Peasants Turn Out with Pitchforks and Torches

Crowds with pitchforks and torches still turn out to chase out unwanted visitors in small towns near us. 

Photo for Nordbayern.de © Verena Masopust

For a couple of years now, the nationally owned German Rail company (Deutsche Bahn, DB) has been searching for a suitable site to build a maintenance facility for its high-speed trains (ICE). It has been looking at various sites around the city of Nuremberg. Everywhere they go, the local people protest against the imposition on the local resources and destruction of natural beauty.

Most recently, two representatives of the DB traveled to the town of Harrlach to pitch their ideas for locating the new facility in a chunk of the Bann forest adjacent to the town. Needless to say, the local residents were not crazy about having so much of their forest destroyed. After the DB representatives made their pitch, the residents sent them off, voicing their disagreement by reviving an 18th century farmers' tradition. Much noise was made and, typical for Germany, a rhyming song accompanied the occasion.

A sample of the text (chosen from among the 18 verses) with which the DB representatives were sent off follows. You won't find some of these words in the dictionary, because they are in thick Franconian dialect:

„Wir san die Harrlacher Haberfeldtreiber, wir stelln uns quer, wir machen immer weiter. Wir san do bei der Nacht, wir san do am Dooch, des merktster, Deutsche Bahn, wir loun net noch!“

„Vom ICE waschns jede Muckn; Bei uns do falln die Brunna truckn.“ 

 „Zehntausend Kloschüsseln, sauber wäi gmolt; Frag amal wer des Abwasser zohlt?“

„Hundert Fragen stellst der Bahn; als Antwort kommt bloß: Raumordnungsverfahrn. (...) Da fällt der Bannwald, Hieb für Hieb; so grün ist der Staatsbetrieb.“  

 "The Harrlach Haberfeldtreiber are we, we dig in our heels, resist perpetually.

We're here by night, we're here by day. You see, Deutsche Bahn, we will not cave!

"From the ICE, they wash each fly; all the while our wells run dry.

"Ten-thousand toilet bowls, clean as if new painted. Guess who pays the costs of water tainted?

"The Bahn's only answer to a hundred requests is the "regional planning process" ... So falls the Bann forest, tree by tree. How green can the state's operation be?"

Most German trains run on electricity from lines above the tracks, like street cars do. Even though the Deutsche Bahn prides itself on using "green" sources of electricity to run the trains, this search for a new site is going off the rails.  

The event is called a "Haberfeldtreiben" meaning "to drive someone out through the oat field," Haber is local dialect for Hafer=oats. The custom dates to the 1700s, came from upper Bavaria, and provided a way for the peasants to voice their opinions to the nobles. They would gather after dark, chanting while dressed in black with blackened faces or wearing wooden masks representing devils (see our blog about the Perchtentreiben), carrying torches, cow bells and pitchforks. 

So this is a great demonstration of several themes that we have observed in our time here, including the Franks' (pron. "Frahnks" = Franconians') love of trees and the revival of old traditions, some of which draw on ancient pagan rites. The rhyming chant is also typical of how certain occasions are marked. Fans shout chants and sing songs at soccer games, and groups at beer gardens have traditional ditties. Trick-or-treating children sing a song when they come to the door at Halloween asking politely for candy. To express their gratitude, kids are even expected to recite a poem or sing a verse before they open their Christmas presents! And on the feast of Epiphany, the kids dressed as the three "kings" go door-to-door singing a song at each house as they ask for donations to that year's charity. (on the 2014 Christmas/2015 New Year's blog, scroll to the end to see the section about the Epiphany in Germany)

Unlike the French, who are notorious for going on strike at the drop of a hat, the Franks are notorious for being laconic and it takes a lot to get them angry. On the jubilant end of the spectrum, they are so restrained, they only get publicly crazy and silly on certain occasions such as Fasching (Mardi Gras), which they make into a week-long party season prior to Lent, the yearly Kirchweih (beer festivals), soccer games, New Year's Eve, ... and I can't think of any other occasions!

Here's the link to the original article: Harrlach residents up in arms, protest against the Bahn: our wells will run dry

Easter in Munich (2019): Bavarian national splendor

We spent a beautiful day in Munich on Easter Sunday. We spent much of it in the parks of Munich. We had lunch in the Englischer Garten and walked through the east side of the Isar river in the afternoon.
We decided to do something new, and since we had never been in the Bavarian National Museum, we checked it out. You read that right. Bavaria was once an independent nation with its own royal family!

