ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how the “dark” (tragic and historical) and “light” (entertaining and pop-cultural) elements of witch-themed tourism are negotiated and contested at the local level. The research data is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the Harz region in Germany and qualitative interviews with local stakeholders, such as representatives of the tourism offices and local souvenir producers. Three central aspects will be analyzed: (1) Global and transcultural context: a comparison between witch-themed tourism in Salem and the Harz region, and how transcultural ideas and globalization influence them. (2) Questions of power: how was witch-themed tourism was affected by the history of East Germany and how do the sites react to claims about their dark past of witch trials? (3) Cultural practices: how is witch-themed tourism connected to local cultural heritage, and how was the COVID-19 pandemic handled? The results shed light on the complexity of witches as a touristic theme oscillating between popular imagination and sociocultural heritage, as well as on how compromises for such disputed tourist themes can be achieved.
