The Gallows Fields

THE hangout spot for death row inmates!

We would like to challenge you to enter the gallows field of Amsterdam. A stroll through the fields is never going to be the same again. Will you be able to get out of here unscathed?

You’ll end up in the far corners of Amsterdam whilst fleeing from witch hunters and corrupt judges: the gallow fields!
The place where those sentenced to death hang around ... literally!

It looks like there isn’t a single living soul, apart from the crows, rats and other vermin. The smell of decaying flesh makes sure you are on your guard.

Then suddenly a dodgy individual appears right in front of you. Now the real misery starts.

Separated from your friends and loved ones, you’ll now have to find a way out of Amsterdam’s field of corpses. Will you be able to survive?

Historical background

Outside the city, on a small headland on the northern bank of the IJ, lay Amsterdam’s gallows field. It was known as Volewijck. Criminals sentenced to death were executed on the Dam. As an additional punishment, the body of an executed person might subsequently be taken to the gallows field to be put on display. Those hanged were suspended from a gallows, those strangled were tied to a post, and those broken on the wheel were placed on a wheel. The bodies would then be ‘eaten by the birds and consumed by the air’. The rotting corpses were intended to deter people. They served as a ‘horrifying example’. All incoming ships could see the gallows field. In this way, those on board knew that crime was punished in Amsterdam. For the people of Amsterdam, it was a source of entertainment. They liked to go there on Sundays to look at the gallows with their children.

Great attention was paid to the overall presentation. For instance, those executed were displayed alongside the weapon with which they had committed their crime. Burglars had a bunch of keys placed above their heads, murderers the murder weapon, and a woman who had murdered her child even had a wooden doll nailed above her head.
Over time, the skeletal remains were buried in a mass grave.