Introduction

The Bamberg witch hunt which occurred from 1626 to 1630 was among the bloodiest and most vicious of the German witch panics, and took place in the context of a series of persecutions occurring across the southern German princedoms during the same time.  Prince-bishops who held both political and religious authority ruled many of these territories, and in Bamberg, Bishop Johann II Fuchs von Dornheim and suffragan (assistant bishop) Friedrich Förner drove the hunts forward (Behringer, 226).  Under their efforts, approximately six hundred people burned as witches in Bamberg, including at least eight city councillors, two burgomasters, and several wives and daughters of these men (Behringer, 229).  Even Dr. Georg Haan (or Horn), the Chancellor of the bishopric, was executed with his son (Georg Adam Haan), his wife, and two daughters (Behringer, 229).  Johannes Junius was mayor of Bamberg in 1628, until an accusation extracted from George Adam Haan led to his arrest, imprisonment, torture, and execution (Apps and Gow, 92, n31).  Though the records remaining from his trial are typical of the hunt, Junius also secretly wrote a letter to his daughter, Veronica, expressing his farewell, his experience under torture, his decision to confess, and paternal advice.  This letter is one of very few documents that describes a witch trial from the accused's perspective.  It forms the basis of the following fictitious account, narrated by Veronica.

16 June 1628

I begin this journal for my soul’s comfort and to record these times for my family if the Last Judgement, which I feel approaching with every hour, does not sweep us away first. The Devil is loose in Bamberg, and it seems that wherever one looks one finds him or his works.  I pray my rosary every morning and evening, for the safety of my family and myself, but with every week exposing more witches, even among those people I believed devout Christians, I fear in my heart that God has abandoned Bamberg.  I confessed this fear to the priest last week, and he admonished me greatly.  My God is a merciful God; he will deliver from evil those of us who keep faith.

My father has been busy, for the city council is in disarray with some members imprisoned.  I am also much occupied since my mother (whose innocence or guilt I still cannot decide) was executed last year (Apps and Gow, 76).  With Anna Maria in the convent (Apps and Gow, 166), it is just Father, Hans, myself, and the servants in the house, and I must keep things in order.  Father speaks of going on pilgrimage soon, to Rome, but I do not know when that might be. 

21 June 1628

Today I went to the market with Else.  It is still shocking to see new stalls and new people where we used to see people we thought we knew well—how such holy people could fall to such evil, I do not understand.  Father shocked me when he said that it is possible mistakes have been made.  When I asked who could have made the mistakes, the witches or the court, he did not answer me.  I do not know whether he was thinking of mother when he said it, but I did.  I cannot count the times I have combed my memory, trying to think of a time when she behaved in an unholy manner.

I do remember her once giving Katerina a brew of herbs for belly pains, and that the apothecary father sent for said it was superstitious nonsense.  Though Katerina died four years ago, she was healthy for many years.  Two years ago, Mother took ill herself for a time with a swollen leg, and could not attend mass, even though it was Easter.  At that time, we sent for the priest to provide her with the blessed body of the Lord, and she had tears in her eyes as she accepted it.  I am certain I saw her swallow it then, but I never did watch closely during mass.  I do know that she fought with my aunt, her sister, and in the heat of her anger wished many bad things to happen to her, but none of these ever happened.  It is hard, and I do not know what to believe. 

I do know I dare not say these things aloud.  Dr. Georg Haan, who had served the bishop loyally as Chancellor for so many years, said he doubted the truth of the witches’ confessions, and now he and his son are both in prison (Apps and Gow 92).  Whether they truly are witches, I do not know—they may be or they may not.  But if a powerful man speaks and is suspect for it, I certainly dare not say anything.  I begged father to be careful to whom he said such things.  I know he is no witch, but if what he said is correct, that may be of no matter. 

God be with us all.

25 June 1628

Image from Apps and Gow, 74.

Last year the city built the hexenhaus, to keep all the witches.  When Father announced it, I felt such comfort.  I thought it was a wonderful building, showing our pious citizens’ determination to root out the evil in our city.  Father was enthusiastic about it, too.  Now it frightens me.  How could so many witches have existed among us for so long without our knowing?  

28 June 1628

All week I have felt a foreboding in my heart, and now I know for what it was.  My father was arrested on a charge of witchcraft.  They interrupted his morning prayers to take him.  I am so distressed—I do not know what to think.  I spent the entire morning in prayer, praying that the court might see clearly in his case.

