Anna Maria Sterck

Anna Maria Sterck (* 1668 in Engelswies ( lordship of Gutenstein , Grafschaft Sigmaringen ; today part of Inzigkofen ), † September 22, 1679 in Sigmaringen ) was a girl who was persecuted as a witch and executed despite her childhood.

Title page of the Anna Maria Sterck file: “Urgicht unndt Bekhanthnuss Maria Sterckhin, an 11-year-old girl from Engelschwiss afflicted with witchcraft”, 1679.

Life

Anna Maria Sterck came from the simplest of backgrounds in Engelswies. She had a brother Johannes who was two years younger than her . When the children became orphans (1676 at the latest), they were taken into the family of Hans Kickenmayer. Soon after the admission, the foster family found it difficult to support the children. In 1676, Hans Kickenmayer complained to the government in Sigmaringen about this situation and about the children themselves. He told about the children "stories of witches" and that their behavior was noticeable: they lay in bed together "like two married couples". Apparently, Sigmaringen didn't bother about it.

But the situation worsened. At the beginning of 1678 the Kickenmayer family was determined to get rid of the children at all costs, they even planned a murder. But this came out, which forced the Sigmaringen government to deal with the case again. Since the Kickenmayer family accused the children of witchcraft, they were summoned to the government chancellery on March 28, 1678. During the interrogation Anna Maria willingly reported that her father, the sorcerer, had taught her witchcraft and that she had gone out with him to the witch's dance. When urged, she also admitted that she had an incestuous relationship with her brother. She also said that the devil figure Jockele "took blood from his heart" to write down her name. Despite this and other confessions, the children were sent home again. Apparently, Sigmaringen did not know how to deal with this case. The girl evidently had a vivid imagination and she absorbed the widespread belief in witches without realizing how dangerous this was. From today's perspective, something like this seems understandable. In this way Anna Maria escaped from the life in which she had to feel superfluous and annoying. In her memory her father appeared to be the savior.

On November 26, 1678, the Sterck siblings were finally imprisoned in Sigmaringen Castle . Several interrogations were carried out during the months of detention. Most of the time, no coercion was used, but sometimes threats and rod blows were used to help. The children confessed to the typical “witch crimes”. After about six months, Johannes Sterck died of smallpox in prison on April 16, 1679 . Anna Maria Sterck was later sentenced to death by beheading. Since the "witches" were usually burned alive, this judgment was a mercy. After the execution of the judgment on September 22, 1679 in Sigmaringen, the girl was buried in the cemetery, which was usually not the case.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Lara A. Sauer: Sentenced to death at the age of eleven ...

literature

• Lara A. Sauer: Sentenced to death at the age of eleven. How the witch craze hit children too . In: "Archivnachrichten - Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg" 53, 2016, ISSN  1437-0018 , p. 46.
• Herbert Gutschera : The case of the Sterck siblings . In: Rainer Lachmann, Herbert Gutschera (Hrsg.): Church history basic themes . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-525-61422-8 , p. 122 f.