In the Middle Ages and early modern period, many people believed in ghosts and demons; magic was part of everyday life. Johannes Dillinger introduces this world and explains the cultural conditions under which concepts like witch dances and pacts with the devil emerged. He shows why, alongside the church, state, and science, the population not only tolerated but even demanded the persecution of witches. He reconstructs the social and political prerequisites of the witch trials as well as the execution of witch hunts; he connects this with an introduction to the historical witch research of recent decades. His outlook on the present clarifies that belief in witches is still very much alive. "Johannes Dillinger's introductory work ... is a complete success." Swiss Journal of History.