Punker of Rohrbach

Punker [ˈpʊŋkɐ] is a legendary figure of the 15th century from the German village of Rohrbach (now part of the city of Heidelberg).

According to the Malleus Maleficarum (German: Hexenhammer) (II,16), around 1430 there was an extremely accurate archer named Punker who was rumoured to possess supernatural powers. It was said that he had enabled the capture of a castle (castrum Lendenbrunnen, presumably Lindelbrunn near Dahn) almost single-handed with deadly shots from his bow. In addition a legend about him, similar to one told about the Swiss William Tell, is recounted in Malleus Maleficarum. Alexander Schöppner incorporated this legend as The Bavarian Tell (Der bayerische Tell) in his collection Book of Legends of the Bavarian Land (Sagenbuch der Bayerischen Lande, 1852).