May Eve at the Heidelberg Thingstätte

May Eve, or the last day in April has long been celebrated in many European cultures. One of the oldest traditions stem back from the Norse. The Wild Hunt was a popular folklore in Scandinavian and Germanic myth, and later continued into other European myths including British, French, Welsh, and German, with the hunter's identities changing from people to people. In the original Norse myth, the leader of the Hunt was Odin who rode his eight-legged horse, called Sleipnir. His company of hunters were the Valkyries and the dead warriors who resided with him in Valhalla. The Hunt always began on October 31st called Winter's Night, and continued until April 30th, May Eve. Early Germanic myth sees Odin replaced with another Godhead, Wodan. Either way, these two nights were seen as special, as the fabric that separates all worlds was at its thinnest and spirits and goblins were free to roam our worlds... But as the Wild Hunt was ended the spirits were driven back into the underworld and heralded the end of Winter and the birth of Spring.

The early Germanic peoples celebrated May Eve, known to them as Walpurgis' Night, as the height the Spring. Ostara is the Germanic goddess of the Spring, of sun and fertility. The Anglo-Saxon equivalent is called Eostre. From this name stems the word East (German Ost), and our festival of Easter. May Eve was then associated with new life, the return of plants and animals after Winter's repression.

The Celts called this night Beltane and also marked the end of Winter and the beginning of Spring. The Goddess manifests as the May Queen and Flora. The God emerges as the May King and Jack in the Green. To the Celts May Eve also marked the end of time when the spirit world roamed free on the earth's surface, while witchcraft and sorcery is the most potent at this time. For this reason, bonfires were often lit to celebrate the departure of evil spirits from the mortal world. May Eve is therefore the opposite of the Celtic Samhain Eve, the beginning of Winter, celebrated on October 31st, where bonfires are lit to ward off evil spirits.

Present day Pagans still celebrate both nights, and May Eve has also therefore been refered to as Witch's Night. The celebration of Witch's Night has continued to present day in the city of Heidelberg. Here students gather on the platue of a mountain known as the Heilgenberg (Holy Mountain), and specifically at a place known as the Thingstätte. Originally a Celtic sacred site, the Romans built a religous structure nearby, which was later converted to a Roman Catholic monastery in the 12th century. During the Second World War, Hitler gave the order to build a large open-air theater nearby the religious ruins, which was used for military ceremonial indoctrinations. Following the war, the site remained mostly abandoned... until April 30th! On Witch's Night literally 1000's of students from the surrounding cities flock to the top of the Heilgenberg and the Thingstätte, keeping the customs of the peoples of old alive with a celebration of Spring. In this one-time Nazi ampitheatre, a celebration of life occurs...

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Pictures from May Eve at the Heidelberg Thingstätte.

Just after arriving in Heidelberg. We open beers as fuel for the hike up the Heilgenberg!

Irene prepares as well... but in a different way.

Cheerios!

Liis, at peace with the cosmos.

Flo has a determined look in his eyes.

Irene the Pimp!

After this pic, we deemed we had enough fuel to tackle the long hike up the Holy Mountain!

Tried to take a pic of the crowds going up the mountain but it was too dark...

Are we there yet?

Smelling my own armpits? And enjoying it??

All these lights are fires along the Thingstätte ampitheatre.

Some people also have fireworks.

Me, Barris, and Liis.

More fires.

Hundreds of fires along the stairs of the ampitheatre. People also bring musical instruments such as tribal drums, horns, and guitars. It makes for quite a unique atmosphere and blend of sounds.

You can only see people who are close because it was so dark.

Part of the crowd.

Me and Irene.

Torch bearers.

Me and the girls : )

Barris you are such a bad influence!

Woo Hoo!

Wibke joins the party!

Pass it on...

Sweet!

Eve and company.

Here we can see the fire throwers and blowers!

They put on a pretty good show.

Pretty kool pic.

And another.

Checking for a pulse haha!

Irene puts the hair down and gets wild!

Whats up dudes?

I think we angered Barris...He looks like he might bite...

Said to be one of the greatest thinkers of our time...

And on the way back down. Another good night with good friends to be remembered.