Thale, Germany - Thousands of tourists gathered in Germany's Harz mountains Wednesday night to celebrate Walpurgisnacht, a night of superstition associated with an ancient spring festival. Witches were once believed to dance on the Brocken, the highest mountain in northern Germany at 1,142 metres and summit of the Harz, on the night.
A performance of Faust, the drama by German national poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe which made Walpurgisnacht widely known, was a highlight of the festivities in Thale, the town at the foot of the snowed-over Brocken.
Police said nearly 5,000 people were in Thale, fewer than in previous years, while tourism promotion groups said 30 area towns expected 100,000 visitors with witches' hats and brooms to join in the night's celebrations throughout the Harz.
Several Germanic peoples regarded May 1, or the Feast of St Walpurga, as the start of the warm half of the year and believed that witches and goblins went on one last rampage before being driven away by the season of light.
Walpurgisnacht is a German term meaning the Eve of St Walpurga's Day.
