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.’
Walking & Writing 