Waldmännchentag or Forest Festival in Germany
Waldmännchentag or Forest Festival in Germany is held on January 2. This event in the first decade of the month January is annual.
Help us

Waldmännchentag, also known as Schlägelstag or Waldfest, takes place on January 2. This is a deeply rooted pagan tradition that is particularly widespread in the Hesse-Thuringia border region, in the Hainich and in the Eichsfeld.
In popular belief, January 2 was considered an unlucky day. On this day was forest celebration and all forest work had to stop. From the 15th century onwards, this was also extended to work in the mines, in the shafts on the Hohe Meißner and in the Richelsdorfer Mountains. Who did not respect this prohibition, met with certainty in the forest on the Waldmännchen, a kind of Waldschrat or goblin, which felt disturbed in its winter rest and punished with grim vengeance, usually also with the death.
The day also falls in the time of the Rauhnächte, where you always had to expect hauntings.
Similar holidays and events, festivals and interesting facts



