Birth: about 1569
Death: 10 Feb 1629 Bad Mergentheim, Württemberg, Germany
Religion: Catholic
Father: Wolff Emert (✝︎1586/1629)
Mother: ____ (✝︎1586/1629)
Married Barbara Hügler (*Assamstadt, Württemberg, Germany ✝︎>1614)
16 Jun 1608 Bad Mergentheim, Württemberg, Germany
Children:
1. Barbara Emmert (~1609 Bad Mergentheim, Württemberg, Germany)
2. Georg Christophor Emmert (~1612 Bad Mergentheim, Württemberg, Germany)
3. Wolffgang Emmert (✝︎<1681 Bad Mergentheim, Württemberg, Germany)
4. Sebastian Emmert (~1619 Bad Mergentheim, Württemberg, Germany)
Notes: Wolffgang was the cousin of Katharina Kolbenschlag, a victim of the witch trials in Mergentheim in January 1629. Wolff was arrested for witchcraft on 30 Jan 1629. His trial lasted five days. Margreth Dürrin from Roth had accused him on 2 Dec 1617 of being present at witch’s dances at the house of old lady Seübothin and at other places. Anna Müllerin from Neunkirchen accused him on 13 Sep 1628 of being present when she made weather and ruined vineyards. Martha Dökherin accused him on 12 Dec 1628 of being present when she ruined wine and made blue light. Paul Gurr’s wife Eva accused him on 16 Jan 1629 of being at a witches dance near the gallows and being present when she made weather. And the Dorngärtnerin accused him on 29 Apr 1617 of being present when she made weather. At the initial hearing on 3 Feb 1629, Wolf claimed complete innocence and had nothing to do with such matters. He blamed the charges on a feud with a woman named Laubinger, whom he had married but didn't want to stay with. He was threatened with torture, said he would cooperate, and then was dismissed for deliberation. After deliberation, and faced with five accusers, he freely confessed in the absence of the executioner to having 13 accomplices.
His confession was long and detailed. In 1617, the woman Kastner had called him to her garden, to a lake house, where three men were sitting, whom he took for hired hands, along with a woman. He was given something to drink, and thereafter the Kastner woman asked him many times to go out, but he did not. One year later, in the Kastner house, three or four women were in the servants room who looked like they were part of the bailiff's household, and Kastner introduced one of them to Wolffgang. He didn't know if she was named Urschel or Appel. He gave her his hand and they had sex, though he found her as cold as ice, and had difficulty with the process because he had had sex the other day. The Kastner woman laughed at him about it. The woman had long black clothes on, as if in mourning. He was given money, but the money turned into potsherds.
During the most recent oats harvest he was in Flürlein, about 1 km northwest of Bad Mergentheim. The woman in black came to him, and he flew with her on a shepherd's crook that she had brought, in the devil's name. He didn't get a salve. It was night, and there were wind lights out, quite blue ones. A quite tall man, who Wolffgang thought stood on his head, lit a light and held it under his arm. Some of the people there held lights behind themselves. His woman had a rough voice. They danced. He named six who were at the dance: 1. the furrier Hans Beier's late wife, with whom he danced; 2. the wife of the cobbler Georg Schweikhardt, called Knistlers, still living; 3. the late furrier Hans Beier; 4. the widow of the small farmer (Hecker) Georg Ehrmann; 5. the woman Kastner, now dead; and 6. the late Seuboth woman.
Concerning the storm on the Ketterberg, he didn't know who caused it or how. It became dark over the woods and rained, but he didn't get wet. The woman Braun called him with the news that she had a pig that he should view, and then he flew with her on a pole out the back door. His paramour sat in front and they went up to the Ketterberg. Accomplices named were 7. Caspar Sailers late wife Afra; 8. Hans Georg Braun's late wife; 9. Mathes Breitenbacher's late wife.
His paramour Appel promised him much, but didn't deliver. At such gatherings he ate and drank, with Hans Beier and Georg Ehrmann's widow sitting at the table. They had roast meat, which didn't taste good, but never bread. He hadn't expected it to happen and to be led up to it. Wolffgang also named 10. the cartwright Hans Heim (revoked); 11. the late Melchior Erbfelder together with 12. his late wife, called Butsch Urschl, and 13. the shopkeeper Thomas Resch (revoked).
He didn't recognize the pipers who played at the dance, but they played on bagpipes like shepherds. Wolffgang did no harm to man or beast, and in fact had his livestock taken away from him. He didn't confess these activities to the priest because his paramour didn't want it. Wolffgang took part in communion, and when he didn't want it to be distributed, he was hit by a crop, which he really felt.
After confession, he was interrogated again on 5, 6, 7, and 8 Feb, each time repeating his confession. Only on 5 Feb did he say that he had too short with the cartwright Hans Heim.
He was found guilty of witchcraft, 715 florins were confiscated, his other financial and legal arrangements satisfied, and on 10 Feb he was burned at the stake. The inventory of his estate showed him to be a wealthy man with numerous land holdings.
Sources: MERGENTK(⚭1608/Jun16, and here), MULFK(⚭1638/May18 (son Wolffgang Emmert), and here), FSWRTTK(Digital Folder: 008109467, Image: 00240, Record: 7), MERGENTHEX(Page: 62, 103, ID: 30), MERGENTHEXEMMERT, MERGENTL1, MERGENTL2, HEXUM2(Page: 448 (Katharina Kolbenschlag), 457-467)
UUID: 42fee3c1-0519-4e42-855d-851fe5c654a8
Last changed: 12 Mar 2025