A Metjen took Preetzen
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | A Metjen took Preetzen |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 2014 |
| length | 89 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Gerald Koll |
| script | Gerald Koll |
| production | Gerald Koll |
| music | Jörg Meyer |
| camera | Gerald Koll |
| cut | Friederike Anders |
| occupation | |
Preetzen is a German documentary directed by Gerald Koll from 2014 . The subject of the film is a witch trial in Kiel in 1676. The "Metjen habenens Preetzen" named in the title (the spelling follows the Kiel city protocol) is a historical figure. In April 1676, Anje Preetzen accused her stepmother of being a witch, thus triggering the inquisition proceedings . The film was produced in the style of an illustrated radio play and mainly presents copperplate engravings , woodblock prints and image sources from the 17th century .
content
On April 25, 1676, the Kiel city protocols mention "a Metjen took Preetzen". It complains that his stepmother does “ungodly things” and leads on the “gloomy bergk”. Two months later, two witches are burned - the last witches in Kiel. Was the small north German town under the spell of madness and witch hunters? Not at all. And yet it had to happen that way. The girl herself tells how it happened. Her name is Anje Preetzen and she is 350 years old. The memory of this girl is charged with pictures from the 17th century: with baroque paintings, wood prints, copperplate engravings and sources from the Kiel judiciary. A Metjen nahmens Preetzen is to let Anje Preetzens history, an illustrated radio play, an attempt to the past to speak.
The Maleficent Trial - a Chronicle
Europe and Kiel
For the period 1530–1700, historians in Europe reckon with around 60,000 (more recent estimates) to well over 100,000 (older estimates) executions of "witches". The figures also fluctuate for the territory of the German Reich. Some assume 20,000 victims, some 100,000. The following trend applies: the information on the extent had to be revised downwards in recent years. The number for Kiel can be determined more precisely. The files record 34 executions over a period of 130 years. Kiel is not one of the strongholds of witch hunts. For comparison: The Schleswig-Holstein area recorded 846 cases in the same period, including 600 executions. In 1676 there were various persecutions of witches in German-speaking countries. Since it is an inquisition procedure and not an accusation procedure, there is no private plaintiff. It is determined ex officio in the public interest. So the prosecutor is the authorities. In the present Kiel case from 1676 this means: Anje Preetzen does not appear as a prosecutor against her stepmother Trinke Preetzen, but as a witness.
The history of the Kiel trial
The 1676 trial in Kiel has a special history. It leads back eight years to a relative of the 1676 suspects. That relative is Teke Busch, charged with witchcraft. She was burned on March 13th, 1668 for "prosecuted and admitted to witness". No further witch burnings were recorded in Kiel in the next eight years. In 1675, Claus Rönnefeld was interrogated, tortured, condemned to hang for thievery and emergency discipline - and pardoned to death by beheading. His body is buried under the gallows. But the old case is by no means forgotten. He is still very well remembered by the Kiel council and also by the people of Kiel in 1676. The repute of the Busch / Preetzen family seems to be poisoned over the long term.
The course over time
April 25, 1676, Tuesday: A delegation from Kiel travels to the Bülk estate on the coast. Her squire Wolf von Buchwaldt called her because he heard a rumor about a woman from Kiel that needs to be investigated: witchcraft. The Kiel syndicus (Hennings) and a councilor (Petzolt) interrogate a maid who works at the Bülker Gut, according to the protocol, "a Metjen took preexe". The girl, her name is Anje Preetzen, states that her stepmother, Trinke Preetzen , who lives in Kiel, instructed her to do “all the trouble”, and that the stepmother in question also goes to the “gloomy mountain”. The girl also stated that the stepmother did “ungodly things” and “whore to Bülk”. Back in Kiel, the officials report to the mayor of Lengerke.
April 26, 1676, Wednesday: Drinking Preetzen from Kiel, who lives in a cellar in Flämische Strasse, is immediately arrested and taken to the town hall for interrogation. Drink deny everything. She states that she does not know Anje Preetzen. Anjes employer is asked to come to Kiel on April 29th to be confronted with her stepmother. Drink Preetzen remains in the prison of the town hall, the so-called Veste.
