Walpurgisnacht 1992 - a short film by Zeena Schreck

Walpurgisnacht 1992 is an excerpt from the Originally titled GERMANIA: The Theory of Ruins, A Film by Zeena Schreck. In 1992, during a pilgrimage to several Germanic pagan holy sites, Zeena Schreck filmed scenes at the first publicly organized Walpurgisnacht celebration in the Harz Mountains since WWII. In an attempt to remove all traces of religion, including pre-Christian Germanic pagan customs, from the East German Democratic Republic (DDR), public Walpurgisnacht celebrations were banned. Therefore, this footage is a pure document of the people in the Harz region of Germany - the original birthplace of Walpurgisnacht - reviving a long lost tradition, pieced together from scraps of relics and memories from the elders of their community. An exhibit in the Walpurgishalle was held that year, to display antique Walpurgisnacht costumes and decorations which had been gathered from cellars and attics, unused for decades. The twilight performance footage seen here was held at the outdoor theater, Da