A gallows was built on a hill above the Main in 1561, under which a witch was executed for the first time in 1619. One of the original three stone pillars of this gallows still stands today.
The darkest chapter in the county's judicial history took place in Kleinheubach, which was part of Erbach from 1559 to 1721. Between around 1617 and 1630, 81 people (49 women, 32 men) were tried here for witchcraft. 45 of them are proven to have been executed. That made up almost ten percent of the population of around 500 at the time. Most witches were “pardoned” to death by the sword and only burned on the gallows after their execution. One of the condemned people avoided execution by fleeing to Großheubach.
Through succession, the Counts of Erbach became feudal lords in Kleinheubach in 1559. They built the Georgenburg there and made it their residence. In 1560 the Count von Erbach's center court in Kleinheubach was mentioned. A year later a gallows was erected there. A witch execution was carried out for the first time here in 1619.
During the Thirty Years' War between 1618 and 1648, Kleinheubach was almost completely destroyed by fire in the spring of 1627. The place now belongs to Bavaria. Witch trials were carried out in relatively large numbers in Kleinheubach. In 1629 alone, 27 people died after they “confessed” to all allegations after being tortured. However, no more witch burnings were reported in Kleinheubach after 1630.
Anna Maria Conrad's family had suffered from the witch trials before. Under torture, her brother accused Conrad of incest, which triggered her arrest. After interrogation and torture, her husband managed to stop her suffering. He explained to the legal lords that his wife was pregnant. Under these conditions, Anna Maria Conrad managed to escape across the Main. She found refuge in Frankfurt. But she made a crucial mistake: She wanted her rights and not to continue to be called a witch. So she wrote a letter to the Frankfurt council and described her experiences. But that led to the opposite of what she wanted to achieve: Anna Maria Conrad was arrested and extradited to Kleinheubach.
There the monstrous thing happened that her husband refused to take her back home. Since there were no more witch burnings in Kleinheubach after 1630 - the Count of Erbach probably advocated for this - the sentence imposed on Anna Maria Conrad was still not carried out. She died a natural death, but as a convicted witch. The process cost 640 guilders plus 200 guilders for food and accommodation. At that time, that corresponded to the value of a large farm with stables and barns. (Excerpt from hessen-martin.de/der-galgen-in-kleinheubach/)