The museum is built around the collection of the Wittelsbacher family, the pre-eminent noble family in Bavaria. This family was given the kingship of Bavaria when Napoleon rearranged Germany. They were kings up until the last one abdicated during the First World War. One of them, loopy Louis (Ludwig II) built the famous Neuschwanstein castle.

Many of the beautiful things in the museum reflect how the nobles lived in the good old days, when decadence was good. We saw a room full of ivory carvings. It turns out that ivory turning was an acceptable past-time for the members of the Bavarian royal family.

Other exhibits covered the exquisite clothes, jewelry and tableware of the days when one dressed and dined to impress. 

The fine embroidery on the white silk dress kept Kathy staring. The necklace consisted of garnets and silver, and the painted stones depicted characters from a masked ball. The silver structure below, a table centerpiece, featured small musician figures in the center surrounded by curtains made of silver lacework. The whole thing was a platform that held the salt and pepper shakers and other seasonings. Can't imagine polishing the thing!

This beautiful museum emphasizes the decorative arts. The museum has several rooms of sculptures by Tilman Riemenschneider, an artist whose work graces many churches in our region of Franconia. Some were very familiar, and some were bizarre. An example of the latter is the Ascension of Mary Magdalene showing Mary covered only by her own hair. (Click on the pictures to see a larger version)

The more familiar ones include the 12 Apostles. Most figures have an attribute for the method of martyrdom for each of the them.  It seems to me that Judas Iscariot has been replaced by Paul the Apostle.




Matthew was originally holding a quill (not seen) used for writing the Gospel.

Four soldiers took Thomas to a nearby hill and speared him.

Andrew was crucified on an X, which is also where the design of the Scottish flag comes from.







This one is the easiest. Peter has the keys to heaven, of course.

This is the tricky one. Paul (not one of the 12 Apostles) is holding a scroll (symbolising the Scriptures).

Simon the Zealot was sawn in half.

Philip was crucified upside-down, in deference to Jesus.

Bartholomew is shown with the knife because he was skinned alive.

James, son of Zebedee, wears a pilgrim's hat, because he is thought to be buried at Santiago, the great pilgrimage site. He was the brother of John, the Beloved.




John, the Beloved, was challenged to drink a cup of poison to demonstrate the power of his faith.

Jude, or Judas Thaddaeus, should be holding a spear, but it looks more like a club to me, which is sometimes his attribute also.

James, the Younger and brother of Jesus according to one interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew, has a slim club with a wooden board attached at a right angle to one end used by fullers to clean wool.

There were also several green men and a couple of wild men.

These wild men and green men are commonly found in Romanesque churches, the first churches built in stone. The stone churches usually replaced wooden churches that were built by the early missionaries on the same site. The depiction of these pagan figures, which are unique to these early churches, is intriguing. We wonder what these figures imply about the way Christianity was practiced between 800 and 1000 C.E., shortly after Christianity was adopted or forced on the Germanic tribes. What remained of the early pagan beliefs? It seems that the pre-Christian belief systems persisted, because the representation of nature spirits is tacked on to the Christian imagery. The undercurrent of pagan respect for nature is something we notice repeatedly here in Germany, where trees are protected by requiring applications to be filed before they are felled in the season that makes the least impact on the birds that nest in them. Other evidence of this pre-Christian respect for nature is that the fountains in the rocky, water-poor regions to our northeast are cleaned and decorated each year around Easter time with evergreen boughs and painted eggshells.

Lucca, Italy, for fun and profit

Richard attended a technical conference in Lucca, Italy, for work from May 13th through the 19th this year 2018. He gave a presentation and published a paper.

Richard giving his presentation

Conference participants in the courtyard

The conference was held at the Real Collegio, a renovated cloister attached to the S. Frediano church. (see bell tower outside of courtyard in the photo.) The old monastery was extensively modified during the 17th century with the addition of two main cloisters. In 1779 the Republic of Lucca decided to use the building as a “university institute”, and Pope Pius VI disposed the S. Frediano community patrimony for the construction of the new institute. In the 19th century, the institute received the name of “Real Collegio Carlo Lodovico” from Charles Louis of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Lucca, and it remained an educational institution until 1939.

