Midsummer: We still burn witches….

It’s the annual celebration of midsummer or solstice. In Danish: Skt. Hans aften.

Every year on June 23rd we gather around a huge bonfire….and burn a witch.
She may not be an actual woman (but one made of straw) but none the less we celebrate Skt. Hans aften by burning of a witch. And we do that to send her of to Bloksbjerg (which is the German mountain Blocksberg or Brocken).



The tradition however is not connected to the actual witch burnings we had between the 15th and the 17th century. Initially we made bonfires to scare off the witches and evil spirits but the tradition with a witch on the fire was brought to us from some German workers who came to Denmark in the 1860s.
But we have celebrated midsummer at least since the days of the Vikings. At that time this night was believed to be magical and filled with magical powers – both good and evil. Also the herbs and the springs were believed to be especially magical this night.


When I was a kid, we used to celebrate Skt. Hans at my (paternal) grandparents’ house. We started in the afternoon by making a witch out of straw and/or newspapers (and some of my grandmother’s old clothes…). And sometimes there were firecrackers inside the witch as well, so she would really make some noise when she flew off for Bloksbjerg.
After dinner we gathered around the bonfire, where we kids ran around playing. And the evening usually ended with us making snobrød* over the fire.
After my grandmother died in 1988 the tradition ended (because the land we used to build the bonfire on was sold).



Nowadays we usually go to a public bonfire. We listen to speeches made by a public figure from the community, we sing the Midsummer Hymn (there are two versions: the original and the the more modern one) and then we drink beer, eat hotdogs (or similar) and hang out with friends and family. And celebrate that the days will be longer and the nights will be brighter.





*Snobrød are just small breads on a stick that are baked over the fire.