April 29, 1676, Saturday: There is no information about the course of the confrontation. According to the result, it can be assumed that the comparison led to the confirmation of the allegations.
May 1, 1676, Monday: An official procedure is initiated, Trinke Preetzen moved from the city prison to the so-called Büttelei, a heavily shielded tower with a torture chamber. This is where serious criminals end up. This is where the bailiff Paul Möller works. It is decided that Trinke will be questioned again and that Fiscalis (prosecutor) and Defensor (defense lawyer) will be installed. Whether the legal faculty of the Christian Albrechts University in Kiel, founded eleven years earlier, will be consulted with criminal law expertise has not been proven, but it has not been ruled out. Two of its most well-known representatives at the moment are Professors Samuel Reyher and Johann Daniel Major . The now officially opened procedure seems to be on the spot for seven weeks. Drinking suffers torture repeatedly .
June 19, 1676, Monday: The lawyers report. Drink was repeatedly tortured; meanwhile it is certain that she got involved with the devil, committed blasphemy, abused the wafer and incited the stepdaughter to witchcraft. In addition, Trinke testified that she went to the witch's dance with her father Hinrich Busch . Busch was her teacher. She takes that back at first, but after another ordeal she sticks to the statement. It is then decided to arrest Busch. He is employed by the city as a cattle keeper.
June 20, 1676, Tuesday: According to a decree, Hinrich Busch is arrested and tortured. A white area of skin called Trinke is found on his body that does not react to needle pricks (no pain, no blood) and is thus identified as a stigma / witch's mark . It is decided to continue the questioning. A comparison is also arranged for Hinrich and Trinke, and Fiskal and Defensor are also used for Hinrich Busch. Furthermore, "because of the ordeal should go ahead and let what is right happen".
June 27, 1676, Tuesday: The lawyers report that Hinrich Busch made a confession after the torture. His guilt for the witchcraft is certain. However, he can still be heard precisely on the basis of the nudes (which have not survived).
June 30, 1676, Friday (the Julian calendar still applies in Kiel ): day of execution. The weather is "excessively hot" according to the protocol. In the morning before the sermon, the delinquents receive Holy Communion. At 12 noon a car pulls up to drop the convicts in front of the court. There the judgments are read out, the judgment for Trinke Preetzen and the judgment for Hinrich Busch. According to the law, the delinquents must confirm the judgment. They are then taken to the place of execution. The transport apparently caused problems. There are bottlenecks in transportation because there is no car available for the clergy who are supposed to accompany the delinquents. Not the highest-ranking clergyman pastor Friedrich Jessen, but deacon Gabriel Wedderkopp and the preacher of the Heilig-Geist-Kirche Martin Bützer, who in turn represents the sick and "indisposed" reported archdeacon Matthias Burchard, are seconded as clergymen . In the run-up to the execution, Wedderkopp and Bützer urgently ask the council for a car, which is granted to them after some back and forth. The delinquents are executed and burned at the execution site. The execution should, although not mentioned by name, have taken over the acting executioner Paul Möller. The files are silent about the further treatment of the girl Anje Preetzen.
predicate
In the 07/14 session (May 2014), the Wiesbaden film evaluation system awarded the rating particularly valuable : "It is unbelievable with what precision and wealth of material Koll enriches his film. Copper engravings, paintings, city views, excerpts from family and city books, memos, and much more More. From this puzzle of information Koll weaves a filmic carpet and with METJEN NAHMENS PREETZEN brings a historical figure back to life. Through the fiction of her “memory”, he also gives the then a voice. Anje is embodied - and everyone else too Speaking roles - by actress Katja Hensel. Depending on the character, she skillfully varies her voice and creates a fascinating panorama of figures. And despite the fictionalized expansion by Anje Preetzen, the film is a true documentary, because the historical material that Koll films with the camera and is rhythmic Mounted together, provides evidence that is verifiable in the historical picture nd. Gerald Kolls A METJEN NAHMENS PREETZEN is not a charge. The film only takes a look at a piece of world history whose basic themes - belief, superstition, demagoguery and bondage - are more relevant today than ever. "
Web links
- A Metjen took Preetzen in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- A Metjen took Preetzen at filmportal.de
- Blog
- Infomedia-sh.de