Witches’ Dance Floor on the Faßenberg (Hanstedt)

The "Hexentanzplatz" has nothing in common with witches and all that. The term was popularly coined and goes back to gymnastics and free-body activities that newcomers carried out on the Fassenberg.
At the beginning of the 20th century, not only did the migratory bird movement emerge, many townsfolk were also increasingly drawn to the countryside, settling down in the great outdoors, gathering and occasionally also setting up small weekend homes. In Hanstedt, this happened primarily on the heights to the right and left of the idyllic Fassenbeke.
This hustle and bustle in the dark forest may have seemed suspicious to the locals and also had something mystical about it. They watched from a respectful distance and may have viewed sun worship and ecstatic dances as a kind of witch cult. The sentence: "There the witches dance!" will quickly have made the rounds and the square already had its name: "Hexentanzplatz".

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A place with a story that has nothing to do with witch hunts.

Hanstedt: "Hexentanzplatz" on the Fassenberg
Hanstedt

It is not known whether the time of the Inquisition and witch hunts left their mark on Hanstedt. It is possible that this evil spirit, which arose in the late Middle Ages, did not stop at the heathland villages.

What is certain, however, is that superstition, sorcery and witchcraft have haunted people for centuries, sometimes even up to the present day. Owls and owls were considered dead birds. If someone died and he was “above the earth for Sunday”, the deceased pulled another person after him. Between Christmas and New Year, women stopped doing the laundry, because violations brought bad luck. So did broken mirrors, while shards generally meant good luck. Many examples of good and bad luck could be mentioned at this point.

The "Hexentanzplatz" has nothing in common with any of this. The term was popularly coined and goes back to gymnastics and free-body activities that newcomers carried out on the Fassenberg.

At the beginning of the 20th century, not only did the migratory bird movement emerge, many townsfolk were also increasingly drawn to the countryside, settling down in the great outdoors, gathering and occasionally also setting up small weekend homes. In Hanstedt, this happened primarily on the heights to the right and left of the idyllic Fassenbeke.

This hustle and bustle in the dark forest may have seemed suspicious to the locals and also had something mystical about it. They watched from a respectful distance and may have viewed sun worship and ecstatic dances as a kind of witch cult. The sentence: "There the witches dance!" will quickly have made the rounds and the square already had its name: "Hexentanzplatz".

After the Second World War, the square was still used for playing fistball for a while before it grew over and disappeared from the Hanstedter's consciousness. Now Ludwig Riebesehl and Erich Gring have hung a replica witch with headscarf and broom high in a pine tree and symbolically reborn the name of the place to defy oblivion. The fathers of this idea want the witch to be understood as a good fairy who protects the forest. They encourage visitors to respect God's nature and keep the forest clean of filth.

Source: lueneburger-heide.de/service attraction/3535/hanstedt-hexentanzplatz-auf-dem-fassenberg.html