The tradition of celebrating Walpurgis Night comes from pre-Christian ancient Germanic tribes.
An unexpected vacation at the end of autumn does not offer many excellent options for relaxation: tours to hot countries rise significantly in price, and the weather in central Russia is unstable at this time. Of course, there is the option of staying in the city, visiting museums, exhibitions, ordering theater tickets, getting a pool membership.
But such pastime cannot be considered a full-fledged vacation, even if the sun comes out or the event poster presents a very interesting program.
On vacation, you need to take a break from the hustle and bustle of a big city and get new impressions and emotions. For the November holidays, you can go, for example, to the Czech Republic or on an excursion to Germany, to the Harz mountains.
The end of October is the best time to travel through the Harz. Known from a song as "overgrown with forest", this large mountain range is located in the center of Germany across three states: Thuringia, Lower Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt.
Small ancient towns in the mountains and foothills seem like decorations from a fairy tale: cobblestone streets, half-timbered houses, tiled roofs, bright geraniums on windowsills. And an abundance of witch figurines everywhere – in souvenir kiosks, larger ones on balconies, sitting on chairs in cafes and by the doors of houses.
In the small cozy Stolberg, the first to receive the status of a historical city in Europe, there are only 1,400 residents and its own castle, currently closed for inspection.
Here, in the Harz, lies the famous Brocken Mountain (height 1,142 m), where Mephistopheles dragged Faust to the witches' sabbath on the night of April 30 to May 1. The summit of Brocken Mountain is called Hexentanzplatz, which translates from German as "witch dance place". On Walpurgis Night from April 30 to May 1, tourists can participate in the carnival on the Brocken. A narrow-gauge railway (Brockenbahn) runs there, and on the night of May 1, many devils with torches in their hands and scary witches ride to frolic on the witches' dance floor.
The tradition of celebrating Walpurgis Night comes from pre-Christian ancient Germanic tribes. In the Harz, on this night, they celebrated the end of cold weather, the arrival of spring, and the time of the marriage feast of the ancient god Wotan.
According to legend, it was on Walpurgis Night that Peter the Great first visited Brocken Mountain.