followed by the rule of the Counts of Eppstein-Königstein until the extinction of the dynasty in 1535. Within the 16th century, the owners changed only twice. From 1535 to 1574 the dominion of Eppstein-Königstein belonged to Count Ludwig von Stolberg, who introduced the Reformation in Hofheim in 1540, and from 1574 to 1581 to Christoph von Stolberg. But already in 1559 Elector and Archbishop Daniel Brendel von Homburg had redeemed an old pledge and thus regained Eppstein and Hofheim. After the death of Christoph von Stolberg, the rest of the county of Königstein also went to the Electorate of Mainz in 1581. Under the reign of Wolfgang von Dalberg, Archbishop and Elector of Mainz, and his successor Johann Adam von Bicken, the witch trials in Electorate Mainz reached their peak in the period from 1588 to 1602 in both the Höchst and Hofheim districts. From the remains of old court records, the Aschaffenburg archive remains, 23 women could be identified who were accused of witchcraft, 15 of them found death at the stake. On November 3, 2010, the town council of Hofheim am Taunus decided to rehabilitate the citizens convicted of witchcraft. Until the beginning of 1603, Protestantism was still the predominant religion among the inhabitants despite the town's affiliation with the Catholic Electorate of Mainz. It was not until June of that year that the Protestant pastor was replaced by a Catholic one.During the Thirty Years' War, Spanish, Bavarian, Swedish and French troops occupied, plundered and devastated the town and its present-day districts. Inhabitants were tortured into revealing the hiding places of cattle, horses and household goods. In addition to famine, epidemics broke out again and again, and in 1635 the plague spread through the region. In Hofheim, the number of men (burghers) dropped from 76 and 13 widows to 27 within four years in 1635 (no subdivision into men and widows). Finally, at the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648, there were 40 men and 4 widows. Children, women and bystanders were not recorded in counts as a matter of principle. From 1665 on, the plague raged in Mainz and Frankfurt as well as in the region of today's Main-Taunus district. The following year Hofheim was still free of the plague and on July 3, 1666, Pastor Gleidener led the inhabitants in a procession to the "Rabberg" (today's Kapellenberg) to take a vow: If the town