Witch persecution in Sindelfingen

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From 1562 to 1684, 34 women were suspected of being witchcraft in the witch hunts in Sindelfingen . In contrast to many areas in Württemberg , more than half of the suspects were killed: 19 of the women accused were executed in witch trials .

Names of the victims of the witch trials

Witch trials 1562 to 1596

  • 1562 Anna Krumm, wife of the mayor Hans Krummen (case files not survived).
  • 1562 Margareta Summereisin, Jacob Summereisins Wittib, called Koppen Dillerin (trial files not handed down).
  • 1562 Agnes Summereisin, daughter of Margareta Summereisin, arrested, outcome unknown (trial files not preserved).
  • (1562 Three women from Böblingen and Schönaich were also sentenced to death by the Böblingen City Court.)
  • 1590 Deacon Johannes Cappler, 2nd pastor in Sindelfingen, opposed slander, was insulted as "witch-burgher" and, after an investigation by church councils, dismissed from parish service.
  • 1590 Magdalena Flicker, arrested on August 3rd, execution on December 23rd in Böblingen (Sindelfingen only became an independent office in 1605).
  • 1590 Lena Feigel, execution on December 23rd with Magdalena Flicker in Böblingen.
  • 1590 Dorle from Schönaich is executed on December 23 in Böblingen.
  • 1596 Sara Sauter, Barbara Breuninger and Gertrud Raith were summoned to the Sindelfingen town hall as blessing speakers in front of the mayor , pastor Georg Reipchius and other representatives of the church. Pastor Reipchius said of Barbara Breuninger: She was a bad woman and very suspicious of <Venefici> (poisoning or witchcraft) . The government councils in Stuttgart forbade women to use "unburdened drugs".

Witch trials 1609

In 1605 Sindelfingen became an independent office and independent of Böblingen. The Sindelfingen City Court met in the old town hall of the small town (with around 1400 inhabitants) and consisted of twelve men from the urban upper class. Vogt Wendel von Maur as deputy to the Duke of Stuttgart was the public prosecutor.

  • 1609 Sara Sauter was suspected of magical damage .
  • 1609 Margaretha Renck (Rinklin Greta), who lived "at the gate to Sindelfingen", received an eight-day prison sentence and a ban on medication.
  • 1609 death sentence against Agatha Eberwein.
  • 1609 death sentence against Ottilia Krumm.
  • 1609 death sentence against Margaretha Mögelin.

Vogt Wendel von Maur led his first witch trial against Agatha Eberwein, a poor old widow, in 1609. The parents of a sick child had accused her of magic harm (illness). Agatha Eberwein knew she was innocent and confessed nothing. The government in Stuttgart endorsed an indictment and demanded an opinion from the lawyers at the University of Tübingen . The bad reputation of the accused was serious for the territorial judgment (torture). Agatha Eberwein confessed to the torture and incriminated three other women. When they wanted to flee, the Vogt ordered an interrogation and confrontation with Agatha Eberwein. Ottilia Krumm would have participated in witch dances and weather making. Margaretha Mögelin, Ottilia Krumm's sister, would be the most distinguished of the witch society at the witches' Sabbath.

  • 1609 Barbara Breuninger died by fire in August. Barbara Breuninger had already been warned as a blessing spokeswoman in 1596. The Sindelfingen pastor Philipp Heerbrand warned the accused and confirmed the witchcraft rumors against the accused. Charges were brought against Ottilia Krumm and Margaretha Mögelin. After the torture verdict of the lawyers at the University of Tübingen, Ottilia Krumm and Margaretha Mögelin confessed to being witches under torture. On June 26, 1609, on the final legal day, Agatha Eberwein, Ottilia Krumm and Margaretha Mögelin were sentenced to death. The place of execution in Sindelfingen was probably on the Goldberg, where the gallows also stood. A few weeks later, 85-year-old Barbara Breuninger was on trial. Under the torture, she said those who had already been executed were "playmates" of the devil, as well as the women Sara Sauter, Katharina Heubacher and Irmula Straub.

Witch trial avalanche 1615 to 1616

In the avalanche of witchcraft trials from May 1615 to September 1616, 19 women were suspected of being involved in harmful magic and witchcraft. Twelve women lost their lives.

