A witch panic hit Europe from 1500 to 1700. During that period, between 40,000 and 60,000 people were burned at the stake – convicted of witchcraft.

Why were witches so feared and who were they? To get the answers, visit the new HEX! Museum of Witch Hunt, which the Museum of South West Jutland is opening in Ribe this summer.

Ribe was an obvious choice, when it came to choosing a setting for a new museum devoted to the subject of witch hunting. Maren Spliids, the most famous witch in Denmark, came from Ribe. A victim of the fear of the age in which she lived, she was burned at the stake in 1641.

But Maren was not alone. Denmark executed more than an average number of witches, and Ribe burned more than its fair share.

HEX! Museum of Witch Hunt introduces visitors to the everyday superstition that helped common people to understand and cope with illness, distress and loss. But the museum will also introduce them to the scholars who believed that the Devil played a role in everything.

These two different attitudes to magic evolved into the witches and sorcerers of whom everyone in society was afraid.

We look forward to welcoming you from June 30^th.