Elizabeth of Doberschütz

Elizabeth of Doberschütz, also Dobschütz, born of Strantz (* unknown, † December 17, 1591 in Stettin, Pomerania ) was beheaded as a witch on the Szczecin Haymarket and burned at the gates of the city.

Persecution of witches

Elizabeth of Doberschütz was accused of witchcraft and sorcery in 1590: She was charged, Erdmuthe, the wife of Duke Johann Friedrich ( 1542-1600 ), Duke of Pomerania -Stettin, to have made ​​infertile with a " witches potion," send it to the Duchess had sent years earlier after a miscarriage to reduce the fever. The Duke was married in 1577 to Princess Erdmuthe of Brandenburg ( 1561-1623 ), the daughter of the Elector Johann Georg of Brandenburg and the Sabine von Brandenburg -Ansbach; the marriage had remained childless. Doberschütz still managed to escape, but was caught in Crossen (Oder), where she had fled with her husband, imprisoned in Stettin and sentenced on December 17, 1590 death. On the day exactly one year later, on December 17, 1591, she was beheaded at the Szczecin Haymarket as a witch and then burned at the gates of the city at the stake - in the year in which the Neustettinischen witch hunts had reached its peak.

Background

Elizabeth's persecution as a witch is seen today as a result of political intrigue: Elizabeth had Melchior of Doberschütz married, squire to Plau in the Brandenburg district Crossen (Oder). But he was in debt, why Doberschütz itself went back to 1575 in ducal Pomeranian services. There he was City captain ( until 1584) to Pommern. For reasons political envy his wife has apparently been accused of 1584 for the first time the magic. In 1590 her husband was - due to libel and slander Elizabeth as a witch - finally out of favor and was banished from Pomerania.

Ultimately led to deliberate slander Elisabeth's arrest and conviction. From the file, for example, it also shows that they had incurred by their meticulousness and merciless rigor the hatred of the maids and servants to a great extent. You should have the Ducal Court Marshal Peter of Kameke and other court officials, as well as the Duke given poisoned drinks that should have taken them wit and sense, whereby they have won their favor for themselves or their husband.

Also, they should, as it was widely used, have been highly superstitious and have performed " some strange customs ", which is why they had talked in prison with the "magic women " ultimately led their forced false testimony and slander under torture to Elizabeth's death sentence. Mastermind was Jakob von Kleist, a competitor of her husband to win the favor of the Duke and Doberschütz ' successor as City captain of Pommern, who were executed by a number of so-called witches during his tenure as city Hauptmann ( 1584-1594 ).