real executions. Despite the different picture angles the proportions and design of the machines are remarkably similar. The metal cross brace spanning the uprights is seen on the model, above the lunette but was forgotten on the real machine. Note the two water buckets beside the real guillotine, used to wash down the machine after the execution.

A pair of photos looking at the lunette from the front of the machine show the bascule plank and cradle, the T-braces, the uprights with the lunette locking mechanism embedded in the left one, the side board hinged from the right side of the bascule and sloped toward the basket. The model is finished with stain and oil, then "aged" with flat black paint rub. The real machine was completely painted with a reddish-brown oil paint, which has faded over the years.

This pair of photos shows the pulley from the side and the mechanism door with its locking pin. The frame that holds the pulley is formed from a single piece of flat steel bar folded in five places to make the mounting tabs as well as the arch. I was able to replicate the real design exactly on the model.

Side view of the release lever and top of the lunette lock. The lever on the real machine on the left is drooping because the pull rod isn't connected to the mechanism in the chapiteau (for safety reasons). The model shows the normal position of the pull lever when it is connected. Below are some additional detail shots of the two models and two execution scenes created by Jose Jimenez, using 1/6th scale custom figures.