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 Wadelinde - Thale, Germany
N 51° 44.158 E 011° 01.817
32U E 640191 N 5733623
The Grandmother of all witches
Waymark Code: WMPXMR
Location: Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany
Date Posted: 11/05/2015
Views: 13
Every kid that grew up in Germany's Harz mountains knows about Wadelinde, the grandmother of all witches. Strangely enough,
we could not find a single internet reference except for her name being mentioned in one German online book about Harz legends.
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Thankfully, in 1996, local artist Jochen Müller made Wadelinde's name known to the international public, when he created a group of mythical sculptures called Hexenring (Witche's Circle), that soon became one of the most photographed objects in the Harz Mountains.
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The Witche's Circle consists of a group of boulders and three sculptures, features the Devil, his "assistant" Homunculus and Wadelinde, the grandmother of all witches. The Devil and Homunculus are sitting on boulders, inviting visitors to enter the circle. Witch Wadelinde is pushing the last remaining boulder to complete the circle and to capture all souls within it.
The whole ensemble is located at the Hexentanzplatz (German for Witche's Dance Floor), a place that is deeply embedded in German folklore. You can read more about the sculptures and about the place itself at our Hexentanzplatz and Hexenring waymarks.
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All sculptures, especially the one of Witch Wadelinde, are very realistic and, lets just say, sexually graphic.
In order to keep this a decent waymark, we focused on some of the other details.
The witch is covered with all kind of creatures, from cockroaches to rats.
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The place that is now called the Witches Dance Floor was once a pagan Saxon cult site. During excavations in the 19th century, a blood altar used to sacrifice animals was discovered on the mountain top.
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However, the myth about the dancing witches only started in the 9th century, when invading Christian Franks prohibited the Saxons from exercising their rituals.
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According to legend, in 773, King Charlemagne ordered his soldiers to guard the place and not let any Saxons enter. The Saxons, however dresses up as devils and witches riding on broomsticks and scared the Frankish guards away, thus creating the legend of the witches and her grandmother, Wadelinde.
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Time Period: Middle Ages
Approximate Date of Epic Period: 773 AD
Epic Type: Mythical
Exhibit Type: Figure, Statue, 3D Art
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Visit Instructions:
To post a log for this waymark, take a picture of the location and tell at least 'a little' bit about your encounter, impression or experience.
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