Bamberg witch trials

The Bamberg witch trials, which took place in Bamberg in 1626–1631, were one of a series of mass witch trials in southern Germany, contemporary with the Würzburg witch trials and others. Over an extended period these trial resulted in the executions of around 1,000 people. It belonged to the largest witch trials in history, among the largest during the Thirty Years' War, and one of the four largest witch trials in Germany alongside the Trier witch trials, the Fulda witch trials, and the Würzburg witch trial.

In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, the Holy Roman Empire was affected by a Little Ice Age that resulted in a drop in temperatures and crop failures. This caused the peasants to look for a responsible party. They found it in witches - people who had supposedly allied themselves with the devil.

Prince-Bishop of Bamberg Neytard von Thüngen (d. 1598) was the first to allow witch trials in his fief. However, he was mostly occupied with fighting Reformation. Under his successor, Johann Philipp von Gebsattel (d. 1609) no one was executed for witchcraft. Only under Johann Gottfried von Aschhausen (d. 1622), did prosecutions take off. Supported by the theologian , the bishop allowed a trial to go ahead that grew out of a family quarrel. In its course, several other people were charged with witchcraft and within one year 15 had been executed.

An even more murderous round of prosecution came in 1616 after a series of crop failures. Through 1622 a total of 159 trials were registered, most resulting in deaths. Under chancellor Georg Haan, the trials then subsided.

The most intense period followed under Prince-Bishop Johann Georg Fuchs von Dornheim in 1626. After a devastating night frost that severely damaged the crops, the witch trials resumed. To preserve fire wood, a large crematorium was built at Zeil am Main, the centre of the executions. At Bamberg, a special prison was erected to house the masses of suspects, the Malefizhaus. In 1628, the craze peaked with almost 200 documented trials. Georg Hahn was among those who were burned. Johannes Junius, whose testimony of the torture he underwent become famous, was another, as was his wife.

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