The Walpurgisnacht is celebrated on the 30th of April in Germany.  According to tradition, on this night witches from throughout the country fly to the Blocksberg for their annual gathering.

In many places bonfires are lit, and it is even a tradition in some parts for people to jump over it!

Other traditions are comparable to those at Halloween.  Since the 1990s the latter has become more popular in Germany, making the Walpurgisnacht less well-known, especially amongst foreigners.

To hear a simple explanation and a short discussion in German, listen to the podcast:

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Tags: Blocksberg, Halloween, witches

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 at 11:52 pm and is filed under German Words Explained, Podcasts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.