The German Witch Trials: The Epicenter of Horror

Introduction: The Heart of Darkness

Of the 40,000-60,000 people executed in the European witch hunts, approximately 25,000 died in the Holy Roman Empire—the German-speaking territories that would later become Germany. This was not coincidence. Germany was the epicenter of the witch hunts, the place where persecution reached its most extreme, where entire villages were decimated, where the fires burned hottest and longest.

Why Germany? The answer lies in political fragmentation, religious conflict, economic devastation, and the perfect storm of conditions that turned witch hunting into industrial-scale killing. The German witch trials were not isolated incidents but systematic campaigns that destroyed communities and traumatized regions for generations.

This is the fifth article in our Witch Hunts series, beginning our examination of geographic distribution. We now explore why Germany became the deadliest theater of the witch hunts, the trials that shocked even contemporaries, and the legacy of horror that still haunts the land.

The Numbers: Germany's Deadly Dominance

Overall Statistics

• Total executions in Holy Roman Empire: ~25,000 (50% of all European executions)
• Total accused: ~50,000-100,000
• Peak period: 1580-1650
• Gender ratio: 80% women

Regional Breakdown

• Würzburg: 900+ executed (1626-1631)
• Bamberg: 600-900 executed (1626-1631)
• Trier: 368 executed (1581-1593)
• Cologne: 2,000+ executed (various periods)
• Baden: 200+ executed
• Swabia: Hundreds executed

Why Germany? The Perfect Storm

1. Political Fragmentation

The Holy Roman Empire was not a unified state but a patchwork of ~300 territories:

• Prince-bishoprics (ruled by bishops)
• Duchies and principalities
• Free imperial cities
• Ecclesiastical territories

Result:

• No central authority to stop witch hunts
• Each territory set its own laws and policies
• Competition between rulers led to escalation
• No appeals process to higher courts

2. The Carolina Code (1532)

Official name: Constitutio Criminalis Carolina

What it was: Criminal law code for the Holy Roman Empire

Witch hunt provisions:

• Recognized witchcraft as a capital crime
• Authorized torture to extract confessions
• Provided legal framework for trials
• Mandated death penalty for harmful magic

Impact: Gave legal legitimacy to witch persecution across German territories

3. Religious Conflict

The Reformation (1517 onwards):

• Germany split between Catholic and Protestant territories
• Religious anxiety and competition
• Both sides used witch trials to prove piety
• Witch hunting as religious warfare

The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648):

• Devastating religious war fought largely in Germany
• Population declined by 25-40% in some regions
• Famine, plague, economic collapse
• Witch hunts as scapegoating for catastrophe

4. The Little Ice Age

Climate crisis (1550-1850):

• Colder temperatures, shorter growing seasons
• Crop failures and famine
• Livestock deaths
• Desperate need for scapegoats

German impact: Agricultural economy hit especially hard, witch accusations followed harvest failures

The Major Trials: Case Studies in Horror

The Trier Witch Trials (1581-1593)

Location: Archbishopric of Trier (western Germany)

Instigator: Archbishop Johann von Schönenberg

Numbers:

• 368 people executed
• Two villages left with only one female inhabitant each
• Entire families wiped out

Methods:

• Mass trials with dozens accused simultaneously
• Torture to extract names of accomplices
• Chain accusations destroying communities
• Property confiscation funding more trials

End: Stopped when the archbishop died and his successor was more skeptical

The Würzburg Witch Trials (1626-1631)

Location: Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg (Bavaria)

Instigator: Prince-Bishop Philipp Adolf von Ehrenberg

Numbers:

• 900+ executed in 5 years
• Victims included children as young as 4
• 19 Catholic priests executed
• City councilors, merchants, nobles killed

The Würzburg List:

A surviving document lists victims by burning, including:

• "A little girl of nine or ten years"
• "A little girl, her sister"
• "The fattest burgher's wife"
• "A boy of twelve"

Economic motive: Prince-bishop needed money after war devastation, used witch trials to confiscate property

End: Swedish invasion (1631) made trials impractical

The Bamberg Witch Trials (1626-1631)

Location: Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg (Bavaria)

Instigator: Prince-Bishop Johann Georg II Fuchs von Dornheim ("the Witch Bishop")

Numbers:

• 600-900 executed
• 300-400 in the city of Bamberg alone
• Entire families destroyed

The Drudenhaus (Witch Prison):

• Special prison built for accused witches
• Equipped with torture chambers
• Funded by victims' confiscated property

Famous victim: Johannes Junius, burgomaster (mayor) of Bamberg

His letter: Smuggled letter to his daughter describing torture and false confession:

"They stripped me, bound my hands, and put me to the torture... I said whatever they wanted... Innocent I came into prison, innocent I was tortured, innocent I must die."