During the evening on Monday of the conference, a performance was given by sbandieratore or bandieraio. These modern-day flag throwers have their origins in the military flag-bearers of past centuries who led troops into battle.  The flag throwers had to transfer orders from the leaders to the troops.  It was imperative that they not let their flag fall into enemy hands, because this could lead to confusion and defeat. In order to save the flag, they perfected the long, high throw.

I suspected that there was a military connection already as soon as I heard the accompanying drummers. Just the two large drums alone were terribly loud, and when the dozen or so drums were added, it was as deafening as the loudest rock concert. I was reminded immediately of bag pipes, which also have a military connection.

On Wednesday of the conference participants were treated to supper at the Palazzo Pfanner.

Palazzo Pfanner

Statues and fountain in the garden

Main hall of the Palazzo

 The Palazzo as it now with its monumental main stair case was constructed by the Controni family, who bought the Palazzo in 1680.We started with champagne and appetizers in the baroque garden, and then moved to the main hall for dinner, where there are beautiful frescoes painted around the year 1720. In 1845, the Duke of Lucca, Carlo Lodovico di Borbone hired for himself and for the townspeople “a German brewer”. In 1846, Felix Pfanner, a Bavarian brewer, rented the garden and the cellars of the Palazzo from the Controni family in order to become the first beer manufacturer of the Duchy of Lucca and one of the first in Italy. Eventually, Pfanner was able to buy the whole Palazzo from the proceeds, and the Palazzo became the official headquarters of the Pfanner Brewery. The brewery  closed in 1929, but the Palazzo is still the property of the Pfanner family, who lives here.

facade of San Frediano

After walking by the basilica of San Frediano every day on the way to and from the conference, it was time on Friday to take a look inside. The church is famous for the large mosaic on its facade. The church as it is today was consecrated in 1147. A city could only have one baptismal church in the middle ages, but because San Frediano was outside the Roman wall at the time and the cathedral was inside, San Frediano became the second baptismal church of Lucca around the year 1000.

baptismal font in San Frediano

This first thing you notice is a Romanesque baptismal font. It is from around the 12th century, and it depicts the Israelites as knights in armor crossing the Red Sea on horseback. Nope, I don't understand either. Stories of Moses are on the large lower basin, and the small round temple on the lid has the apostles and months of the year.
In a chapel on the left is a fresco of the arrival of the Santo Volto (the Holy Face) in the basilica. The fresco cycle commemorates the legend of Nicodemus' sculpting the figure of Jesus in Lebanon cedar. When he completed all but the face, Nicodemus fell asleep, and woke to find the Holy Face completed by an angel. The wooden sculpture was transported to the basilica in the year 742 from Luni, which was a Byzantine possession that had been sacked by Saracens.

freco of the transport of the Santo Volto

In another chapel is an altar with a Roman sarcophagus containing the body of Saint Richard the Pilgrim, an English “king” (of Wessex). Before you ask, "who cares?", there's a spoiler: he is connected to a saint who is famous in our region of Franken. He died in Lucca in 722 while on pilgrimage to Rome. Miracles were reported to have occurred at his tomb, and a cult venerating him developed. His wife, Winna, was the sister of Saint Boniface, who was the  Archbishop of Mainz and is the patron saint of Germany.

sarcophagus of Richard the Pilgrim

Richard and Winna were the parents of Willibald, Bishop of Eichstätt; Saint Winibald, Abbot of Heidenheim; and Walpurga, Abbess of Heidenheim, which are towns not far from here in Franken. Saint Walpurga became a nun in the double monastery of Heidenheim am Hahnenkamm, which was founded by her other brother, Willibald, who appointed her as his successor. Following his death in 751, she became the abbess. When she died, she was buried at Heidenheim; but in the 870s, Walpurga's remains were transferred to Eichstaett. Her feast day commemorates the transfer of her relics on 1 May. At some point she came to represent the older pagan concept of the Grain Mother. Peasant farmers fashioned her replica in a corn dolly at harvest time and told tales to explain Saint Walpurga's presence in the grain sheaf. Her earliest representation is in the early 11th-century Hitda Codex, made in Cologne, which depicts her holding stylized stalks of grain. The night before her feast day became the Walpurgis Night mentioned in Goethe's novel "Faust" and in Thomas Mann's "The Magic Mountain" and in Edward Albee's play "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?". It is celebrated in continental folklore with dancing and bonfires to ward off witches and evil spirits.
Our own area has a Walpurgisnacht celebration on a local hill that is nicknamed after Walpurga. The Ehrenbuerg, a table-topped formation east of Forchheim, just north of Erlangen, is always referred to as the Walberla. A small chapel on the hill top is dedicated to Walpurga. On April 30th, people go up on the Walberla, some dressed as devils or witches, and drink and make bonfires, which they dance around until well after midnight on May 1: Walpurgisnacht. The local legend relates that St. Walpurga converted the local witches to Christianity and in return for their conversion, she promised them that one night per year, they could celebrate as in the pre-Christian days. It's probably not a coincidence that May 1st is an ancient pagan festival in the Celtic countries called Beltane.

