The next destination of our one-day tour-de-Harz was the Hexentanzplatz (Witches' Dance Floor), a plateau in the Harz mountains near the small town of Thale. Legend has it that there once lived an old witch, turning fair maidens into witches themselves and calling all the witches of the region to large meetings on her plateau. One day when she tried to lure another innocent virgin from Thale to her place a storm came up and she was thrown against a rock and turned into stone.
Every year, on Walpurgis Night (the night before the 1st of May when all witches come back to their dance floor for one night), there is a huge festival on the Hexentanzplatz of Thale with bonfires and dressing up and dancing. We were there two days before Walpurgis Night and there was already huge excitement and a bustling activity of preparation.
The plateau itself is really touristic, a large market place with many stalls selling food, drinks, hats, witch dolls and other souvenirs. But you can walk around it, enjoy the vastness and look down into the valleys. This is, I think, when you can imagine best, how it must have been like some hundreds of years ago and why this place with its deep woods and dark rocks is full of legends of witches and devils...
