Anna Katharina Spee

Burning of three witches in Derneburg, 1555, leaflet, 16th century

Anna Katharina Spee , née Anna Katharina Nürberg (* 1590 in Rheinbrohl ; † shortly after September 20, 1631 in Erpel ) lived in Bruchhausen and was a victim of the witch persecution .

Life

Anna Katharina was born around 1590 as the youngest daughter of Bailiff Apollonarius Nurenberg (first names also Anlis, Naliß or Nalis, last name also Neurberg, Nürnberg or Nurnbergh) and his 2nd wife Margaretha Homberg, daughter of the old-time rent master Mathias Homberg in Rheinbrohl. Apollinarius Nurenberg was saynian between 1584 and 1607 (LHAK 56 No. 1584) and from 1607 electoral trier bailiff in Rheinbrohl, so he has the denominational fronts (Rheinbrohl under Count Heinrich IV. Von Sayn-Sayn +1606 Lutheran, then under Lothar von Metternich, Elector and Archbishop of Trier Catholic again). Nurenberg was obviously in economic difficulties, because on November 6, 1620 Archbishop Lothar von Metternich confirmed the sale of the goods of Rheinbrohler Vogts Nalis Nürnberg to the Leutesdorf mayor Cuno Schmitz in order to settle the claims of the provost of Kaiserswerth.

Anna Katharina married in Rheinbrohl around 1610 Robert Spee, about 30 years her senior, a half-brother or cousin of the Jesuit father Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld . Friedrich Spee had published his book Cautio Criminalis against the witch trials in May 1631 .

Her husband Robert Spee von Langenfeld, who came from Kaiserswerth , became an official of the Cologne Cathedral Chapter after studying law in Dole / Burgundy. From around 1609/10 he lived in the Spee-Burg von Bruchhausen (today: Waldstrasse 28). He owned a considerable property.

The Spee couple had five children: Johann Jakob and Agnes and three daughters living in the monastery: Susanna in Neuss, Margaretha and Gertrud in Linz . Robert Spee died on January 14, 1629 at the age of 70 and was buried in the choir of the Bruchhausen Church . Spee's coat of arms can still be seen on the keystone in the choir: a red rooster on a silver background. Robert Spee's grave slab is now on the outside wall of the church; but the writing can hardly be read.

The 40-year-old Anna Katharina Spee inherited two houses in Rheinbreitbach and Sohlscheid, vineyards and fields in Ariendorf , Erbrenten in the Asbach parish and estates in Nieder- and Oberbreitbach from her husband Robert . About a year after the death of her husband, the rich widow married the groom Konrad Cron. Soon the villagers accused her of immoral behavior during the marriage, including fornication - also with clergy. It was said that she married Konrad Cron against the children's wishes. In addition, the neighbors spread the rumor that Anna Katharina Spee had a child from her brother-in-law Robert a long time ago.

Witch trial

In the spring of 1631 witch trials began in Erpel with at least 20 executions: including 18 women and 2 men under the witch commissioner Dr. Jan Möden. In these witch trials, the rumors about Anna Katharina Spee reappeared in the statements made by women who had already been accused. Among others, the accused Els Istfels said her godmother Anna Katharina Spee as a "witch". At the beginning of September 1631, among others, Baw Jans Gritten zu Orsberg and Margarete Faßbender zu Unkel declared that they had seen Anna Katharina dancing as a witch queen in stately clothes at a sumptuous meal. The late husband Robert Spee would also have been a "colonel" (devil). Most of the accusations against Anna Katharina related to her property and the outstanding position of the Spee family. In addition, there were rumors about the rich widow's allegedly immoral lifestyle. Witches Commissioner Dr. Möden signed the arrest warrant for Anna Katharina Spee on September 6, 1631 in Erpel.

She was arrested on Tuesday, September 9th, and was amicably interrogated the next day. She confessed to the allegations of a "casual lifestyle", but complained that when she was thirteen she and her brother-in-law Robert had "fallen" from the Brugh and had a child (she was presumably raped). Marriage to Konrad Cron a year after Robert Spee's death was ruled adultery by the court. Dr. Katharina dismissed Möden's accusation of magical damage and participation in the witch's dance.

The court demanded confessions about the devil's pact , devil's allegiance and sorcery. But she refused to say: “I cannot confess what I have not done!” Under the torture she shouted: “Tell me what to confess!” During the torture on the barbed chair, Father Ernst, a Franciscan, performed on her an exorcism . Eventually she collapsed from the torture and confessed to attending the Sabbath as a witch queen.

