Hexentanzplatz
During the time of the witch persecution, many places in Europe where the accused in the witch trials allegedly met for secret witch meetings were referred to as the Hexentanzplatz or Teufelstanzplatz . The occasion is said to have been the Witches' Sabbath on Walpurgis Night , for example . It was believed that wizards or witches would have gathered there with the devil on the so-called mountains or parcels of land.
In the witch trials, the judges demanded from the accused the exact list of the devil dance places visited (i.e. an exact place of participation in the witch's sabbath) and a statement (denunciation) of the names of other participants in the meeting. These denounced people were then also arrested and charged, and so-called chain trials with many executions ensued.
Witches dance places
Examples of the hundreds of alleged witches' dance venues include:
- In the Harz mountains, the Hexentanzplatz near Thale , the Brocken mountain and the Hexentanzplatz (also Ellrichblick) near Walkenried .
- In 1597 Anna Dietrich was accused of having been to the Kesslertanz Hexentanzplatz near Rinderbügen in Hesse.
- In 1631, under torture , Peter Essenkemper confessed that he had visited eleven dance venues in and near Menden in Westphalia. The meeting places mentioned in the Menden trials can be found at Menden localities ("at the high ditch at the crossroads"), on Romberg (Rodenberg), on the lowest stone near Hemer's garden, "on the Brocke in Oesbern", on the churchyard in Schwitten, in Boinkhausen, in Holthausen (Holzen), “on the Heide” in Wimbern, in Balve, “uf dem Dieke” near Fröndenberg, “on the Lehmkuhlen” near Unna and many others.
- In the Nockalm area in Salzburger Land ( Austria ) the Hexentanzplatz on the Klölingnock.
- The "Hexmatt" in Pratteln ( Basel-Landschaft / Switzerland )
For the biological phenomenon see Hexenring .
See also
literature
- Gisbert Kranz : Menden law and court including witch trials 1592–1631. Self-published ao (printed by Georg Pfeiffer), Menden 1929, p. 53.