The belief in the existence of witches was widespread in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the county of Nassau-Idstein, the initiative came from the sovereign, Count Johann zu Nassau-Idstein (1603-1677), who could only explain the death of his second wife and children and the inexplicable death of livestock on his estate as the work of witches.

The wave of lawsuits was triggered by a child who claimed that his godmother was teaching him how to make mice and lizards. Between February 3, 1676 and March 31, 1677, 39 people were executed in Idstein, 31 women and eight men. Four women were put in the pillory, beaten with rods and banished from the country forever. Count Johann himself took the prosecutions into his own hands. At the beginning of the wave of persecution, the count sought out his victims in Idstein and the surrounding area. Later, men and women from the Wiesbaden area were also accused of witchcraft, including two girls (aged nine and eleven), their mother and their grandmother, although "only" the grandmother was executed as a witch due to an age limit set by the count.

The course of the trials was regulated by the "Constitutio Criminalis Carolina", the "Peinliche Halsgerichtsordnung" of Charles V from 1532. The court consisted of the prosecutor, a defense attorney and 14 blood jurors, among them the 12 mayor of the surrounding villages. The prisoners were brought before the court, then the public prosecutor read out the charges, which had to be confirmed by the accused by saying "true". The bailiff then broke the baton over him and the court clerk read out the death sentence, which had already been signed by the count. Defense attorneys and lay judges only had an extra role. The court, the condemned man or woman, accompanied by a clergyman on a cart, and all the citizens then marched to the Idstein gallows hill, where the sentence was carried out. The condemned were first beheaded with a sword; the body was then burned.

The last victim was the Wiesbaden butcher Philipp Pflüger. The witch trials ended with the death of the count on 23.05.1677. The last prisoners were released.