Hans Arndt

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Oh dear, oh dear! What a terrible story! God forbid! What they did to that poor woman! Many people in the town said that she was a witch, but I can´t imagine this... They always say that witches are in league with the devil. But with poor Anna Landmann I always had the impression that she was far too good a soul for that.
I do know that in her house in the little town of Osterode, not far from here, she gave shelter to people whose company a decent citizen shouldn't really seek. They were people without a permanent home. A heavily pregnant woman was also among them. Anna couldn't bring herself to let the poor girl give birth somewhere out in the forest. Yes, she was that kind-hearted. But maybe also a little naive, as they say. The people she gave shelter couldn't make a living themselves and started stealing in the surrounding villages. And they took it so far that people started complaining to the Hornburg district administrator Brandes. He then had Anna Landmann arrested as the landlady of the thieves. Yes, and then things really got going! People from all over the Hornburg district contacted the district administrator and told him that Landmann was in league with the devil and had put all sorts of spells on them! I didn't say much about it, no, I didn't want to get in trouble myself. But if I had been asked for my opinion, I would have known very well that the people were only angry about being robbed. I also think that one or two big shots were involved! District administrator Brandes did not want to act lightly and sought legal help from the University of Helmstedt. But of course only men sit at the high lecterns there, and none of them knew poor Anna personally. Otherwise the fine gentlemen would have known that she had no evil intentions at all. But as it was, the verdict had already been passed on her before the actual trial began. I don't even want to think about all the torture to force a confession out of her. And when they finally got that, it wasn't long before they burned her at the stake, right here on the market square in Hornburg. People came from far and wide just not to miss the spectacle. And something like that doesn't happen every day.
I myself didn't want to watch this horrific goings-on. I still shudder when I think about it. Yes, all of that happened here in the year of our Lord 1597. May God have mercy on Anna's poor soul. And may he grant that nothing like that ever happens again in Hornburg!