fell victim to witch trials. At the time, Wildungen had 1200 inhabitants. The persecution came in waves of trials: 1532, 1629 to 1631 and 1650 to 1664. 1532 First witch trial against Gertraud Muck 1575 - 1578 Persecution of "witches" 1629 Onset of a period of unheard-of persecution: 29 victims up to 1632. 1650 - 1664 a further 38 victims 1630 Maria Rörig steadfastly withstood torture from September 1630 to May 1631: "Dear God received her in prison, to Him she would remain faithful, she is innocent like Jesus Christ." Count Christian ordered her release. 1656 Trial against Susanne Weber (Maria Rörig's daughter): "Her husband asks that the trial be sped up owing to the costs." Amalgamations The neighbouring communities of Alt-Wildungen, Reitzenhagen and Reinhardshausen were amalgamated in 1940. As part of municipal reform, the same was done in 1971 with Albertshausen, Armsfeld, Bergfreiheit, Braunau, Frebershausen, Hüddingen, Hundsdorf, Mandern, Odershausen and Wega. Politics Town council The town council's 38 seats are apportioned thus, in accordance with municipal elections held on 26 March 2006: The town executive consists of the mayor and ten town councillors. Four of these seats are held by the CDU, three by the SPD and one each by the FDP, the FWG and the Greens. Mayors At the mayoral election in 2006, the FDP's Volker Zimmermann was elected Bad Wildungen's new mayor with a 58% share of the vote in a run-off. He took over as mayor from his predecessor Reinhard Grieneisen (CDU) on 1 September 2006. In 2018 Ralf Gutheil (SPD) was elected, as the new mayor of Bad Wildungen. He replaced Volker Zimmermann who held the office since 2006. Coat of arms Bad Wildungen's civic coat of arms is heraldically described as: Sable an eight-pointed mullet Or. Bad Wildungen's earliest known town seal was quite different, dating from 1258 and showing the Count of Thuringia – then the local overlord – astride a steed and kitted out as a knight. The current charge, which is based on the Star of Waldeck, is first known to have appeared in 1262. Some later seals also show a woman in the foot of the shield. The arms appeared with or without the woman over the centuries. In the 18th century, the colours were reversed – the arms were originally Or an eight-pointed mullet Sable – to difference the town's arms from the arms of Waldeck. Town partnerships Bad