Katharina Sommermeyer

Katharina Sommermeyer (* around 1678; † April 1, 1698 in Braunschweig ) is considered the last woman who was accused of being a " witch ", sentenced to death and executed in the witch persecution of the city of Braunschweig .

The "last witch" of Braunschweig

Treasury bills from the city show that the 20-year-old Katharina Sommermeyer, who comes from Beierstedt , a small village about 40 km southeast of Braunschweig, was accused of being a slave to the devil and sentenced to death. She died at the stake on April 1, 1698 .

Contrary to popular belief that the Temple Anneke, executed in Braunschweig as a "witch" in 1663, was the last executed "witch" in the city, it is now clear that after the execution of Temple Anneke in 1663 there were at least three more witch trials: 1667 against Elisabeth Lorentz and in 1671 against Lücke Behrens and in 1698 against Katharina Sommermeyer. The case files on Lorentz and Behrens are in the archive of the city of Braunschweig . The Sommermeyer case is proven by combing invoices.

See also

• Witch persecution in the city of Braunschweig
• Jutte Schomakers (1475), first woman who was accused and sentenced as a "witch" in Braunschweig. but was not executed
• Temple Anneke (* around 1600; † December 30, 1663) most famous case of witch hunt in Braunschweig

literature

• Peter A. Morton (Ed.): Trial of Tempel Anneke: Records of a Witchcraft Trial in Brunswick, Germany, 1663. Broadview Press, Toronto 2005, ISBN 1-55111-706-1 , ( digitized from Google books ).
• Albert Rhamm : Faith in witches and witch trials mainly in the Braunschweigischen lands. Julius Zwißler Publishing House, Wolfenbüttel 1882, ( digitized version at the Braunschweig Digital Library ).
• Joachim Schmid: In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck , Dieter Lent et al. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon - 8th to 18th century . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2006, ISBN 3-937664-46-7 , p. 593 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ A. Rhamm: Hexenglaube and witch trials mainly in the Braunschweigischen lands. P. 80.
2. ↑ Wilhelm Görges : Patriotic stories and memorabilia of the past with many images of cities, spots, villages, castles, palaces, monasteries, churches, ancient buildings a. the country of Braunschweig and Hanover, for the most part as they appeared 200 years ago, together with portraits and other illustrations that were deemed necessary. Volume 1, Braunschweig 1844, p. 84.
3. ↑ Karlwalther Rohmann: Temple Anneke: The trial against the last "witch" of Braunschweig 1663: commented and presented according to the original protocol . Hildesheim 1983, ISBN 3-7848-4063-9 .
4. ^ Peter A. Morton (Ed.): Trial of Tempel Anneke: Records of a Witchcraft Trial in Brunswick, Germany, 1663. S. XXXV.
5. ↑ Joachim Schmid: In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck , Dieter Lent et al. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon - 8th to 18th century . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2006, ISBN 3-937664-46-7 , p. 593 .
6. ^ Joachim Schmidt: Schomakers, Jutte. In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck , Dieter Lent et al. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon - 8th to 18th century . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2006, ISBN 3-937664-46-7 , p. 627 .
7. ↑ Peter A. Morton (Ed.): Trial of Tempel Anneke: Records of a Witchcraft Trial in Brunswick, Germany, 1663. Broadview Press, Toronto 2005, ISBN 1-55111-706-1 .