Katharina Paldauf

Katharina Paldauf (* around 1625 in Fürstenfeld ; † probably on September 23, 1675 ), née Fondell, was the wife of the keeper of the Riegersburg and one of the prominent victims of the great Feldbach witch trial from 1673 to 1675. As a so-called "flower witch" on the Riegersburg, she became known far beyond her home region after her death.

Life

Katharina Paldauf was born in Fürstenfeld around 1625 as the daughter of a plumber . At the age of 20 she entered the service of Katharina Elisabeth Freifrau von Galler († 1672), the owner of the Riegersburg. There she also met her future husband Johann Simon Paldauf, who was employed by the " bad Liesl ", as the lady of the castle was popularly known, as a keeper (= administrator). The couple had at least three children: Katharina, Anna and Ferdinand.

Witch trial

In the spring of 1675 Katharina Paldauf, who was about 50 years old at the time, was drawn into the great Feldbach witch trial (1673–75). She was " said " by a friend of her from Riegersburg as a hail and weather maker and participant in the Witches' Sabbath . Another defendant, a seamstress, charged her with killing one of her children and throwing it into the castle fountain. Then Katharina Paldauf was arrested and like the other defendants in Feldbach in Hexenkeller imprisoned by the 1474th

At first, she denied the allegations made against her, but before she was tortured , she claimed that she would be followed at night by the devil in animal form. In the course of the interrogations, which were then carried out under torture, she developed fits of rage, cursed her parents, and blasphemed , but still did not make a confession. Only later, when she was already completely broken and convinced of the hopelessness of her situation, did she name several people who had participated in meetings of witches. The people accused by her also included the pastors of Fehring , Hartmannsdorf and Paldau as well as the late Riegersburg chief pastor Zirkelius.

In August 1675, Katharina Paldauf was brought to the Riegersburg under guard in order to be confronted with the clergy who had been accused and who had already been taken into custody. The result of this comparison, as well as the further fate of the accused pastors, is not known, as part of the trial files have been lost. Katharina Paldauf probably died on September 23, 1675. Probably because of her high social position, she was granted "relief" in that she was killed at the stake before she was burned .

The tradition has it that have managed it Katharina Paldauf to pull even in winter blooming flowers. This ability ascribed to her, for which there is no evidence in the trial files, is also the reason that posterity will remember her as a “flower witch”. The claim, which cannot be verified, that the well-known oil painting, which shows an elegantly dressed and aging woman with flowers in both hands, is a portrait of Katharina Paldauf, has also proven to be just as long-lived .

literature

• Johann Schleich: Witches, Wizards and the Devil Cult in Austria. Steirische Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Graz 1999, ISBN 3-85489-022-2 .

Web links

• Katharina Paldauf - The alleged "flower witch" on the Riegersburg. Text from: Helfried Valentinitsch, Ileane Schwarzkogler (Hrsg.): Witches and Magicians. The great persecution - a European phenomenon in Styria. Catalog for the Styrian state exhibition at Riegersburg, Eastern Styria, from May 1st to October 26th 1987. Leykam-Verlag, Graz / Vienna 1987.

Remarks

1. ↑ Since there was no uniform spelling rule in the 17th century, the spelling of the name in the sources differs. The variant Catharina Paldtauffin is often found, for example .
2. ↑ The history of the witch trials ( Memento of the original from May 10, 2016 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. Retrieved May 10, 2016.