I cannot believe my father has dealt with the Devil.  I have never known a more conscientious or Christian man.  I can only believe that he has been maliciously accused by one of those vile wretches the court has rightly imprisoned.  What better proof that they seek to bring about the collapse of all that Christians hold dear than that they attack our leaders?  Through God’s guidance, I have faith that the court will see this, too.  They know my father and how good and pious he is—my kinsman Dr. Braun from Abswerth, who has questioned and judged many witches here, will surely see that my father is not one of them (Apps and Gow, 159).  He had ever the praise of God upon his lips, a certain shield against demons, and on fast days he was cheerful and neither spoke nor thought about earthly food but only that of the spirit.  I have seen with my own eyes and heard with my own ears his forbearance when faced with temptations—what could the Devil offer him that he would stoop to take?  Nothing!  My father is not a witch, and the court, knowing him as I do, will see it.

6 July 1628

I pray to my God for strength to bear through these times.  I am so distracted and confused—I do not know what to think!  There are rumours today that my father confessed to being a witch!  I pray they are false, and are only the slander of gossips, but too often have these rumours been proven true.  It must be true, but I know not what to think.  All my heart cries that he is an honest Christian with a pure soul, yet all my judgement cries that the most knowledgeable men—men who ought to know how to discover such things—have proved him a witch.  God guide me, in what do I place my trust? 

I have written to Anna Maria, but I feel that I do not know myself at all.  Hans does not listen to me—he is so angry I fear for his soul.  I warn him that he must pray to God for guidance in this, but he pushes me away.  And I fear because sometimes I feel as he does—angry and frightened and alone.  What will become of us? 

Hans and I are living with Cousin Stamer, for the court has taken all of father’s property.  My cousin was so good to take us in—he came to us immediately after he heard what had befallen my poor father and took us to his house.  I was so relieved when I saw him, for I was distraught and knew not what to do.  Hans was leaving to confront the court despite all I said and did to prevent him when my cousin arrived and stopped him.  I cannot bear to think what may have happened had he gone.  Everywhere I look I see nothing but frightened and suspicious faces, just like when mother was taken—only Hans and my cousin can look at me without cringing.

A witch-mayor makes a fine subject for gossiping tongues!  Do they ever think of the good my father did?   The old women sitting on their front steps, chattering loudly to overcome their deafness, speak only of suspicions they long held.  Before they arrested my father, none would have suspected him.  Now there is not a person in Bamberg but suspected him all along!

1 August 1628

Will this never end?  Good God, give me grace to bear and overcome this.  I have received a letter from my father, Lord have mercy on him!  He says that he is innocent, but through the most horrible tortures he was brought to confess to crimes beyond my worst imaginings.  Even, Dr. Braun, our kinsman, believed my father a witch (Apps and Gow 159).  My poor, dear, good father!  His hand shook so while he wrote that some passages I could barely make out.  He says that he is only just able to use his hands again after the tortures they put him though (Apps and Gow, 164). 

The crimes of men deserve their just punishment, yet the evil in Bamberg is not that of witches but of jurors and judges who viciously and falsely prosecute them!  All law is broken, both the laws of man and the laws of God, for in defiance of all these they refused my father the right to examine the witnesses against him under oath, and they refused him a priest’s counsel (Apps and Gow, 160).  Yet God did not abandon him, for in devoting his pain to the five wounds of our blessed Saviour my father withstood the temptation to confess through great torments (Apps and Gow, 161).  I felt such pride when I read of his fortitude, yet even he could not bear the agony forever—for they let no one go, he said, “even if he withstands all tortures” (Apps and Gow, 161).  He wrote of the great moral anguish this realization caused him, for it left him with no choice but to confess to having renounced God, yet as ever his strength of faith rescued him from the worst errors.  He chose to confess to the crimes of witchcraft, but he would confess this perjury to the priest granted him before his death, and go to our Lord with a clean spirit.  Oh what a world it is, where the wicked force the pious to lie against their souls!

Now that my eyes are opened to how it is, I must believe that it has all been in error.  My poor mother, forgive me for ever doubting you.  I have been a daughter undeserving of you.  My poor father!  All those I knew—how many were true witches?  Of some I could believe it at the time, but perhaps they were all innocent?  If not all, then many more than were justly put to death. 

God has left Bamberg to the Devil as a punishment for our sins.  Those charged with protecting us destroy us.  That seems clear now.  Good Christians perish in flame, and the wolves of the judiciary howl at our windows.  We are under siege.  My father has bade me leave Bamberg for a time, and make a pilgrimage (Apps and Gow, 164), but I am unsure.  I will ask my cousin what he thinks I ought to do. 

5 August 1628

I spoke to my cousin, and showed him my father’s letter.  I must keep it with great secrecy, for were it ever made known my father would suffer even greater torments, but he said I might show my cousin (Apps and Gow, 164).  I find myself quite calm, now that I know the worst is to come.  I only wish I knew that my father would see a priest before he dies, that he might unburden his conscience to one with the power to absolve him.  I cannot bring myself to trust the court to have any decency in this matter—they have already refused him a priest many times, and I fear greatly that they might continue to do so.

