Anna Maria Schwegelin or ''Schwägelin'' (1729–1781) was an alleged German (

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of Magic (supernatural), magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In Middle Ages, medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually ...

, long considered the last person to be convicted 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 ...

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, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Life

Anna Maria Schwegelin was born in poverty in the area near

Kempten im Allgäu Kempten (, (Swabian German: )) is the largest town of Allgäu, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. The population was about 68,000 in 2016. The area was possibly settled originally by Celts, but was later taken over by the Romans, who called the town '' ...

and served as a maid. In 1751, a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

was employed as a coachman, and converted to the

Catholic faith The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a p ...

. Schwegelin tried to prevent this. It is also said that she abandoned her Catholic faith in order to marry a Protestant, but that the marriage plans were broken off. In 1769, she injured her leg, and in 1770, she was put in the poor house. Suspicions of her (and the coachman's) involvement in

Satanism Satanism is a group of ideological and philosophical beliefs based on Satan. Contemporary religious practice of Satanism began with the founding of the atheistic Church of Satan by Anton LaVey in the United States in 1966, although a few hi ...

led to an arrest; she reportedly freely confessed having made a pact with the Devil. She was judged guilty and sentenced to be executed on 11 April 1775. By July 1775, however, the case seems to have been forgotten, and Schwegelin remained in jail, where she died of natural causes in 1781. It was long believed that this sentence was carried out, and that she was the last person executed for sorcery in Germany. She was the last person to be sentenced to death for sorcery in Germany, but as her execution was never carried out, this is inaccurate. Similarly, she has been described as the last person to be executed for witchcraft in Europe, but this distinction belongs to

Barbara Zdunk Barbara Zdunk (1769 – 21 August 1811) was an ethnically Polish alleged arsonist accused of witchcraft. Zdunk lived in the town of Rößel, in what was then East Prussia, and is now Reszel in Poland. She is considered by many to have been the las ...

References

* Wolfgang Petz: Die letzte Hexe. Das Schicksal der Anna Maria Schwägelin. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, New York 2007, * Artikel "Anna Maria Schwägelin" im Lexikon zur Geschichte der Hexenverfolgun

* ''This article is partially a translation of the equivalent on German wikipedia''
Anna Maria Schwagel
Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art: The Dinner Party: Heritage Floor. Accessed March 2012 1729 births 1781 deaths 18th-century German people 18th-century German women German people who died in prison custody People convicted of witchcraft People from the Duchy of Bavaria Women from Bavaria Witch trials in Germany Prisoners who died in German detention {{Germany-bio-stub

Life

See also

References