Bewitched in the Harz
I write this as late April approaches. For one region of Germany this has a particular significance. The Harz mountains.
On the night of the 30th 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 15th 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 30th 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.
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