There is a girl on fire! Right upfront the Cologne townhall’s façade. My witch and I went to visit her to bring her haunted tale to you!
The woman in questions was called Katharina Henoth, and her case is actually a very interesting one.
For 57 years, she lived a rather normal life belonging to the upper class of 17th century Cologne. Her father had a high position in the post office of this very meaningful city within the Holy Roman Empire of the time. “Just another normal girl with a bad mole?”, my witch sighs bored and rolls her eyes.
Not quite. “Have some patience!”
Today, Cologne is Germany’s fourth city ever hitting a million citizens (where I don’t live, just nearby). The town hall is currently a big construction site, but I was lucky enough to find it. At first, I thought the construction might hide Katharina from me, and I reluctantly took a photo of Charlemagne right there! The one on the left!
There are several aspects of this case that show the complex dynamics of witch hunts within this haunted century. Remember, we are following the life of a wealthy woman during a time of political unrest and religious wars all over Europe, paired with climate instability and the occasional plague.
But what exactly made Katharina a witch?
Her father had aimed for a higher position at the post office for quite some time, but a neighbouring family became envy. They thought the position belonged to them, and so they started a smear campaign. Both families accused each other of countless things from losing letters to simply being rude.
The father lived up to the unbelievable age of 94 years, so in the final years, Katharina and her brother Hartger took over business. When the father died, they even tried to hide his death, to keep up his work! That did not go well for long, and in the end, the family Henoth lost their postmaster rights.
This could have been the end of story. Two families being each other’s rivals, and one of them in the end taking it a step too far.
For Katharina, however, things took a dark turn. She was publicly accused of being a witch. Being used to legal battles, she started a trial against these accusations herself. This is a step not often taken and is one of the many things making this case unique. In the end, however, she would be found guilty of witchcraft. Of evil spells, causing disharmony (yes, really), and even of sex with royalty. Is that true? I cannot tell. “But congrats just in case”, my witch giggles.
Nowadays, her statue is placed on the townhall’s façade with a burning skirt. She is on the lowest line above the black construction fence, on the right!
After being found guilty, she is tortured for three days, but there is still no confession. Usually, three is seen as a meaningful number in these trials. So, three times torture without confession would have meant her freedom. Still, on Mai 19th in 1627, she is first being strangled and her body burned afterwards.
There are so many reasons why this case is fascinating!
First of all, it is rather rare to see a wealthy woman accused and convicted of witchcraft. It is usually poor, ill, stigmatized members of society. Here, we see a business war of two wealthy families turning into a witch hunt.
Also, there is no account of any of the typical physical investigations reaching out for Katharina. Usually, the family health plays an important rule for witch hunts. From moles to miscarriages – these are being evaluated, but not in this case.
Of course, taking action and suing first is rather rare. She was a skilled business woman used to taking risks. This shows an aspect of witch hunts often forgotten. It was not so much about intellectual women, or wise women. It was about all the different ways in which a woman could become inconvenient to have around!
It is rather telling that she was already 57. Most cases involve women after menopause, then the chance of their bodies producing workforce is rather low. Had she been 30 years younger, the trial might have ended differently.
In memory of this, we have a woman with a burning skirt placed on the townhall here in Cologne.
“What a haunted place to live”, my witch giggles. “Or is it inspiring to invest a lot into your next business?”
I don’t know, is it?
I reminds me of the many reasons for people to dislike you. If you’re lucky, you’ll survive them. If you’re the luckiest in the world, you live in a society that is stable to protects its members from hatred to grow out of control.
“If not, maybe you’ll become a statue.”
That’s some haunted thoughts from your witch for today!
https://frauenmediaturm.de/social-media-archiv/katharina-henot/
