Walpurgis Night on the Brocken
German legend says that on the last night of April, witches fly to the top of the Brocken to dance with the Devil until dawn.
What was reported
The Brocken is the highest peak in the Harz mountains of northern Germany, often wrapped in fog. Folklore says that on Walpurgis Night, the night before 1 May, witches ride on broomsticks and goats to its summit to meet the Devil, and dance among its rocks.
People once rang church bells and lit bonfires that night to keep the witches away. Goethe set a famous scene of his play Faust on the Brocken on Walpurgis Night, and its rocks still have names like the Witches' Altar and the Devil's Pulpit.
Explanations offered
The night may come from older spring festivals marking the start of summer. The Brocken's fogs, and the Brocken spectre, a giant shadow cast onto mist, helped give it its eerie reputation. Today the Harz towns celebrate it with costumed festivals.
- When
- Every 30 April
- Where
- The Brocken, Harz mountains, Germany
- Witnesses
- German folklore
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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