Bamberg Witch Trials

Bamberg, a really beautiful city in northern Bavaria, undoubtedly one of the most attractive cities in Germany. Its old town is a UNESCO recognised world heritage site, it is a town full of history dominated by the huge cathedral which shows that it was once the prince bishops of the Catholic church who ruled here. But that rule was not benevolent. At times it could be extremely cruel and violent and that is shown by the dreadful witch trials of the seventeenth century.

Bamberg was the location of one of the largest series of witch trials in history. Together with those that happened elsewhere in what is today Germany in cities such as Trier, Fulda and Würzburg, the trials claimed hundreds of lives in horrendous circumstances in which the accused had the choice of dying in excrutiating pain under torture whilst attempts were made to force a confession or dying in excrutiating pain by fire after a confession. Whereas in the countryside, witch trials did not necessarily lead to a death sentence, urban areas it was a different story. In Bamberg, the overwhelming majority of those accused were sentenced to death and the period from accusation to execution was usually less than 20 days – showing how quickly people broke down under extreme torture. And as we shall see, the victims were usually the political foes of the church and the cause of the terror was economic.

As I speak, I shall show you in the video what Bamberg looks like today. Many of the buildings you will see would be recognisable to both the victims and the perpetrators of these crimes, particularly the Cathedral and Cathedral square.

All of Europe was effected by a cold spell at the beginning of the seventeenth century. I believe that the main cause of this was the eruption of the Huaynaputina volcano in what is today southern Peru in February and March 1600. This was the greatest volcanic eruption in South America in historical times. I believe that the after effects could have dragged on for many years. As volcanic particles around the globe blocked sunlight, temperatures fell. Cold weather meant poor harvests which meant hunger. To add to this a number of other problems hit at the same time.

The first was the Thirty Years War – as far as local rulers were concerned this had to be financed and wars are costly At times of conflict, the last thing that rulers want is anything which hits their tax base – but as food became scarce and production dropped, how could the war be paid for? The Thirty Years War was essentially a religious conflict and that type of conflict is usually the most bitter. This was the greatest disaster to befall central Europe until WW2 and in places in what is today Germany caused a population decline greater than two thirds.

The second was a period of hyper inflation caused in part by the change in the amount of silver that was being brought to Europe from South America.

The third problem was that of the plague which hit every large town in this area of Germany from around 1624 – 1636.

At the same time, people could look back to a different time when things were better, when they did not have those problems which beset them at present. Clearly there was something wrong within their society and that problem needed to be found.

The solution found conveniently by the church was to blame the devil and those allied to him on earth – the witches. After all, it was the witches who could change the temperature of the weather and thus stop crops from growing.

Prince-Bishop of Bamberg Neytard von Thüngen permitted witch trials at the end of the sixteenth century even before the onset of the cold period but that was probably more due to his fight with the Reformation. There were a number of trials in the period 1613 – 1619 as harvests declined and particularly the bad harvest of 1616 is notable. However the worst period occurred during the reign of Prince-Bishop Johann Georg Fuchs von Dornheim from 1626. When a sudden frost severely damaged crops there was a wave of arrests and a special prison to hold the suspects was built called the Drudenhaus. In 1628 alone there were 192 documented trials.

[elrey]

If you haven't already, I recommend visiting Coburg. I lived there for five years and enjoyed it thoroughly. The Veste Coburg (the castle on the hill) has a hugely impressive collection of armor, sleighs, decorative items and more. Martin Luther took refuge from the Holy Roman Empire in the castle for a while. And the town is home to the famous Sax-Coburg Gothe dynasty that has seeded itself in so much of European royalty, including England's.

[tristonw]

Good video. Though I couldn't help but laugh at the guy who flips you off at 18:30

[Goodiesfanful]

Germany holds the blackest record of the witch hunts, both in terms of scale and cruelty. And it took an extremely long time for witch hunting to die out in Germany. As late as 1800 they were still doing it in some parts of Germany.

[brambourbon]

Thanks for the useful video! Do you have Yunus' letter to Veronica in its original German?

[AlanahIsSoRandom]

A really interesting video! I studied this for my history A-level so it was nice to revisit the subject. On a separate note, I'm trying to place your UK accent - you sound northern but I can't pinpoint where! :')

[c-h-t]

Just had a past life regression session. Apparently I was executed here. I worked with herbs to help heal the body, but a jealous neighbour reported me unfairly. Causing my husband immense heartbreak.

[pebbles]

Hello, i am a student studying this period of time, may i ask where you got your sources for these trials? It would be a huge help to my work.

[Goodiesfanful]

The prison was also known as the Hexenhaus (Witches' House).

I wonder what happened to Veronica Junius? It doesn't sound like she met the same fate as her father (thank goodness).

[johnbirkel]

I have 2 ancestors who went to the stake in these trials. Very interesting

[lorenzotillman]

I'm honestly shocked to learn that my Hometown had one the biggest Which trials in Europe. They still finding skeletal remains in the rivers

[melissab]

My family name is Bamberger. I would love to know my family history from this city.

[wayofacceptanceischange]

Religion must be kept away from politics else this ..

[kurtsteiner]

Germany is mostly protestant, being lutharian started by martin luther.

Austria is mostly catholic barmberg is in bavaria bayern.

[windsurfer]

"Since Witches dont exist! once again it was mass murder"""nice vid""

[lexchaotica]

Suffer not the mutant, the heretic or the xenos !