Today is Walpurgis Night

by fountainofmuse, posted in Germany

Today is ‘Walpurgisnacht’ (Walpurgis night), the night from April 30 to May 1. Back in my region of Germany, people gather around huge, elaborately constructed bonfires that night to drive away evil spirits and welcome the month of May. If you live in the mountains and are out that night, you see bonfires flickering everywhere. I love that tradition!

German local folklore has it that this is the night when witches from near and far are holding a dance in a designated spot on top of the Brocken, the highest peak of the Harz mountain range, to celebrate the arrival of Spring. The bonfires are also called ‘Hexenfeuer’ (witches’ fires) and are topped with makeshift straw witches, destined to be burnt at the stake to the cheers of the gathered crowd.

Goethe’s Faust is assigned reading in German schools, and the probably most famous scene in Part I takes place during “Walpurgisnacht” when Mephistopheles takes Faust to the witches’ Sabbath on the Brocken in the Harz Mountains.

‘Walpurgisnacht’ is named after Saint Walpurga, who was born around 710 in Devon and died in 779 in Heidenheim, Bavaria. She is commemorated on May 1, and thus her name became associated with the ‘Walpurgisnacht.’

The Empress Tree

by fountainofmuse, posted in Trees and flowers

If Empress Tree Floweryou walk (or drive) through Philadelphia at this time of year, you cannot but notice many trees with gorgeous lilac flowers.  They are Empress Trees, also known as Princess Trees or Foxglove Trees or Paulownia tomentosa.  The tree is native to western and central China but was introduced to Europe in the 1830s and brought to the US around 1840.  The purple flowers, which come out before the leaves, exude a fragrant smell.  The fruits are brown capsules; they open up in the fall to release the seeds but remain attached all winter.