The cathedral in Lucca has the Santo Volto, which is an early 13th-century copy stored in its own temple. Perhaps the original was chipped away beyond repair by relic-seeking pilgrims.

Temple with Santo Volto

View of Santo Volto through the screen door

The temple was closed when we were there, but the screen in the door allows a view of the Santo Volto.

Ceiling in the apse of the cathedral

 The rest of the cathedral is very beautiful. The apse has a beautiful fresco. And the floor has a marble inlay depicted the Judgement of Solomon. (The baby is difficult to see, but look closely between Solomon on the throne and the soldier to the left of Solomon.)

Marble inlay showing Judgement of Solomon

The old city center of Lucca has a complete 17th century wall around it, and what remains of the Roman amphitheater is now a circle of houses with restaurants and shops in the ground floor. We stayed in a small B and B near the "Anfiteatro" with a couple of Richard's colleagues whose wives also visited them. The B and B was nicely decorated with murals from the Age of Chivalry.

Room at Corte dei Nobili

The Anfiteatro was, of course built in the ruins of a Roman amphitheater. In the middle ages, houses and restaurants were built inside up against the ancient walls and the floor of the arena was retained as the central plaza. We regularly ate breakfast and dinner at restaurants inside the old walls.

We had fun going out to dinner together and getting tips on what to look for when exploring. One great tip was a great book store with a stained glass ceiling and pillars inside that also included a café. Of course there were dozens of old Romanesque churches and plazas. While we were there, there was an antique car meet and parade involving lots of people wearing matching costumes riding around in their open-topped early-20th-century roadsters, having fun.





  

Easter fountains and wells

Easter in the hills of Frankonian Switzerland (just north-east of here) is celebrated by decorating the fountains and wells. The sandstone that makes up the mountains doesn't hold water, and wells are sometimes 100 yards deep. In the winter they go dry, but when the winter snow melts in the spring, the wells fill up again, and it is time to celebrate. Traditionally, when the wells and fountains are cleaned out, the rubbish that collected is allowed to dry (for the bonfire that takes place on the night before Easter). While the women cleaned, the girls painted eggs (the symbol of fertility and spring) and decorated the wells with pine boughs and ribbons. During the Romantic period in Germany (the early 1800s), these old traditions became important again, and since then they have become more popular. Today, there are about 300 Easter fountains in Frankonian Switzerland.

In Bieberbach, at the intersection of two of only a handful of streets that make up the town, tourist buses unload people to see the worlds biggest Easter fountain. At least, that's what the Guinness Book of World Records says. More than 11 thousand eggs from chicken, ducks and geese were used.

In Birkenreuth, they still have the old well that they have enclosed in a nice shelter decorated with Easter eggs. Inside, the opening to the well is covered with decorations. Even the rope going into the well has pine boughs twisted around it so that more Easter eggs can be attached.  

The Trachtenverein (Association of traditional costumes) in Muggendorf decorates the fountain in the center of town. They posted some information on making the easter egss. Between one and two hours are needed to make each egg. The steps, as usual, are 1) blow out the egg, 2) paint the background color, 3) paint the decoration,  4) apply a laquer to protect the decoration so the egg can be used in subsequent years, and 5) string the eggs with thread and pearls to separate them. 

  We made it to Muggendorf in time for lunch. We saw the waitress at the Golden Star opening up the beer garden behind the fountain, so we checked in the restaurant for an Easter meal. We were both in the mood for lamb, and two dishes were on the menu, so we each had one. They were both delicious.

After lunch we went to Waischenfeld, where the Heimat- und Verschönerungsverein (Home-town and Beautification Association) decorates the fountain with 2600 Easter eggs. Waischenfeld is on a small river, so the center of town didn't have a fountain. But on the edge of town there is a nice fountain made out of a large piece of the sandstone that makes up the mountains here. 

