The Devil of Zubstein

The Devil of Zubstein: feast in number seven

The year is 1916. While Europe is ravaged by the First World War, the private madness of shoemaker Alois Dospíšil is taking place in the remote village of Kobylnice near Bystřice nad Pernštejnem. The strange man, who dresses up as the devil and haunts pilgrims at the ruins of Zubštejn Castle, comes into conflict with the local gamekeeper Kolář. After the gamekeeper shoots at him in the forest, something breaks in Dospíšil. He murders brutally, with a hoe, with cold-blooded ritualism. The story escalates when the missing gamekeeper's family arrives at the shoemaker's cottage. The killer, sitting silently by the stove, does not send them away, but gestures for them to look into the pot where the father's head is cooking. The perpetrator of the shocking crime ended up in an insane asylum.
The film could follow the decay of a human mind isolated from society and the contrast between the "big" war outside and the brutal "small" tragedy inside a village.

Plot location: Destination Crown Highlands. The specific locations of the plot are the village of Kobylnice (a local part of Koroužné), in particular the house No. 7, the surrounding forests and the ruins of Zubštejn Castle, where incidents in the guise of the devil occurred.

Characters:

• Alois Dospíšil: A shoemaker, recluse and oddball whose mental illness deepens under the influence of isolation and wartime misery.
• Hajný Kolář: A representative of order and authority who tries to put a stop to the shoemaker's rampage, thus sealing his fate.
• The Old Woman: a victim of the Dospíšil's haunting, who sets off a chain of events.

The event actually happened in June 1916. It reflects the contemporary atmosphere of World War I, when society was exhausted and individual psychological disturbances could easily escalate into uncontrolled violence. The story of the "Devil of Kobylnice" has become a regional legend.

Copyright and contact details:

The story is a historical event more than 100 years old (the personality rights of the perpetrator and the victim have expired). The event was covered by the media as early as 1916 (National Politics) and later in the regional press and archives. As a consultant on the realities and historical context, one can contact the conservationist Jan Večera, who has been dealing with this case for a long time.