On Monday, September 15, at 5:15 pm, the interrogation took place in the “meat bank” in the Steinen-Haus. The next day she declared that she wanted to live and die on what she said, but if “she should take it for her bliss, she couldn't do it!” Despite her confession, witch commissioner Dr. The torture interrogation with leg screws and winding continues. However, she still didn't want to admit that she was a sorceress. According to the protocol, she prayed aloud: "May God persist in your innocence regarding sorcery ... God will do a sign".

It is believed that she revoked some statements after the torture because she was tortured again in the barbed chair. In return for a deposit of 100 thalers, Anna Katharina asked for a reflection period. After further threats of torture, Anna Katharina confirmed everything the judges wanted to hear on September 19. She said u. a., Johann Zweiffel's child - before her marriage to Robert Spee - was her eldest daughter Anna Margrit, currently a nun in the monastery in Linz. Her parents would not have allowed the marriage to Zweiffel, who was also her brother-in-law. After reading the record, the death sentence followed.

On September 20, the court made her will and distributed her property. Most of the fortune replaced - strangely enough - debts of her father, Narleß Nürberg. Their children only got a relatively small percentage. The Linz monastery was also given consideration. The court granted her another special wish: in the event that her children died without an offspring, a mass should be read for them every Saturday from the remaining assets.

The end of the protocol of the witch trial is not recorded. Nevertheless, it is certain that the court carried out Anna Katharina Spee's death sentence shortly after September 20, 1631. She was driven through the Kasbachtal on a cart above Severinsberg - accompanied by many curious people. After about half an hour the procession reached the place of justice "in the owl hole". There Anna Katharina Spee was strangled and burned. This ended the witch trials in Erpel.

The fate of Anna Katharina Spee is still connected to the votive picture of the Sorrowful Mother Mary in the parish and pilgrimage church of St. Johann Baptist in Bruchhausen. It was donated in 1636 by the children of Anna Katharina Spee after she was burned as the witch queen of Bruchhausen . The oil painting still hangs there today. The writing in the black wooden frame indicates the names of the donors who kneel in front of Maria - relatively small - in the picture: Johann Jakob Spee and Agnes Spee with their husband Andreas Bachem (descendants of the respected Rhenish family Bachem still exist today). After 1636 there is no longer any sign of life from Johann Jakob Spee, Anna Catharina Spee's son. It is said that he emigrated to America.

In 1675 Margaretha Spee (died 1676), who lived in Bruchhausen after her time in the monastery, had problems with the payment for the masses of her mother, who was executed 44 years ago. The sale of a yard in the castle resulted in a financial settlement between Margaretha Spee and the parish church in Bruchhausen. The foundation, established in 1675, guarantees the financing of a mass for Anna Katharina and her family every Saturday until today.

Her brother-in-law, the Jesuit father Friedrich Spee , spoke out a few months before her trial in his book "Cautio Criminalis" as one of the first people of his time to speak out publicly against witch trials.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Rainer Decker: New sources on Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld and his family , in: Westfälische Zeitschrift 165 (2015) p. 160 .
2. ↑ Heinz Finger: Friedrich Spees origin and name . In: Heinz Finger (ed.): Friedrich Spee. Priest, admonisher and poet . Exhibition catalog, Cologne 2008, p. 25f.
3. ↑ Adolf Kettel: witch trials in the county of Gerolstein and in the adjacent Kurtrierischen offices Prüm and Hillesheim . In: Franz / Irsigler (ed.): Hexenglaube and witch trials in the Rhine-Mosel-Saar area . Trier 1996, p. 376
4. ^ Gisela Born-Siebicke: Anna Katharina Spee (1590-1631) witch queen of Bruchhausen . In: Frauenbüro Neuwied (ed.): From woman to woman . Neuwied 1993. p. 134
5. ↑ Elmar Wiegelmann: The Vesper picture from Bruchhausen . Parish of St. Johann Baptist. Bruchhausen 1999, p. 10
6. ↑ Hetty Kemmerich: Says what I should confess , Lesing-Verlag, Dortmund 2004, p. 227f. Elmar Wiegelmann: The Vesper picture from Bruchhausen , p. 11.
7. ^ Adolf Kettel: clerics in the witch trial. Examples from the Manderscheider territories and the Trier region . In: Franz / Irsigler (ed.): Methods and concepts of historical witch research , Trier 1998, p. 188.
8. ^ Gisela Born-Siebicke: Anna Katharina Spee (1590-1631) witch queen of Bruchhausen . In: Frauenbüro Neuwied (ed.): From woman to woman . Neuwied 1993. p. 143.
9. ↑ Elmar Wiegelmann: The Vesper picture from Bruchhausen . Parish of St. Johann Baptist, p. 17.
10. ^ Gisela Born-Siebicke: Anna Katharina Spee (1590-1631) witch queen of Bruchhausen . In: Frauenbüro Neuwied (ed.): From woman to woman . Neuwied 1993. p. 145.