Our final stop was in Heiligenstadt, where a brass band was playing music as we walked into the town square.  

It's just below the surface

 "The need for [pagan] ritual goes deep," Silvia said.  "But it’s also just below the surface," I said.

Scratch the surface of a German and you find a pagan who loves trees, being in the woods and mountains and who loves processions that take place in the dark by torchlight. Hunting has its own rituals associated with honoring the game animals. When a house is built, the first roof support erected is decorated with a branch from an evergreen tree. A German is very close to his pagan roots, as we saw one evening at the “Perchtentreiben.” (roughly pronounced pairk-ten-try-ben) See the Wikipedia article on  Pre-Christian Alpine Traditions.

The Perchtentreiben traditionally takes place between Christmas and the New Year. The Perchten represent devils who are driven out as a way of getting rid of the evils of the old year and of this indeterminate “time between the years.” (see note below)

The roots of the Perchten tradition are not clear, but in recent years, it has become connected with the Krampus, a demonic-looking character who accompanies St. Nicholas as he visits the children, scaring and punishing those who have been bad. The feast of St. Nicholas is celebrated Dec. 6 and is a real tradition here; the children put out their shoes so “der Nikolaus” can fill them with treats.

At a Christmas market in a small town on the first weekend of Advent, we gathered around a roped-off area in the middle of which a fireplace had been set up. A stage occupied one end of the enclosure.

The performance soundtrack started with a passage from the book of Genesis, “The world was without form and the dark was upon the deep, and God said let there be light.” Flames leaped up in the central fire ring. Saint Nicholas, with a long beard and a wise face, wearing his crimson bishop’s robes with mitre and crosier, entered with angels dressed in white, processed around the circle and took their place on the stage.

As the music turned darker, the voice changed to a deep demonic one speaking Latin and saying “Lucifer, great devil,…”. Smoke came from the side of the stage and finally, the lead devil made his entrance. As he stalked around the circle, he carried a staff with a horned animal skull on it (and a sign displaying the name of the group).

 The Perchten, or devils, appeared with impressively fearsome masks with huge horns, wearing ragged robes of furs, and bundles of long hair covering their lower legs so that you could imagine there were actually hooves underneath. 









Some of the figures had red or blue lights in their eyes. All had wild, long hair. Some of them clanked as they entered the circle – they had huge bells tied to the backs of their belts with chains hanging from the belt so that the bells clanked as they moved. The music changed to a heavy-metal soundtrack. They threatened and leered at the onlookers as they entered, pausing to put a clawed hand on top of a pretty girl’s head so that she screamed, or knock a hat off. 

Some of them represented witches, with hooked noses and broomsticks. As the witches surrounded the fire in the middle, they dipped wands in the fire and opened them out to flaming fans. They danced with these, gracefully and slowly, while still moving threateningly. 

A fire breather entered the ring dressed in a dark monk’s robe. More of the devils entered, some with whips made of bundles of horse hair. These they beat on the ground as they mimed fighting with each other. Others moved menacingly around the circle, running toward the onlookers as if to attack and sliding onto their knees at the feet of the spectators. As they stalked around the circle, they reached into the crowd, even into the second and third rows of spectators. Those who thought they were safe were no longer! I was standing behind two other people, but I took off my hat in case they decided to reach in to grab me! The fire breather circled and crossed the area, coming ever closer and breathing his fire just above the heads of the crowd. 

The devils continued circling, clanking, glaring and dancing as one of them used his staff to create a ring of fire on the ground. Some of them gathered around this ring to perform. Then, the church bells started to ring, and St. Nicholas and his angels left the stage to drive the devils off. 

A cage on wheels containing a child-sized devil (or a child?) came from off-stage and into the circle as the devils followed St. Nicholas away. The Ave Maria started to play, the flames went out. Peace was restored, and the spectacle was over. 

The crowd broke up, but a few minutes later, the MC announced that the devils and St. Nicholas would assemble on the stage for pictures. The spell was broken, but it was great fun to be able to see the fantastic masks and costumes up close as St. Nicholas and all the devils assembled. They got a round of applause and, as they made their way out again, paused for pictures with members of the crowd. 