  • 1615 Judith Stick executed. Judith Stick was tortured in May. She was allegedly already involved in a witch trial in Vaihingen in 1589 . She could read, write, and was well versed in the Bible. She passed the theological questioning by the court with flying colors. 15 witnesses suspected them of the magic spell. A torture sentence was passed, but several instruments of torture were broken during the torture of the small, petite person. After the failure of the first ordeal, she was sued for a repeat torture. She tried in vain to bribe the Vogt with 50 guilders. In the second torture she confessed and said four other women were witches : Barbara Ada, Irmula Straub, Katharina Rohr and Katharina Heubacher. This belonged to the upper class, her brother was several times mayor and councilor. The council initially hesitated to investigate them, but feared popular discontent. All four of the women in question were charged, tortured, forced to confess and, like Judith Stick, executed.
  • 1615 Barbara Ada (Barbara Betz) executed. In 1611 Barbara Ada shouted out loud in a church service on June 29, 1611 during a sermon by Pastor Philipp Heerbrand about the great storm on June 26, 1611. She was then interrogated by Vogt Wendel von Maur in the town hall. She was suspected of causing the deaths of their husbands and of blessing. She did not confess under the torture and was initially released. In 1615 she was executed.
  • 1615 Irmula Straub executed.
  • 1615 Katharina Rohr executed.
  • 1615 Katharina Heubacher was executed.
  • 1615 Katharina Heininger executed
  • 1615 Barbara Flaitzer executed
  • 1615 Magdalena Hayd executed
  • 1615 Susanna Mögelin executed
  • 1615 Anna Sauter executed
  • 1616 Midwife Barbara Jung February 1616: torture, confession, execution.
  • 1616 Waldburga Pfau: Execution on October 1st, 1616. It was the last known burning of witches in Sindelfingen.
Zwo Hexen Zeitung, Tübingen 1616

Hexenzeitung Tübingen 1616

A so-called witch newspaper from Tübingen in 1616 drew attention to the witch persecution in 1615/1616 in the Württemberg authorities in Dornstetten , Leonberg and Sindelfingen (Sündelfingen): Zwo Hexenzeitung (...) The other: Outside the Hertzogthumb Würtenberg: Like the Hertzog zu Würtenberg in different places Witch burn started too. The Hertzog zu Würtenberg / also started the witch burning / in the cities / Dornstatt / Sündelfingen… . The text of this other witch newspaper from Würtenberg can be found at Wikisource.

Further suspicions of witchcraft from 1628 to 1684

  • 1628 Katharina Ada, the swineherd's wife, indictment failed
  • 1665 Hans Glaser announced that his wife was being slandered as a witch. The slanderer had to pay a fine of two guilders.
  • 1669 Anna Klotz, released from prison.
  • 1678 Michel Schäfer's housewife, suspicion of sorcery eliminated.
  • 1684 Margretha Meyer, the wife of the linen weaver Jacob Meyer, last investigation because of magic damage was stopped.

City history trail on the subject of witch hunt

In 2007, a city history trail on the subject of witch persecution was inaugurated in Sindelfingen with nine information boards and detailed information on the witch trials in the city from 1563 to 1616. Accompanying materials were developed to help schools deal more intensively with the city's history.

Sources and literature

  • Zwo Hexenzeitung (...) The other: Outside the Hertzogthumb Würtenberg: Like the Hertzog zu Würtenberg, the witch burning started in different places. Tübingen 1616. Württemberg State Library Stuttgart, Crim. R. 4 ° cap. 24
  • Zwo Hexen Zeitung (online)
  • Stadtarchiv Sindelfingen 143 (A large part of the original protocols about the local witch trials and individual fates are still in the city archive)
  • Main State Archive Stuttgart A 209 Bü 1856ff
  • Sindelfingen Chronicle of Pastor Georg Reipchius 1553 to 1598. Extracted from the oldest church book and provided with an introduction, notes and registers by Adolf Rentschler, last pastor in Möglingen. Publications of the Heimatgeschichtsverein für Schönbuch and Gäu eV Volume 5. Ed. By the Heimatgeschichtsverein für Schönbuch and Gäu, 1958. (Georg Reipchius (Reypchen) died on June 12, 1598 in Sindelfingen.)
  • Anita Bindner: "... with the fire from life to death ...", witch hunt in Sindelfingen , in: Horst Zecha (Ed.): Sindelfingen and its old town: a hidden treasure , City of Sindelfingen Culture and Education Office, Sindelfingen 2013, p. 427 -447

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Names of the victims of the witch trials / witch persecution Sindelfingen (PDF; 200 kB), accessed on May 9, 2016.
  2. ↑ Anita Bindner: "... with the fire from life to death ...", witch hunt in Sindelfingen , in: Horst Zecha (ed.): Sindelfingen and its old town: a hidden treasure , City of Sindelfingen Culture and Education Office, Sindelfingen 2013, p. 427-447
  3. ↑ Sindelfingen City Archives 143
  4. ^ Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart, Crim. R. 4 ° cap. 24.
  5. ^ Zwo Hexen Zeitung
  6. ^ Felix Bubner (Working Group RP Stuttgart): Sindelfingen - City Museum and Hexenpfad , accessed on April 30, 2016.
  7. ↑ School materials on the stations of the witch persecution in Sindelfingen (PDF), accessed on April 30, 2016. ( Memento of the original from January 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.schule-bw.de