Dorothee Elisabeth Tretschlaff (1686 – in

Gerswalde Gerswalde is a municipality in the Uckermark district, in Brandenburg, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, a ...

, – 14 February 1701) was a 15 year old German girl condemned by and executed after a

Witch trial A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern perio ...

. She was the last person to have been

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

for

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

in the state of

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

. Her case attracted much attention, and was the subject of a great deal of contemporary debate. Tretschlaff was employed as a maid. She confessed that she had made a pact with the

Devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...

, and that he visited her regularly for intercourse in her bed in the shape of a fly. The Devil supposedly paid Dorothee for her favors. The case against her was based on this alleged intercourse. Tretschlaff was found

guilt Guilt may refer to: *Guilt (emotion), an emotion that occurs when a person feels that they have violated a moral standard *Culpability, a legal term *Guilt (law), a legal term Music * ''Guilt'' (album), a 2009 album by Mims * "Guilt" (The Long Bl ...

y of

and executed by

decapitation Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

. The sentence was criticized both before and after it was made. Later the same year, King

Frederick I of Prussia Frederick I (german: Friedrich I.; 11 July 1657 – 25 February 1713), of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was (as Frederick III) Elector of Brandenburg (1688–1713) and Duke of Prussia in personal union (Brandenburg-Prussia). The latter function h ...

ordered an investigation to inquire into whether the process had been correct. Tretschlaff was found to be depressed and

suicidal Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and subs ...

.D. E. Tretschlaff-Biography
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tretschlaff, Dorothee Elisabeth People executed for witchcraft Executed German people People executed by Prussia Executed German women 1686 births 1701 deaths People executed in the Holy Roman Empire by decapitation Witch trials in Germany 18th-century executions in the Holy Roman Empire