Cousin Stamer has advised me to do as my father says and leave Bamberg for a time, but he agrees with my wish to remain for a few days so that I might pray for my father's soul during the execution.  Then I will make a pilgrimage to pray for his soul and my mother's, that they be at peace with our eternal Comforter in the everlasting house of our Lord.  I have written to Anna Maria, and she also prays for our dear parents.  Hans is to remain here with my cousin, bless their souls.  My cousin has been so good to us, and has even offered to find me travelling companions among a group he knows to be leaving for Nuremberg.

When I received my father’s letter I was so distraught I went to the priest to be absolved of having dishonoured my parents in my thoughts.  He said there was nothing to absolve me for—that God approved of children who recognized and turned away from their parents’ evil.  I could not think of a response, but left with my soul still heavy.  How do I explain that he is in error, that my father is not a witch, nor my mother?  My father’s confession made it true, at least to those with the power to decide on guilt or innocence.  Blinded by the Devil as they are, they will destroy us all, or provoke the Almighty to sweep us away as he did Sodom and Gomorrah. 

Yet I must not despair, nor leave any means for the Devil to enter my own heart.  With such proof of his machinations all around us, only faith is any defence.  What truth in those holy psalms!  My lord is my light and my salvation, of whom should I be afraid? (Psalm 27.1)  I pray that my father also finds such courage at this time.

6 August 1628

My father was executed today.  I do not think I can say any more just now.  I will write tomorrow, when I can no longer see the smoke.

7 August 1628

How cruel it is that from nearly every window in my cousin’s house I can see the smoke from the burning!  I have been unable to escape it until now.  A wind has finally dispersed the plume, and I find myself able to write again.

 

So many times the prison cart has carried the condemned through the streets, but never before have I seen it as a cart full of innocents.  I thought I beheld not a wagon filled with people, but one filled with young lambs, each glowing with a heavenly light while the sound of trumpets and horns filled the air.  The intensity of this vision caused me to fall, and I could not move for several moments.  When I could again control my senses, people were shouting, “Look, one of the witches has attacked her!” and they began to throw stones at the cart.  I had not the strength to tell them what I had seen.  Cousin Stamer wanted me to return to the house, but I insisted on following the cart to the place of execution.

I do not fully remember what happened, my mind was so focused on prayer.  I do remember seeing my father, though I barely recognized him.  That his face could become so gaunt, his eyes so sunken, his gait so timid in such a short time seemed beyond belief.  I do not know if he saw me, for I stood at the back of the crowd.  Hans would not let me go nearer, though he and cousin Stamer did push their way further forward.  The charges were read out, and the crowd jeered.  I could not understand it.  Do they not see these people have committed no wrong?  Do they not realize that they might be accused next?

Mercifully, my father was granted death by the sword.  I could not see, so I turned my gaze to heaven and prayed.  When I heard the sword strike I felt as though my own soul were flying out of my body and going to meet my father’s, but then Hans and my cousin returned and insisted we return home before they began the burning.  They were both very pale.  We returned home, but we could still see the smoke.

So it has ended, and I see the truth.  Soon I will leave Bamberg, and all of this, to comfort my soul on a journey of faith.  I shall pray for my father and mother from a place where the air is not choked with accusation and despair, the Devil’s breeding-ground, but from sanctuaries where relics clear the path of my prayers. 

God be with us all.

Conclusion

The Bamberg witch hunt continued to claim more victims until 1630.  During the hunt, elite families who had had relatives arrested fled to Nuremberg, from which they launched several petitions to the Holy Roman Emperor and other powerful persons to call the Prince-Bishop of Bamberg to account (Behringer 316).  An exemplary figure in this was former Bamberg city councillor G.H. Flöckh, whose wife Dorothea had been arrested.  Unfortunately for the Flöckhs, attempts to pressure the prince-bishop into releasing Dorothea only succeeded in accelerating and increasing the harshness of her trial and she was executed on 17 May 1630 (Behringer, 317).  By that time, the opposition to the witch hunt in Bamberg had reached such proportions, and included both the highest political and religious officials, the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope, that the hunt was insupportable.  After the Diet of Regensburg (3 July -12 November 1630), the judicial process used to denounce and try witches in Bamberg was reconfigured to protect potentially innocent people but these reforms made little progress until the bishop himself fled Bamberg (Behringer, 320).  After five years of brutal persecution the trials in Bamberg finally halted resulting in the release of nearly all the remaining prisoners, but like all persecutions it left a legacy of broken communities and families like Veronica’s.