The last German “witch”

The last death sentence is passed in Germany for witchcraft

Born in 1729, Anna Maria Schwegelin earned her living as a domestic servant on farms and inns in the Memmingen area of Swabia. A Catholic, she converted to Protestantism upon a promise of marriage but returned to her old faith when her would-be husband failed to keep his word. Taken in by a poorhouse aged 40 after she became incapacitated by a leg ailment, Anna Maria Schwegelin began to believe that her religious inconsistency had resulted in her being possessed by Satan. Denounced by a fellow inmate of the poorhouse in whom she had confided, Anna Maria Schwegelin was arrested in 1775.

As part of a full confession – made without the need for torture – Anna Maria Schwegelin denied ever having cast a harmful spell on any other person. The magistrate followed standard legal practice and sentenced her to death. Despite the dawn of the Enlightenment over a century beforehand, society still believed firmly in the existence of witches and the verdict was upheld on 4 April 1775. However, doubts led to commutation of the sentence and Anna Maria Schwegelin died in prison at the age of 52, probably of natural causes.