You can see lots of good pictures on the devils' website: Oberpfälzer Schlossteufel

 A highly personal Interpretation

It was a communal rite, watching the forces of darkness with their fearsome faces cavort, fight with each other and leer at the bystanders. Who says that the gods, or forces of nature, aren’t capricious devils? The Old Testament god of the Hebrews was certainly capricious and displayed his might frequently through forces of nature. 

Why do these creatures who represent evil fascinate us so? Because they still have power inside us. Sometimes they are our gods: vanity, lust, pride, irrational and selfish behavior. Silvia said that people need these representations; what are depression and anxiety and panic but our personal demons? On the other hand, they are of the earth, their terrifying faces carved out of trees that grow in the earth, their robes are animal skins, their horns and fangs remind us of predators. We are also of the earth, and not so far removed from the animals biologically. They are eventually driven out by the forces of light to the strains of church bells and the Ave Maria, but we miss them with their fascinating earthiness and passionate behavior. They are also our avatars.

Are they really evil? “For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” – Shakespeare, Hamlet. You can’t have the light without the dark.

Another thing I posit is that Christianity, especially in the Middle Ages, was a religion centered on aspirations toward a paradisical heaven and the afterlife. “Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven.” (Really? Do I have to wait until then?) The pleasures and temptations of the flesh were to be denied and denigrated. But we still need to cherish our connection to the earth that supports us and not deny and ignore it. 

Another thing I have concluded is that, in comparison to polytheistic cultures, which have many stories about the gods, the Christians only have one great mythological story, and that’s not enough. It’s like only being able to see one movie in your whole life and having to base your life on that. We need to acknowledge that other stories can be just as powerful and just as valuable in our lives.

The power of these performances is proved when, every year, various church officials protest against these events and encourage their faithful not to participate, even seeking to have the events banned. 

Christians have been brought up to look upon the rites of non-Christian peoples as quaint and meaningless at best: the Hopi Kachina dances, or the Chinese New Year festivals, or the Tibetan festivals with the various demons and gods represented by people in costume. But the Perchtentreiben showed me that even we (nominal) Christians still need to be thrilled by a ritual representing the conflict of the forces of light and darkness. Christians, especially in Germany, are only Christians on the surface. You only need to scratch the surface to find the pagan thirsty for the old rites.

Historical Context (again, highly subjective and personal)

We European descendants in America have no pagan roots in the New World. The Christianity handed down to us by our New World ancestors is relatively pure, relatively free of local pagan influences. The heathen origin of such festivals as Christmas and Easter are legends to us Americans. Because I grew up in such a context, it was easy to believe it when we were taught that Christianity was something new and superior to all else in the world, unaffected by what came before it; that it sprang directly from the teachings of Jesus. (With some accounting for the Jewish civilization in which context Christianity developed 2000 years ago.) There was no locally influenced inflection of Christianity. In other words, for the descendants of Europeans in the Americas, Christianity was not overlaid on any local pagan tradition.

The point I want to make is about the contrast between the Christianity handed down in the New World and Christianity as a veneer over the surface of the pagan traditions here in Germany. The Germanic tribes converted to Christianity between 600 and 800 AD, relatively recently in comparison with the countries occupied by Rome. There was almost no Roman influence north of the Danube and east of the Rhine. Before the Germanic tribes overran the Empire in the 5^th century AD, the Romans had resigned themselves to allowing the German tribes to be German. In the Scandinavian countries (also with Germanic roots) and Slavic countries, the conversion came even later and more slowly. In all these countries, the early churches are decorated with artwork exhibiting a very pagan influence . In Germany, a visit to an early Romanesque-style church reveals such symbols as “Green men” and various devils depicted in the stone work. The stonemasons were still referencing images that the newly converted could understand.

For more on converting the Germans to Christianity and other pagan traditions that are maintained here in Germany, see Richard’s blog Life in Germany.

Summary

The traditions of pagan Germany are still alive in some form in spite of Christianity because the Germanic tribes and their Celtic predecessors have been living  continuously in central Europe for millennia. In many cases, old traditions, including the Perchtentreiben, have been revived, some relatively recently. With the steep decline in church attendance in this country, the old rites and sacred places, however altered, are experiencing a revival of importance.

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Note: It is a very common pagan belief that the ambiguity and uncertainty of the time between the years thins the barriers between worlds and allows the evil spirits to come out – Halloween is based on this very thing. In the Celtic calendar, the new year began on November 1, and the evening before, evil spirits were thought to walk the earth.