• Play:
• Song Name: Fernando Buschmann
• Artist: Historic Royal Palaces
• Album: Prisoners at the Tower of London
• Year: 2010

There had been no executions at the Tower of London for 160 years, but the outbreak of war in 1914 meant that it was necessary to find a suitable location for such deeds. A total of eleven men accused of spying on England for the benefit of Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm were executed at the Tower during the Great War. This podcast, created for the Tower of London’s 2010-11 ‘Prisoners and Punishment’ display, tells the moving story of one of these men - Fernando Buschmann. An accomplished violinist, Buschmann is said to have played his violin all through the night before his execution.

Produced by HRP Tower of London Education Service in conjunction with the Royal Armouries.

This podcast uses the following sound file from GRS (http://grsites.com):
• Firing squad (misc144.wav)
‘Vesti la Giubba’, from Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo, is played by the violinist Irina Pakkanen. Music performance owned by Historic Royal Palaces.