End: Swedish invasion and the bishop's death (1631)

The Cologne Witch Trials (Various periods)

Location: Archbishopric of Cologne

Numbers: 2,000+ executed over multiple waves

Characteristics:

• Periodic outbreaks rather than single campaign
• Urban and rural trials
• Targeted women healers and midwives especially

The Victims: Who Died in Germany?

Women (80%)

• Elderly women (majority)
• Widows with property
• Healers and midwives
• Poor women and beggars
• Outspoken women

Men (20%)

• Husbands and sons of accused women
• Men who defended accused
• Wealthy men whose property was coveted
• Political enemies of rulers

Children

• Children as young as 4 executed
• Accused of attending witches' sabbaths
• Forced to testify against parents
• Orphaned when parents executed

Clergy

• 19 priests in Würzburg alone
• Monks and nuns accused
• Even inquisitors eventually accused

The Methods: German Torture Techniques

Standard Torture

• Strappado: Hanging by dislocated arms
• Thumbscrews: Crushing fingers
• Leg vices: Crushing legs
• The rack: Stretching until joints separated

German Innovations

• The Witch's Chair: Iron chair heated from below
• The Ladder: Victim tied to ladder, limbs broken with hammers
• The Boots: Iron boots tightened until legs crushed
• Sleep deprivation: Kept awake for days

Execution Methods

• Burning alive: Most common
• Strangulation then burning: Granted as "mercy"
• Beheading then burning: For those who confessed
• Mass burnings: Multiple victims burned simultaneously

The Opposition: Voices Against the Madness

Friedrich Spee (1591-1635)

Who: Jesuit priest, confessor to accused witches

Work: Cautio Criminalis (1631) - "Precautions for Prosecutors"

Arguments:

• Torture produces false confessions
• Innocent people are being killed
• The trials are unjust and un-Christian
• He had never met a guilty witch, only tortured innocents

Impact: Published anonymously (too dangerous to claim authorship), gradually influenced opinion

Adam Tanner (1572-1632)

Who: Jesuit theologian

Work: Theologia Scholastica (1626-1627)

Arguments: Questioned the reality of witches' sabbaths and demonic pacts

Johann Matthäus Meyfart (1590-1642)

Who: Lutheran theologian

Work: Christliche Erinnerung (1635)

Arguments: Condemned torture as un-Christian and ineffective

The End: Why Did German Witch Hunts Stop?

The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648)

• War made trials impractical
• Population so devastated, couldn't afford more deaths
• Authorities focused on survival, not witch hunting

Intellectual Shifts

• Skeptical writings (Spee, Tanner, Meyfart)
• Growing recognition of injustice
• Enlightenment ideas spreading

Legal Reforms

• Higher courts began overturning convictions
• Torture restricted or banned
• Standards of evidence raised

Last Executions

• 1775: Anna Maria Schwägel, last execution in Germany
• 1782: Anna Göldi, last legal execution in Europe (Switzerland, German-speaking)

The Legacy: Germany Remembers

Modern Memorials

• Bamberg: Memorial plaque, museum exhibits
• Würzburg: Memorial stone, historical documentation
• Trier: Memorial cross, educational programs

Rehabilitation

• Many German cities have officially pardoned witch trial victims
• Church apologies issued
• Historical research and education ongoing

Conclusion: The Epicenter's Scars

Germany was the deadliest theater of the witch hunts because political fragmentation, religious conflict, economic crisis, and legal frameworks combined to create the perfect conditions for mass persecution. The trials that devastated Würzburg, Bamberg, and Trier were not aberrations but the logical conclusion of a system designed to kill.

In the next article, we will explore The Salem Witch Trials: America's Dark Chapter. We will examine how witch hunt hysteria crossed the Atlantic, the unique dynamics of Puritan New England, and why Salem became America's most infamous witch trial.

Germany burned the most. The scars remain. And the memory endures.

For the 25,000 who died in German lands. For the villages left empty. For the children burned. We remember.