["Wise Men confound the World!". A district physician's struggle against superstition and sorcery in the 19th...

When Michael Krohn (1822-97) was appointed district physician in Ytre Nordhordland in 1855 he had to fight hard against local witchcraft. Health education became his main strategy. He gave a series of lectures to the local Board of Health and also invited the schoolteachers to the meetings. The prejudiced local politicians neglected the school system and actively opposed the propositions he put forward. Nevertheless, a generation later the witches had disappeared. Health education can take some credit for this result, but probably the most important factor was simple trust.