Bamberg witch trials
| Great Witch Hunt of Bamberg | |
|---|---|
| Timespan | 1623-32 (9 years) |
| Location | Bamberg, Holy Roman Empire |
| Number of Trials | est. 900-950 |
| Executions | 300-900+ |
| Notable Sources | Letter of Johannes Junius, Writings of Frederich Förner, Letter of Georg Wilhelm Dümler, Bamberg court records |
| Notable Personalities | Prince-Bishops Johann Georg Fuchs von Dornheim & Johann Gottfried von Aschhausen, Frederich Förner |
| Notable Victims | Johannes Junius, Dorothea Flock |
| Occurred within the context of | Protestant Reformation & Counter Reformation, Thirty Years’ War, Economic Crisis |
| Reasons for Ending | Arrival of the Swedish Army under Gustavus Adolphus and fleeing of von Dornheim, Intervention of Ferdinand II and the Pope, Decline in population to persecute |
The Bamberg witch trials of 1627–1632, which took place in the self-governing Catholic Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg in the Holy Roman Empire in present-day Germany, was one of the biggest mass trials and mass executions ever seen in Europe, and one of the biggest witch trials in history.
Over an extended period around 1,000 people were executed after being accused of witchcraft in Bamberg, about 900 of whom were executed in 1626–1632. People of all ages, sexes and classes, all of whom were burned at the stake, sometimes after having been beheaded, sometimes alive. The witch trials took place during the ongoing religious Thirty Years' War between Protestants and Catholics, in an area on the religious border between Catholic and Protestant territories, and were conducted by a Catholic Prince-Bishop intent on introducing the Counter-Reformation in his territory.
The Bamberg witch trials were among the largest witch trials in the Early Modern period: it was one of the four largest witch trials in Germany alongside the Trier witch trials, the Fulda witch trials, and the contemporaneous Würzburg witch trials.