Prince Bishop von Dornheim, Witch-Hunter of Bamberg

In the 1620s, greed and obsession with witchcraft led Prince Bishop von Dornheim to establish an overly efficient witch-finding bureaucracy. This enterprise was headed by a suffragan bishop, Friedrich Forner, and was staffed by full-time executioners, torturers, and lawyers.

Von Dornheim had a special witches' prison erected, called the Hexenhaus or Witches' House. The torture applied therein was devastatingly effective. Not even one person housed in the Hexenhaus failed to confess to diabolical activities. Around 600 people were executed for witchcraft. (For a first-hand account of the torture, read accused witch Johannes Junius' letter to his daughter.)

Anyone who expressed sympathy for the witches met with dire consequences. No leniency was tolerated. Dr. Haan, Vice-Chancellor of the diocese, had been suspected of showing some sympathy to accused witches. As a result, he "was denounced as a witch and burned with his wife and daughter."

Eventually word made it to von Dornheim's overlord (the Emperor) that "victims of the hunt were popularly regarded as innocent and worthy of sympathy." In response, the Emporer decreed that personal and familial property of the accused must not be confiscated. With no more money and properties rolling in, von Dornheim's witch hunt was squelched within two years (King 71).

Lost?

Prince Bishop von Dornheim, Witch-Hunter of Bamberg copyrighted 1996-1998 to Shantell Powell.