At the time, the westbank of the Rhine was under French occupation and the peasantry was happy to celebrate anyone who was able to thumb his nose at the law. The legend of Schinderhannes grew with every new escapade. The fact that Schinderhannes largely targeted Jews for robbery and extortion and left the peasants alone did not hurt his standing.

After things began to get too hot for him, Schinderhannes fled across the Rhine and enlisted in the Austrian Army under the assumed name of Jakob Schweikart. He was recognized, however, by a former associate, handed over to the French authorities and imprisoned in a tower of the medieval defensive wall of Mainz (the so called "Holzturm").