By Ernest Gill
Hamburg - Forget all those books that say the Irish invented Halloween and that Irish-Americans popularised it in the 20th Century.
Experts in Germany say Halloween was invented by witches in the Black Forest of Germany.
Be that as it may, law-enforcement authorities in Germany are alarmed at a dramatic increase in vandalism and lawless carousing on October 31 by young Germans who are attempting to re-enact scenes from Hollywood movies depicting Trick-'r'-Treat antics.
The claim that Black Forest witches invented Halloween comes from historians in the small towns of Hausach and Gutach near Freiburg, deep in the Black Forest in south-western Germany.
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"For centuries, long before the Americans ever came up with Halloween, wise women in the Black Forest were dispelling evil spirits at the autumn harvest by carving gourds and putting candles in them," says Dieter Kauss, head of the Vogtsbauernhof Open Air Museum.
The museum, which recreates a traditional, pre-industrial Black Forest village, complete with thatched-roof cottages and barnyards, is conducting special Halloween weekend workshops and fairs to teach young Germans about the "real" Halloween that is part of their own historical tradition.
"People here didn't call it 'Halloween' of course, they called it 'Ruebengeisterschnitzen' which means 'gourd-ghost-carving'," says Kauss. The weekend fun fairs will teach German children how to carve their own traditional Black Forest gourds and pumpkins.
"Afterwards, we'll have a lighted pumpkin procession to the top of the hill overlooking the model village where the children will be told the real story of Halloween as it was practised by the ancient Celts right here in the Black Forest," he says.
Germans are discovering Halloween as never before, and the nation's retailers hope this imported Irish-American holiday can help spook Germany out of economic doldrums.
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