16. Cologne burned the first postmistress in Germany for witchcraft
It seems administrative quibbling spelled the end for Germany’s first female postmistress, Katharina Henot. Henot inherited Cologne’s postal office from her uncle, and became one of the city’s wealthiest and most influential inhabitants. However, Count Leonhard II von Taxis from the imperial court wanted to make a centralized postal service. Henot refused to give up her business, understandably; then a nun got bewitched in Cologne’s convent, and she was accused. Despite maintaining her innocence through her torture, Henot burned alive in 1627. Historians believe Henot’s accusation was orchestrated by wannabe-postmaster Count Leonhard in conjunction with Cologne’s civic authorities. Brutal.
