1751: Anna Schnidenwind, the last witch in Baden-Württemberg
April 24th, 2015 Headsman
Anna Schnidenwind, nee Trutt, was burned at the stake in Endingen am Kaiserstuhl on this date in 1751 — the last “witch” executed in Baden-Württemberg.
There is next to no archival information surviving that would give us insight into this remarkably late Hexenprozess. However, it seems that Schnidenwind got Willinghamed: when a fire destroyed the village of Wyhl, local grandees immediately assumed that the cause of such a devastating event ware eine Zauberin (“would have been a sorceress,” as an abbot wrote in his diary).
Having begun from the conclusion it was simply a matter of finding the witchiest character in the vicinity to fit as the Zauberin. Schnidenwind, a 63-year-old peasant, probably had some pre-existing reputation as a possible witch — a reputation that a visit to the rack obligingly confirmed.
On this day..
- 1935: Three Venizelist officers - 2020
- 1821: Athanasios Diakos, Greek War of Independence hero - 2019
- 1752: Nicholas Mooney, penitent thief - 2018
- 1852: Nathaniel Bowman, William Ide inspiration - 2017
- 1889: William Henry Bury, Jack the Ripper suspect - 2016
- 1922: Colin Campbell Ross, for the Gun Alley Murder - 2014
- 1998: 22 for the Rwanda genocide - 2013
- 1945: A day in the death penalty around the Reich - 2012
- 1655: Massacre of Waldensians - 2011
- 1723: Major Jean Abram Davel - 2010
- 1521: The Comuneros of Castile - 2009
- 1868: John Millian, who martyred a madam - 2008
Entry Filed under: 18th Century,Arson,Burned,Capital Punishment,Death Penalty,Execution,Germany,History,Innocent Bystanders,Milestones,Public Executions,Witchcraft,Women,Wrongful Executions
Tags: 1750s, 1751, anna schnidenwind, april 24, endingen
