The Legend
According to the legend, the witches ride on broomsticks, pitchforks, pigs, bucks or calves to the witche's sabbath on the Hexentanzplatz during the Walpurgis Night.
Before their night trip the witches painted themselves and their "flying gear" with a so-called witche's ointment. The recipe for this ointment was a mixture of nightshade, belladonna, hemlock and other such drugs known in the middle ages.
The saga goes that when the witches arrived on the Hexentanzplatz, the snow will dance away. Afterwards the devil personally welcomed all his guests who kissed the cloven hoof.
Sacrifices were then selected from the witches who had landed last on the Hexentanzplatz, and the devil would marry the nicest witch. At sunrise the wild group would ride back home and the witches spell would be broken.
The Night
Walpurgis Night takes place annually from April 30th to May 1st. A variety of programmes around the Hexentanzplatz attract thousands
of visitors from all over the country every
year. The devil makes his speech
at midnight and the May Queen is
then chosen as a sign of the
approaching spring.
