A lecture with Martina Korth at the Ernst Moritz Arndt Museum
How did the witch hunts come about, and why were people persecuted as witches? This lecture sheds light on the background of this historical hysteria and dispels the common misconception that the witch hunts peaked in the Middle Ages. Using selected cases from the Island of Rügen—and in particular the well-documented trial of Tilsche Schellwegen from Fischland—the lecture demonstrates how witch trials were conducted and how the persecution could take place within the legal framework of the time. Finally, the lecture turns its attention to witch hunts in the modern era.
