Anna Maßmeyer

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Anna Maßmeyer (* around 1615 as Anna Meyer ; † March 12, 1655 in Minden ) was a victim of the witch hunts of the city council of Minden. Her husband was the fisherman Heinrich Maßmeyer.

Engraving by Matthäus Merian .

Life

Family and first employment relationships

Maßmeyer came from a family whose female members were persecuted as witches for generations : Grandmother and aunt were burned in the witch persecution in Lübbecke , two cousins ​​and their daughter in Minden. After five years of service as a maid, she herself was rumored to be a witch from 1630 onwards. She had been in the service of the old Colner's cousin (Kollnersche) when she was arrested for alleged witchcraft. Then she changed employers several times. In 1638 she was dismissed by Heinrich Kosters after two years of service because of the witchcraft rumor. As a single maid, she was unable to defend herself against these allegations for financial reasons and because of a lack of education. She was very isolated socially, no one wanted to have contact with her anymore. She left the city and at the age of 23 joined Catharina Bogering in the service of Hans Harm, an innkeeper in Lahde in the Petershagen office . Both women returned to Minden in 1639. This Catharina Bogering spread the rumor everywhere that Anna Maßmeyer had been dismissed prematurely by her employer on suspicion of witchcraft. She also got involved with soldiers there. On the other hand, Anna said that she had resigned herself to look for a better employer. For four years she worked as a maid for Johann Konemann, later she was a day laborer and lived with Ilsche Osterwisch.

Marriage and accusations

Around 1645 she married the fisherman Heinrich Maßmeyer and moved to the fishing suburb of Minden. Her life took a tragic turn when, at Christmas 1653, Dorothea, wife of soldier Michael Schlor, accused Anna of poisoning her child with witchcraft. Anna hardly defended herself, and her husband did not support her. The suspicion of witchcraft against Anna solidified through the following public argument. Several illnesses and deaths have now been subsequently attributed to her, e.g. B. of a servant who had "a living creature like a snake or Eydex got out of his neck". It also caused the death of livestock. Anna protested that she was “not a fiend or a sorceress”. She asked for the water sample "to show her innocence to the day". In the eyes of the councilors, she was frivolously jeopardizing her honor. They began with the examination of witnesses, which, however, initially did not bring forward anything incriminating. The witnesses repeatedly referred to the many rumors of witchcraft and the inadequate defense against them on the part of Anna. The city council requested an expert opinion from the Rinteln Law Faculty with a request for the fastest possible processing. This arrived the next day. Anna was arrested on January 31, 1655 and confronted with the main witnesses. She again denied all allegations. When she was threatened with embarrassing interrogation , Anna repeated her request for the water sample to exonerate herself from the allegations. Should she fail, she could easily be put on the stake. She referred to the extensive witch hunts in Petershagen and Hausberge , where the water test was often carried out. During this period, 83 witch trials were carried out in the Principality of Minden .

Trial and Execution

After a night in prison, her executioner Peter Albrecht threatened torture . Anna broke down mentally and in the presence of the executioner and bailiff made the confession of the devil's pact : a man dressed in black by the name of Hans Federbusch with a "hand ... as a cow foot, the feet as a horse hoof" appeared to her. The municipal Syndicus Dr. Conrad Hoyer and Council Deputies Jürgen Weßeling, Johann vom Busch and Statz Lohrmann asked them to confess. Anna confessed to the devil's pact, damaging magic and participation in the witches' sabbath in Lübbecke, in Hausberge and in Minden on Kuhlenstrasse. However, she stressed that she had opposed the devil's offer. The next interrogation by the council court took place on February 3, 1655, but a short time later she revoked her new confession. Over the next twelve days, she was interrogated both "amicably" and "embarrassingly". Their statements varied constantly. The councilors used a ruse to persuade them to revoke all contradicting statements. In February 1655, the council obtained a second opinion from the Rinteln Law Faculty, which ordered an interrogation under torture. Thereupon Anna made another confession, but revoked it at the embarrassing neck court on March 7, 1655 on the Minden market square and requested the water sample again. On March 8, the water test was carried out with a boat on the so-called witch pond and came out negative for Anna. Now Anna's resistance was finally broken. While on the boat, she confessed everything the judges wanted to hear. On March 12, 1655, she publicly confirmed all points of the original gout , and the embarrassing throat judgment on the Minden market square sentenced her to death by beheading and burning her body.

See also

swell

  • Witch trial files (36 pages) KAM, City of Minden, B, No. 247 [old]
  • KAM, City of Minden, B, No. 250 [old]

literature

  • Barbara Groß: Witchcraft in Minden. On the social logic of witchcraft suspicions and witch trials (1584–1684). (Westphalia in the pre-modern era. Studies on medieval and early modern regional history, vol. 2), Münster 2009, Aschendorff Verlag, pp. 119–147

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Maßmeyer, Anna
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Maßmeyersche; Meyer, Anna (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Victims of the witch trials in Minden
DATE OF BIRTH around 1615
DATE OF DEATH March 12, 1655
Place of death Minden