Anna Goldi: The Last Witch of Europe

If you think that as a practitioner of Wicca or as a believer in witchcraft that you’re having a hard time getting acceptance today, just imagine what it was like for men and women who lived in the shadows at least 200 years ago.  The witch hunting hysteria that hit Europe and America was a tragedy in many ways, not only because it destroyed many innocent lives but also because it empowered people who were not only irresponsible but also evil and ignorant.  Anna Goldi was one of the innocent and unlucky ones.

Anna Goldi
Anna Goldi (sometimes Goeldi or Goldin) was a woman who lived in Switzerland in the mid-1700s.  She appeared in the small town of Glarus, then and now a picturesque Eden of snow-capped mountains and houses that looked like they were plucked from the setting of Heidi.  This, along with the nearby town of Mollis, would be the setting of the drama about the last witch of Europe.

Glarus is one of the cantons in Switzerland, a division of the country nestled in the northern side of the Todi mountains.  It’s a small town, having an area of only about 265 sq.mi.  Here, Anna Goldi arrived in 1765, hoping to find work as a house maid.  It wasn’t long until she was hired by the well-to-do families who lived there. 

Although the town was only a few hours’ travel by cart to Zurich, it was somehow secluded from the advances of the time.  It was an area still held tightly by traditional beliefs and practices, a town over which the rich and influential held sway.  By the mid-1700s, Europe was undergoing a rapid change and witchcraft-related persecutions were on the wane.  Unfortunately, this did nothing to save Anna Goldi.

The problem with Anna
Anna Goldi was a woman who was probably hard to miss, particularly by redblooded Glarus males.  According to records, she was tall, had brown eyes, long dark hair and good skin.  She was also blessed with beautiful, healthy curves, the kind people respectfully refer to as ‘generously proportioned’.

Anna wasn’t shy about her attractiveness.  Even by the time she was 40, it is said that she continued to have several lovers, some of whom were the important men of the towns where she worked and lived.  One of these men was Johann Jacob Tschudi.  Tschudi was a 35-year-old physician who also worked as a town magistrate.  He was married and had children but this didn’t stop Anna – or Jacob – from starting an illicit affair.

Soon, Anna became pregnant with Tschudi’s child.  According to some accounts, this was her second pregnancy.  The first one was also the product of an adulterous affair and Anna had to give up her child to be adopted.  This time around, though, Anna wasn’t content about keeping her secret to herself.  She went to the church authorities to file a complaint. 

This presented a huge problem for Tschudi, who was a highly respected member of the town.  If Anna were to go to the town officials and complain against him, he would not only lose his job, he would also lose his influence and, quite possibly, whatever money and properties he owned. 

Anna the Witch
Before Anna could file further charges, however, strange things began to happen in the Tschudi household.  Jacob himself reported that needles began to appear in the children’s milk and later, in the bread.  As if that wasn’t enough, he later claimed that his daughter Annemiggeli had been taken ill, vomiting a hundred needles.  Since he was a doctor, it indeed sounded strange that he, a man of medicine, couldn’t heal his own beloved daughter.  And when a man of science can fail in such a task, it could only be the work of a witch. 

Since people started taking his story seriously, it wasn’t long until Tschudi gained enough support to actually accuse Anna of dabbling in witchcraft.  She had no choice but to hide but the police caught up with her and arrested her.  What followed was a tragedy.

Marking the witch
Since she wouldn’t confess to the ‘crime’, Anna was imprisoned and tortured.  Her hands were tied behind her and she was suspended by a rope tied around her thumbs.  To increase the pain, heavy stones were hung from her ankles.  Under torture, Anna had no choice but to confess. 

Her confession was a standard list of ‘violations’, straight out of an instructional book on how to be hanged as a witch.  She claimed that she:

- made a secret pact with the Devil himself
- would meet the Devil who appeared to her as a big, black dog
- received the needles from the Devil and used them to ‘poison’ Annemigelli

Incredibly, Anna also gave birth during this time.  As if adding to Anna’s troubles, the child did not survive and its death was added to the mother’s list of sins.  Anna did try to fight back, even recanting her earlier confession.  Unfortunately for her, the court was made up of relatives and friends of her former lover, Jacob Tschudi and it wasn’t long until Anna was sentenced to be beheaded. 

On June 13, 1782, as a final act of humiliation, Anna Goldi was made to kneel in the public square and her head was severed at the neck using a sword.