Heavy ion collisions are an ideal tool to explore the QCD phase diagram. The goal is to study the equation of state (EOS) and to search for possible in-medium modifications of hadrons. By varying the collision energy a variety of regimes with their specific physics interest can be studied. At energies of a few GeV per nucleon, the regime where experiments were performed first at the Berkeley Bevalac and later at the Schwer-Ionen-Synchrotron (SIS) at GSI in Darmstadt, we study the equation of state of dense nuclear matter and try to identify in-medium modifications of hadrons. Towards higher energies, the regime of the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), the Super-Proton Synchrotron (SPS) at CERN, and the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at BNL, we expect to produce a new state of matter, the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). The physics goal is to identify the QGP and to study its properties. By varying the energy, different forms of matter are produced. At low energies we study dense nuclear matter, similar to the type of matter neutron stars are made of. As the energy is increased the main constituents of the matter will change. Baryon excitations will become more prevalent (resonance matter). Eventually we produce deconfined partonic matter that is thought to be in the core of neutron stars and that existed in the early universe. At low energies a great variety of collective effects is observed and a rather good understanding of the particle production has been achieved, especially that of the most abundantly produced pions and kaons. Many observations can be interpreted as time-ordered emission of various particle species. It is possible to determine, albeit model dependent, the equation of state of nuclear matter. We also have seen indications, that the kaon mass, especially the mass of the K, might be modified by the medium created in heavy ion collisions. At AGS energies and above, emphasis shifts towards different aspects. Lattice QCD calculations predict the transition between a Quark-Gluon Plasma and a hadronic state at a critical temperature, T{sub c}, of about 150 to 190 MeV at vanishing baryon density. The energy density at the transition point is about 1:0 GeV/fm3. It is generally assumed that chiral symmetry restoration happens simultaneously. In the high-energy regime, especially at RHIC, a rich field of phenomena [3] has revealed itself. Hot and dense matter with very strong collectivity has been created. There are indications that collectivity develops at the parton level, i.e. at a very early stage of the collision, when the constituents are partons rather than hadrons. Signs of pressure driven collective effects are our main tool for the study of the EOS. There are also strong indications that in the presence of a medium hadronization occurs through the process of quark coalescence and not through quark fragmentation, the process dominant for high-energy p+p reactions. We limit this report to the study of hadrons emitted in heavy ion reactions. The report is divided into two parts. The first part describes the phenomena observed from hadrons produced at low energies, whereas the second part concentrates on the search for signs of a partonic state at high energies.