The Last Witch: Anna Göldi and the Birth of Judicial Murder

The Last Witch: Anna Göldi and the Birth of Judicial Murder On June 13, 1782, Anna Göldi, a 47-year-old Swiss housemaid, was executed by decapitation in Glarus, Switzerland—the last person in Europe legally killed for crimes deriving from witchcraft accusations. Her death occurred during the Enlightenment, when witch trials had long ceased elsewhere, making it an international scandal that prompted German historian August Ludwig von Schlözer to coin the term "judicial murder." Göldi's execution resulted not from genuine crimes but from a calculated conspiracy by Dr. Johann Jacob Tschudi, a powerful physician and judge. When their sexual affair threatened his reputation, Tschudi orchestrated her destruction through fabricated evidence of poisoning his daughter. Despite torture extracting false confessions and a trial that followed witch-trial procedures while avoiding the term "witchcraft," Glarus authorities convicted her by the narrowest margin: 32 votes to 30. For two centuries, Anna's story remained largely forgotten until novelist Eveline Hasler and lawyer Walter Hauser championed her cause. In 2008, Switzerland finally exonerated her, acknowledging an "illegal trial" and "unjust state act." Today, the Anna Göldi Foundation, museum, and memorial ensure her legacy serves contemporary human rights advocacy, transforming a historical tragedy into an enduring warning against arbitrary power and institutional persecution of the vulnerable.