The following is a simulation of a witch hunt. While this hunt, its victims, and perpetrators are fictional, it is based on actual hunts that took place during the early seventeenth century in the Holy Roman Empire. For more historical information click here.
For Study Questions to use before or after, click here.  

You participate in the hunt by reading the text on the following pages, written from the point of view of someone caught up in the hunts. You advance to the next page either by clicking on the next icon: .

or, your character advances by making a choice following an asterisk* *from several *red hyperlinks, or clicking on a red  picture.  As in real life, while certain choices may significantly affect your character’s fate, others will only slightly alter the outcome. Confessing to be a witch will speed up matters.  And there are several possible endings for your character, not all of them lethal.

Warning: because the witch hunts involved torture and cruelty, some pages may be unsuitable for younger or impressionable readers.

You may exit the hunt by closing its window.  
You can start the hunt over again by clicking on this icon:  .
  

You will open a new window for The Witch Hunts Page by clicking on this icon:  .

To begin the hunt, click below:

 Let the hunt begin....

 

The page is best viewed on an 800x600 or 1024x740 screen resolution. Because this simulation uses cascading style sheets, browsers earlier than Netscape Navigator 5.0 or Internet Explorer 5.0 may not render properly.    

The hunt should open into its own window.  The first link uses javascript to open a special window and may ask you if you want to close the window:  click "Yes".  If that does not work, try this page, for a normal, if less satisfactory, window.


A Witch Hunt: Germany 1628 is Copyright © 2004, 2008 by Brian A. Pavlac. All Rights Reserved.  While no part of this site may by copied or published without permission, you may link to this page.  Last Revised 20 August 2008.
For more information about the site, including credits and sources, click here
For more historical information click here.  

For the Witch Hunt pages, click here.  

Cite this hunt as
Pavlac, Brian A. "A Witch Hunt: Germany 1628." Prof. Pavlac’s Women’s History Resource Site (Last Revised August 20, 2008). URL: <http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/witch/hunt/> (Date Accessed).

This page has had
 Hit Counter hits since 9 February 2007.