By far the most vicious witch hunts occurred in Germany, where more than half of all the executions in Europe took place. The statistics are horrifying. Six hundred people were put to death by the bishop of Bamberg, for example, and 390 were burned at Ellwangen between 1611 and 1618. In Würtzburg, forty-one young children were executed, while the hunt at Trier was so extensive that two local villages were left with one woman each. The fate of the Pappenheimer family in Bavaria graphically illustrates just how cruel the witchcraze in Germany could be.
The family lived on the fringes of society as beggars and privy cleaners, and in 1660 was accused of witchcraft by a condemned criminal. Under intense torture, Anna Pappenheimer confessed to all kinds of diabolical activities, like making a murderous powder out of the hands of dead children, and flying on a piece of wood to rendezvous with the devil. After a long, well-publicized trial, meant to reinforce the power of the local duke, the Pappenheimers were convicted and sentenced to death. The executions that followed were a ghastly spectacle that drew thousands. Anna’s breasts were cut off and, in a gross mockery of motherhood, forced into the mouths of her two grown sons. Chunks of flesh were gouged out of her husband and sons with red-hot pincers. The abused and bleeding family was then put on a cart and taken to the execution site in a long procession of clergymen, municipal officials, and other dignitaries as the crowd sang hymns and the church bells tolled. Upon reaching the appointed place, Paulus Pappenheimer’s arms were broken by a heavy iron wheel, and he was impaled by a sharpened stick. Finally, the family was tied to stakes and set on fire. Eleven-year-old Hansel Pappenheimer was forced to watch the agonies of his parents and two older brothers before he was himself executed three months later.
Source:
Farquhar, Michael. “The Deadliest Lies Ever Told.” A Treasury of Deception: Liars, Misleaders, Hoodwinkers, and the Extraordinary True Stories of History's Greatest Hoaxes, Fakes and Frauds. Penguin, 2005. 181-82. Print.
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that's pretty fucked up