The spot was supposedly chosen for its lovely setting, in the hope that the condemned prisoner's punishment would thereby seem all the worse. It might also have been chosen for the chilling effect that the sight of the hanged criminal would have. There are also the iron bands that hold the six-metre-tall red sandstone posts together. These were replaced long ago. Allegedly, they were torn out in 1814 by some Cossacks who were camping here so that they could shoe their horses. Around the gallows stand seven lindens that serve as a reminder of the old “Thing’s” jurisdiction. There stood a so-called "Zentlinde" (“tithe linden”), before which sentences were passed. The tree is said to have stood at the town's current outskirts, but no trace of it remains today.