Dame Perchta and das Perchten

Once a goddess of the Teutonic peoples of the Alpine countries; in the tenth century she is known as Frau Berchta a swan-footed maiden that Grimm speculates could possibly allude to her ability of shifting forms. She is known “precisely in those Upper German regions where Holda* leaves off, in Swabia, in Alsace, in Switzerland, in Bavaria and Austria” (Grimm, 1835: 13:6). As with many old gods of pre-Christian Europe Bertcha falls unsusceptible to be demonized, thus we are faced with the pale faced hag of superstitious religious belief, Grimm writes:

Popular belief in the last few centuries, having lost the old and higher meaning of this spiritual being, has retained, as in the case of the alb, of Holla and Berhta, only the hateful side of its [her] nature: a tormenting terrifying spectre, tangling your hair and beard, cutting up your corn, it appears mostly in a female form, as a sorceress and witch (17:7).

Interestingly enough Grimm’s reference to the “cutting up of corn” is reminiscent of the ravenous nature of the Wild Hunt, renowned in the Germanic countries. Not only does one encounter Wotan (or Odin) the Wild Man but in the sixteenth century a “specter” named Berchtold clad in white led the hunt, “[We] have met before: he was the masculine form of the white-robed Berhta” (31:4).



As a maid of the Wild Hunt she is known for her to roam at midwinter, had under her command an arsenal of entities the Perchten (plural of Perchta). The festival of the mountain regions of Austria (since the sixteenth century) men wear masks of horrible repute bearing horns of a goat with grotesque teeth invade the land to force out evil spirits reenacting the Wild Hunts of old. These Schiachperchten (ugly Perchten) are one of two forms the other being the Schönperchten (beautiful Pertchen) who bestow blessings during the Twelfth Night. To ensure blessings Perchta’s followers would be forbidden to spin (an allotted amount to be completed prior); eat traditional foods of dumplings and herring.

*Holda (known by various spellings) is considered Perchta's equivalent in the souther regions of Germany while Holda resides in the north.

Photograph from Masks, Face Coverings and headgear. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. (1973).