For almost two millennia, the Germans played a leading role in world history. This was also due to their deep religiosity, which was a significant aspect of their character. The shyness and reverence for the workings of higher powers in nature and human life, which even Caesar and Tacitus praised in our ancestors, have not withered away under new circumstances; they have only deepened and been refined. The origins of these traditions are unknown to most people, but to this day, paganism continues to exist among the Germanic peoples, which we often refer to today as superstition or folk belief. In many cases, foreign elements from other cultures were intertwined with local concepts. Almost everywhere, the acceptance of the new Christian faith was initially purely superficial, as it was forcefully imposed, and it took a long time before Christianity could truly take root.