The Thirty Years' War, which started as a religious war, ended in a wild fight for earthly possessions: for those in
power, it was a question of land dominance, while for the common people it was a matter of a few silver coins or simply the daily bread. For the society of that time, the state of the soldiers was like a disease from which it was
impossible to recover. Furthermore, hardly any soldier fought out of conviction.
The cruel face of war
The Thirty Years' War, which contemporaries called the "Great German War", was the most ferocious war ever to
take place on German soil, and this includes the two world wars. "The war feeds the war" was its credo, and the prospect of booty was the only motivation for the raging soldiery, which consisted mainly of mercenaries.
Thousands of cities, villages, castles and other settlements disappeared from the map. The population often had to seek refuge in the forests to at least temporarily escape rape, torture, mutilation, abduction or death. By the end of
the war, two thirds of the population had lost their lives - all in the name of a Christian God. But of course it was actually about power and economic interests.