4590: the ceremonies at a public execution such as Goethe had in mind here included the tolling of a bell (the ‘poor sinner’s bell’, Armesünderglöcklein) as the prisoner was conveyed through the streets to the scaffold, and the breaking of a white rod above his head in token of final condemnation. The prisoner was tied to a chair and beheaded with a special executioner’s sword.
4599 f.: Mephistopheles’ magic horses will vanish at daybreak.