Hermann Löher
Hermann Löher (* 1595 in Münstereifel ; † November 12, 1678 in Amsterdam ) was a German mayor, city councilor and aldermen in Rheinbach . Löher became known for his writing against the persecution of witches .
Life
Löher was the son of the businessman Gerhard Löher. Around 1600 the political and economic situation had deteriorated so much that the Löher family moved to Rheinbach in the Archdiocese of Cologne . As a well-to-do long-distance trader, the family belonged to Rheinbach's upper class from the start. The fact that his father, Gerhard Löher, was elected mayor in 1610, suggests that he had already held a number of offices.
In Rheinbach, Hermann Löher attended the local parish school and took over his father's business at the age of 15 in 1610 when he became mayor. In 1618 Hermann Löher married Kunigunde Frembgen. He had eight children with her. One year after his marriage, Hermann Löher was granted citizenship in Rheinbach.
When his father Gerhard Löher died in 1625, Hermann Löher not only took over all business, but also all public offices. In 1627 he became mayor for one year and in 1631 a lay judge at the local court. In June of this year the first witch trial took place in Rheinbach . Several women are accused in quick succession, for whose trials the bailiff Heinrich Degenhard Schall von Bell (a brother of Adam Schall von Bell ) appoints the witch commissioner Franz Buirmann as an expert.
When Löher's mother-in-law was also accused in 1636, he fled with his family to Amsterdam and settled there as a merchant. There he could no longer assume the social rank that he had held in Rheinbach. When in 1659 his friend Abraham Palingh , an Anabaptist, published a work on the persecution and trials of witches, he was persuaded to share his view of things.
In 1676 Löher was finally able to publish his work Hochnötige Unterthanige Wemütige Klage Der Pious Invalid . This includes the writing by Michael Stappert (Michael Stapirius) on witch trials and descriptions of the work of the witch judge Heinrich Schultheiss .
Two years later, Hermann Löher died in Amsterdam at the age of 83.
Rehabilitation of victims of the witch trials
A memorial stone for Hermann Löher and his father Gerhard is in the St. Martin cemetery in Rheinbach. It was built on April 30, 1685 by Hermann's son Bartholomäus.
In 1905 the city council in Rheinbach, Hermann Löher and as decided wizards murdered Dr. Vogt To dedicate one street to Andreas Schweigel.
Based on the information provided by the eyewitness Hermann Löher, the Rheinbach City Council decided on June 11, 2012 to rehabilitate the victims of the local witch trials .
Works
- The wistful lament of the pious innocent: a lay judge criticizes the witch hunt. Nix, Hoffeld 1997, ISBN 3-9803297-7-1 (reprint of the Amsterdam 1676 edition)
literature
- Thomas Becker: Hermann Löher's "wistful lament". An eyewitness account of the witch hunt in a small town in the Rhineland , in: zeitenblicke 1 (2002), No. 1 (July 8, 2002).
Web links
- Literature by and about Hermann Löher in the catalog of the German National Library
- Wolfgang Kaes : Hermann Löher and his "Wemütige Klage" against the witch hunt , General-Anzeiger Bonn, July 1, 2013
- Hermann Löher (1595–1678), opponent of the witch hunt in the Rhineland
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Löher, Hermann |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German mayor, city councilor and aldermen |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1595 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Münstereifel |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 12, 1678 |
| Place of death | Amsterdam |