On the night of the 30^th April, the annual Walpurgisnacht – witches’ night – is celebrated in several locations around the Harz foothills, and even up on its highest peak, the 1,411 metre Brocken.

Given that it overlooks the former west Germany, the Brocken’s location in the former east was exploited by the GDR as a listening post to eavesdrop on the decadent Wessis below. Accordingly for many years it was a no-go area for civilians, but it also has a legendary backstory which has long kept ordinary mortals away. Because it was up here that the witches would come together for their annual party.

Back in the Middle Ages, being outed as a witch meant being blamed for every kind of disease and natural disaster. It regularly ended with an innocent person being burned at the stake.

These days, witches have been re-cast in a cuddlier mode. We know that disease, famine and natural disasters have other causes. So today’s Walpurgisnacht is an excuse for a massive costume party, a bit like a Venetian masquerade, but with more broomsticks and crooked noses.

The town of Wernigerode in the Harz foothills is witchery HQ. A half timbered place whose cobbled main square is dominated by a 15^th century town hall crowned by roof conicals like witches’ hats. I particularly liked the pedestrian crossings: a horned red devil for stop, and a green flying witch for go. This is also the home of the vintage Harz Narrow Gauge Railway, whose steam-hauled trains get right to the top of the Brocken, a spectacular 90 minute climb through forests.

There are other destinations in the foothills of the Harz which also cash in on all this witchery. Thale, deeper into the former east, has a modern fantasia of a witches’ village, recently built around an original Hexentanzplatz, literally ‘witches’ dancing place’. This is primarily a family attraction, with witch tour guides and upside down houses. The Walpurgisnacht party up here attracts 7,000 guests on the night of the 30^th April.

Back across the border into the former west, Goslar too hosts Walpurgisnacht. But this town is richer, wonkier and more culturally diverse than Wernigerode, favoured by several Holy Roman Emperors, who stayed here.

Goslar’s state of preservation, combined with its shopping, eating and mountain hiking options, means that it doesn’t feel the need to jump on the broomstick-bandwagon. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site three times over, for its architecture, for its ancient water system and its thousand year old mines. Here, the annual Walpurgisnacht is just a passing fancy.

The climbers amongst you will know of the Brocken Spectre, but few will know where it originates. The Brocken is the highest peak in the Harz Mountains, effectively the only mountain range in northern Germany (although it also has a foot in the east). At 1,141 metres this round-shouldered beast is hardly an alpine peak, but it does have winter skiing, and it also has a wonderful old steam railway that runs scheduled services, winter and summer, up and down the mountain and across from one side to the other. Around the mountain’s base are pretty towns such as Osterode, Wernigerode and Goslar, which have a fairytale feel to them, particularly in the snow.

But the top of the mountain is a different matter. Bare, barren, windswept and once the site of a Soviet listening post (this was East Germany not so long ago), it is mist-shrouded and cloud-wrapped for a staggering 300 days in the year, and it is this which has given rise to so many of its legends. There’s a long tradition of witches up here, perpetuated by Goethe who described the Brocken as a centre of witchcraft revelry in his Faust. One of his scenes is of Walpurgisnacht, (Walpurgis Night, 30^th April) when witches meet on Brocken to hold revels with their gods, and there are still bonfires lit on the mountain to this day.

The Brocken is mist-shrouded and cloud-wrapped for a staggering 300 days in the year

Up here, it is easy to think you’ve seen a shape in the mist, and often you will have, but it will have been your own, and it’s called a Brocken Spectre. This natural phenomenon occurs when a climber or hiker is back-lit, usually by a low sun, and his shadow is projected onto the mist in front of him, distorted and often with a rainbow halo. This result looks like a ghost from the sixties, for it is surrounded by rainbow colours and has very flared trousers.

In moments of tiredness it is easy to assume the apparition is something other than it is, particularly because the spectre can appear to move of its own accord, depending on air currents within the mist or fog. You can imagine how such occurrences could be misconstrued by a weary and superstitious imagination.

Of course the phenomenon is not just limited to the Brocken, but the mountain is usually a fair bet, either during winter time or at the beginning or end of the day. Don’t come here expecting to see much of the surrounding landscape, however, as the poet Heine found out when he climbed the Brocken. Popular tradition has it that he wrote the following in the visitors’ book on the summit: “Viele Steine, müde Beine, Aussicht keine, Heinrich Heine”. Lots of stones, tired legs, no view. But no mention of any spectres.

Getting There: International airports are at Hanover, Berlin, Leipzig and Erfurt. International rail connections are via Cologne from Brussels (Thalys), which connect with the Eurostar from London. See our Travel page for airlines, rail and tour operators.

Staying There: The Harz sits on the border of several regions. Our recommended hotels are here for Niedersachsen, here for Berlin, here for Saxony-Anhalt and here for Thuringia.

Harz National Park Website