Barbara Dietrich

Barbara Dietrich (also Barbara Dietrichin) (born April 9, 1680 in Ingolstadt ; † September 20, 1704 ibid.) Was the last victim of the witch hunt in Ingolstadt .

Witch trial

Barbara Dietrich was the youngest child of the day worker Konrad Dietrich and his wife Maria. She had five older siblings, four brothers and one sister.

In the summer of 1704, the unmarried Barbara Dietrich was arrested in Ingolstadt at the age of 24. At the assembly of councilors on September 15, 1704, she was tried for child murder and the devil's pact ("in causa infanticidii et congressus diabolici"). The mayor Johann Wilhelm Maier applied for the red-hot pliers to be used on the convict's arm, first in the city and later at the place of execution before the beheading and cremation. The council agreed to the execution, but without the red-hot tongs. The very next day, the defendant was brought from prison to the dock in the town hall in front of the council. There the city teacher Johann Baptist Diepold read out all the points of her confession. After confirming all the charges, she was returned to the tower and the death sentence was officially pronounced on her. The parish preacher of the Upper Parish, a priest from the Jesuit order, was assigned to provide spiritual assistance during her last days.

The convict had asked that the sentence be carried out on a Saturday. This request was granted on the grounds that most of her misdeeds were committed on a Saturday. On Saturday, September 20, 1704, the so-called "Maleficent Day" was held. Under the direction of the mayor and electoral councilor Dr. Franz Ignaz Crollolanza, the members of the Inner and Outer Council gathered in cloak and sword in the town hall. All those present, beginning with Mayor Crollolanza and Mayor Johann Siebenhärl, had to swear the verdict, which was confirmed again by the city magistrate. In the presence of the delinquent, he broke the staff over her at his red-covered table and let the death or maleficence bell ring until the public verdict was announced. Then the executioner Ignaz Pflügler was called and ordered to execute the convicted woman with the sword and then to burn her. After the executioner had asked for safe conduct, the city administrator was commissioned to ensure this. Barbara Dietrich was brought through the city to the execution site in the south, where she was publicly executed. She was the last woman to be executed for witchcraft in Ingolstadt.

Web links

• Danger of war and witchcraft - the year 1704 in Ingolstadt. Edmund Hausfelder, accessed June 14, 2020 .