Margaretha Peter

Margaretha Peter (* probably December 25, 1794 in Wildensbuch, today part of Trüllikon , Canton Zurich ; † March 15, 1823 there ) was the Swiss leader of a religious group in Wildensbuch and moved within a pietistic network.

Life

Margaretha Peter was the youngest daughter of Johannes Peter, a farmer from the small Zurich village of Wildensbuch. Little is known about her childhood. In 1816 Margaretha spent a year with her uncle in Rudolfingen and, according to Johann Ludwig Meyer, had first contacts with “ awakened people ” in Schaffhausen . After her return to Wildensbuch, she and members of her family and the Moser brothers took part in the Moravian assemblies in the house of the tailor Moser in Öhrlingen and reported on visions that were not recognized by the local headmaster.

That is why Margaretha Peter began holding her own prayer hours in her father's house in Wildensbuch and soon became well-known as an actor within a pietistic cultural milieu through letters, visits and charismatic work. Contacts existed with Juliane von Krüdener and Jakob Ganz , among others . The authorities soon became aware of the events in Wildensbuch, began to observe what was happening, and finally in 1821 banned meetings in the Peter family's house.

In the same year Margaretha Peter secretly left for Illnau , where she lived for a year and a half with her sister Elisabetha in the house of Jakob Morf and his wife. At the beginning of 1823 Margaretha surprisingly gave birth to a child that Morf had fathered. She and her sister left the Morf couple in a hurry and returned to Wildensbuch. In their father's house, Elisabetha and Margaretha remained hidden in the upper chamber for most of the time and no longer received any visitors.

On Wednesday, March 12th, 1823, Margaretha finally instructed those present in the house to assemble in the upper chamber. The people living in the yard and Johannes Moser, who had already arrived on Monday, obeyed the order and, on Margaretha's orders, began to hit wooden blocks with various tools that Caspar Peter had provided beforehand. Margaretha let it be known that this action would serve to repel the devil and enemy of souls and to free many unsaved souls. The chopping on the wooden blocks, interrupted by common prayer, continued on the next day, until the police who had penetrated the house, led by the chief magistrate of Andelfingen, dissolved the meeting on Thursday night against the resistance of those involved .

On Friday evening, March 14, 1823, Margaretha Peter again called on the people still present to come to the upper chamber, whereupon they prayed there all night and, on the instructions of their leader, fought against Satan. The next morning Margaretha told Peter that “blood must flow” so that many thousands of souls can be saved.

She then hit her brother Caspar on the chest with an iron bite and ordered Ursula Kündig and Johannes Moser to kill their sister Elisabetha Peter. From this point on, different versions of what had happened existed: The question of who was in the upper chamber and who participated in the killing of the two sisters was answered differently by the interrogators. Ursula Kündig and Johannes Moser announced that they alone had killed Elisabetha and Margaretha Peter. Your version of what had happened looks like this: First, they both hit Elisabetha, who wanted to sacrifice herself, a few blows to the head with two wedges. Then Ursula Kündig made a circle cut around Margaretha's neck and forehead at Margaretha's order. Finally Margaretha demanded to be crucified, whereupon her nails were driven into her head and chest and her hands, elbows and feet were nailed to wooden blocks. Ursula Kündig further reported during her interrogation: "Whereupon Margareth finally demands that you completely smash her head in. - Which she both did with a hammer and a bite - whereupon Margaretha finally gave up the ghost. Elisabetha died almost an hour before, only from the blows received on the left side of the head; [...] "

Meyer states that the delinquents initially made false statements in their statements during the interrogations. The version of the incident that is ultimately valid for the court says that Ursula Kündig, as the main perpetrator, both killed Elisabetha and played a key role in Margaretha's death. Susanna Peter and Conrad Moser, on the other hand, actively participated in the crucifixion of their leader, with the latter, together with Ursula Kündig, killing Margaretha Peter in the end. Johannes Moser watched it and, most of the time standing at the foot of the bed, behaved relatively passively.

The judgment that the Maleficent Court of Zurich announced on December 4, 1823 after the case had been forwarded by the higher court , is based on this description of the events surrounding the death of the two sisters, which is reflected in the amount of the sentence: Ursula Kündig was 16 Years, Conrad Moser and Johannes Peter to eight years and Susanna Peter and Johannes Moser to six years each. The rest of the people involved received sentences of between six months and four years in prison.

The conviction by the Zurich judiciary meant the end of the von Wildensbuch community, which had only emerged a few years earlier during the restorative crisis and in the context of the revival movements of the early 19th century and therefore hardly got out about its status nascendi .

The events surrounding the death of Margaretha Peter and her sister Elisabetha Peter became known as the " horror scenes of Wildensbuch " and caused quite a stir among the people of Zurich.

literature

• David Bürkli (Ed.): Continuation and resolution of the faithful and detailed narration of the horror scenes that preceded in Wildensbuch. In addition to the criminal judgments issued by the Maleficent Court of the Zurich estate on all shareholders in the same , Zurich 1823.
• Johann Ludwig Meyer: Enthusiastic horror scenes. Crucifixion story of a religious fanatic in Wildenspuch Cantons Zurich. Orell Füssli, Zurich 1824.
• Johannes Scherr : The Crucified or the Passion Play by Wildisbuch. (first 1860) 2nd edition Günther, Leipzig 1874 ( digitized version )
• Georg von Wyß:  Peter, Margaretha . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 25, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1887, p. 480 f.
• E. Hermann Müller: The horrors of Wildensbuch. A contribution to the history of psychological epidemics. In: Swiss Monthly Issues for Politics and Culture. 5, 1925-1926, pp. 215-227, doi : 10.5169 / seals-155748
• Siegfried Streicher: The tragedy of a God seeker. Margaretha Peter von Wildensbuch [-Trüllikon]. Einsiedeln 1945.
• Jolanda Cécile Schärli: Margaretha Peter (1794–1823) from Wildensbuch. Head of a sect in the Zürcher Weinland. In: J. Jürgen Seidel (Ed.): Against the current. Radical Pietism in the Swiss and International Relationship Field. Dreamis, Zurich 2012, ISBN 978-3-905473-18-6 , pp. 179–194.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Johann Ludwig Meyer: Swarming horror scenes. Crucifixion story of a religious fanatic in Wildenspuch Cantons Zurich . Orell Füssli, Zurich 1824, p. 11 .
2. ↑ See files of the Zurich State Archives, B VII 201 13a, Dossier 545 b, No. 11 and No. 15.
3. ^ Johann Ludwig Meyer: Swarming horror scenes. Crucifixion story of a religious fanatic in Wildenspuch Cantons Zurich . Orell Füssli, Zurich 1824, p. 23 and 99-100 .
4. ↑ See files of the Zurich State Archives, B VII 201 13a, Dossier 545 b, No. 15.
5. ↑ See files of the Zurich State Archives, B VII 201 13a, Dossier 545 b, No. 4.
6. ↑ Cf. Bürkli (Ed.): Continuation and decision. P. 2, and files of the Zurich State Archives, B VII 201 13a, Dossier 545 a.