Helena Curtens
Helena Mechthildis Curtens (* after 1722 in Gerresheim ; † August 19, 1738 there ) was arrested at the age of 14 and sentenced to death almost two years later in the last witch trial on the Lower Rhine .
Rumors of "ghostly apparitions" noticed by the 14-year-old led to her arrest. Even before she was arrested, Curtens also accused the neighbor Agnes Olmans of “ wooing black people”, that is, sexual intercourse with the devil . While the girl also accused herself, Agnes Olmans denied all allegations and was ready to submit to a witch test by immersion in water. But the court refused, as their use was no longer permitted according to the court rules.
Curtens was executed by cremation on August 19, 1738 together with Agnes Olmans, the mother of three daughters .
Remembrance and rehabilitation
Since 1989, the Gerresheimer Hexenstein artwork in the Gerresheim district of Düsseldorf has been a reminder of the two women ( map ). It was carved from Anröchter dolomite by the artist Gabriele Tefke and bears the following inscription:
"THE DIGNITY / OF HUMANS IS INVALIBLE / HELENE M. CURTENS AND AGNES OLMANNS / BURNED IN GERRESHEIM ON August 19, 1738 / AFTER THE LAST WITCH PROCESS ON THE LOWER RHINE / AND FOR EVERYONE TORNED AND OUTDOORED"
District Representation 7, Düsseldorf-Gerresheim, decided on November 22, 2011 to name a place after the two women. This place with the witch memorial stone at the corner of Dreher and Schönaustraße is called Helena-Curtens-und-Agnes-Olmans-Platz .
literature
- Clemens-Peter Bösken: Rescue of honor for judge Schwarz: the trial against Agnes Olmans and Helene Curtens from a legal perspective. In: Around d. Quadenhof (Düsseldorf-Gerresheim) 46 (1995)
- Benedikt Mauer (Hrsg.): Witch hunt. Four lectures in memory of Helena Curtens and Agnes Olmans from Gerresheim . Small series of publications by the Düsseldorfer Geschichtsverein, issue 2, Klartext Verlag, Essen 2014, ISBN 978-3-8375-1362-2 , 102 pages, color images
- Erika Münster-Schröer: "Deadly erudition". The Düsseldorf witch trial 1737/38, in: Late witch trials. Bielefeld 2016. pp. 35–53.
See also
Web links
- Helena Curtens in the portal Rheinische Geschichte
- historicum.net: Lexicon on the history of witch persecution: witch persecution in Düsseldorf
- Latest research results
- Gerresheim / Hexengedenkstein , website in the portal wiki-de.genealogy.net
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alexander Meier: The witch memorial stone in Gerresheim, Düsseldorf . Elaboration at the Heinrich-Heine-Gesamtschule, November / December 2004, website in the portal fkoester.de , accessed on December 21, 2014
- ↑ Illustration of the inscription of the witch memorial stone in the portal wiki-de.genealogy.net , accessed on December 21, 2014
- ↑ When the witch hunt came to an end ... , website from December 19, 2014 in the duesseldorf.de portal , accessed on December 21, 2014
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Curtens, Helena |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Curtens, Hellene Mechthildis; Curtens, Helene |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | last German victim of the witch trials |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1722 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Gerresheim |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 19, 1738 |
| Place of death | Gerresheim |