Westphalia (Westfalen) Court Records

Verdicts against witches
To bring an indictment against witches was much more common in Protestant Germany than it was among Catholics. Court regulations concerning torture were closely observed. Witchcraft was supposed to be punished with penance to make amends for actual damages. However, in Protestant regions such guidelines were intensified because witchcraft was viewed as collaboration with the devil and such acts were always worthy of death. Mainly women were involved, but men and children were not spared. The accused was to confess under torture and show remorse and was to denounce accomplices. The following procedure was to be ensued: See http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexenverfolgung (the text is in German. By hi lighting the URL and putting it into Google language tools, translate a website (choosing German to English) a rough translation is provided by Wikipedia.

There are some records available on procedures against witches in Westfalen. www.familysearch.org Family History Library Catalog, International film 1945963 shows some Ratsprotokolle (city records) of Rüthen (Möhne).

Prussia-Westfalen: Court Records