The Sennhof was never a particularly secure prison at any point in its history. Even in the early 21st century, there were two classic prison breaks: in 2001, two inmates sawed through iron bars and escaped over the roof. Eight years later, two prisoners removed the window grilles and rappelled from the second floor using tied-together sheets. Another inmate employed a more unusual technique: he used window putty to create an impression of a security key and then fashioned a new key from a blank, allowing him to escape through the door. However, the most famous escapee from the Sennhof was Johann Stoffel, born in Vals in 1899, known as the "Escape King." In 1929, he initially pulled off an unconventional break-in: Stoffel climbed over a gutter and entered the Sennhof through an office window, stealing 400 Swiss Francs and a revolver. Shortly afterward, he was arrested and placed in the very prison he had broken into. The next day, he escaped from the Sennhof, was recaptured, and escaped again. The public found amusement in these events, and Stoffel even made it onto the official Chur Carnival plaque in 1930. More articles about the Sennhof: Link