Elwedritsche
Encyclopedia
Legendary creature
A legendary creature is a mythological or folkloric creature.-Origin:Some mythical creatures have their origin in traditional mythology and have been believed to be real creatures, for example the dragon, the unicorn, and griffin...
which is reported to be found in South-West-Germany, especially in Palatinate. The Elwetritsch can be seen as a local equivalent to mythical creatures of other regions, i.e. the Bavarian Wolpertinger
Wolpertinger
In Bavarian folklore, a wolpertinger is an animal said to inhabit the alpine forests of Bavaria in Germany. It has a body comprised from various animal parts — generally wings, antlers, tails and fangs, all attached to the body of a small mammal...
or the Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
n Rasselbock.
The Elwedritsch had been quite forgotten in a while, till a Gentleman
Gentleman
The term gentleman , in its original and strict signification, denoted a well-educated man of good family and distinction, analogous to the Latin generosus...
, named Espenschied "rediscovered" them. He began to organize "Hunting Parties" which were nothing more than playing a harmless prank on people.
One of the Bavarian Kings was once served roasted, small birds for dinner, which were declared to be Elwetritsche, but were actually Quail
Quail
Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally considered in the order Galliformes. Old World quail are found in the family Phasianidae, while New World quail are found in the family Odontophoridae...
.
Appearance, Origin and Descendants
The Elwedritsch is a cryptidCryptid
In cryptozoology and sometimes in cryptobotany, a cryptid is a creature or plant whose existence has been suggested but is unrecognized by scientific consensus and often regarded as highly unlikely. Famous examples include the Yeti in the Himalayas and the Loch Ness Monster in...
or mythical creature that supposedly inhabits the Palatinate of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It is described as being a chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
-like creature with antler
Antler
Antlers are the usually large, branching bony appendages on the heads of most deer species.-Etymology:Antler originally meant the lowest tine, the "brow tine"...
s. It also has scales instead of Feather
Feather
Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds and some non-avian theropod dinosaurs. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates, and indeed a premier example of a complex evolutionary novelty. They...
s. However, it is said that their wings are of little use. That is why they live mainly in underbrush
Understory
Understory is the term for the area of a forest which grows at the lowest height level below the forest canopy. Plants in the understory consist of a mixture of seedlings and saplings of canopy trees together with understory shrubs and herbs...
and under vine
Vine
A vine in the narrowest sense is the grapevine , but more generally it can refer to any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent, that is to say climbing, stems or runners...
stocks. Sometimes Elwetritschen are depicted with antlers of a stag
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
and their beak
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
s often appear to be very long. In the second half of the 20th century, artists increasingly portrayed Elwetritschen as female by adding breasts. Elwetritschen supposedly originate from crossbreeding chickens, ducks and geese with mythical wood creatures such as goblin
Goblin
A goblin is a legendary evil or mischievous illiterate creature, a grotesquely evil or evil-like phantom.They are attributed with various abilities, temperaments and appearances depending on the story and country of origin. In some cases, goblins have been classified as constantly annoying little...
s and elves
Elf
An elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
. Being a fowl, they naturally lay eggs which, as a result of descending from forest spirits, grow during breeding season. Eggs in various sizes are artistically depicted at the “Elwetritschenbrunnen” in Neustadt an der Weinstraße.
Geographical Distribution
The area where the tales of the Elwetritsch are spread expands from the Palatinate Forest in the west of Germany towards the east across the Upper Rhine PlainUpper Rhine Plain
The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben is a major rift, straddling the border between France and Germany. It forms part of the European Cenozoic Rift System, which extends across central Europe...
to the southern parts of the Odenwald
Odenwald
The Odenwald is a low mountain range in Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany.- Location :The Odenwald lies between the Upper Rhine Rift Valley with the Bergstraße and the Hessisches Ried in the west, the Main and the Bauland in the east, the Hanau-Seligenstadt Basin – a subbasin of...
. The mythical creature also appears in the north of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
. In the Main-Tauber-Kreis, where they are known as “Ilwedridsche”, the children are told that at night the creatures sleep in the crowns of the willow trees standing next to the river Tauber. In Neustadt an der Weinstraße
Neustadt an der Weinstraße
Neustadt an der Weinstraße is a town located in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With 53,892 inhabitants as of 2002, it is the largest town called Neustadt.-Etymology:...
, which is said to be the “capital” of the Elwetritsches, there is an Elwetritsche-fountain, created by Gernot Rumpf. Other sources consider Dahn in the southwestern Palatinate, which also has a Elwetritsche-fountain, Erfweiler or other villages as secret capitals of these creatures.
The Pennsylvania Dutch
Pennsylvania Dutch
Pennsylvania Dutch refers to immigrants and their descendants from southwestern Germany and Switzerland who settled in Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries...
are convinced that Palatinate people – their biggest group of ancestors, all of whom emigrated to America, had taken some “Elbedritschlicher” with them “so ass sie kenn Heemweh grigge deede“ (translation: so that they wouldn’t become homesick). Tales of the Elwetritschen are also documented in Amish
Amish
The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...
communities.
Hunt
The Elwetritsch is supposedly very shy, but also very curious. A hunting party consists of a "Fänger" (Catcher) which is equipped with a big potato sack and a lantern and the "Treiber" (Beaters). The catcher is led into the woods where the Elwetritsch is supposed to live, instructed to wait in a clearing with his sack and lantern, while the beaters will supposedly roust the Elwetritsch. The light of the lantern is said to be attractive to the curious creature, so they come to investigate and will then be caught by the catcher. While he waits, everyone heads back to the Gasthaus or wherever the party had previously assembled, to wait for the patsy to realize, he had been fooled.Like the jackalope
Jackalope
The jackalope is a mythical animal of North American folklore described as a jackrabbit with antelope horns or deer antlers and sometimes a pheasant's tail . The word "jackalope" is a portmanteau of "jackrabbit" and "antalope", an archaic spelling of "antelope". It is also known as Lepus...
, the Elwetritsch is thought to have been inspired by sightings of wild rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
s infected with the Shope papilloma virus
Virus
A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...
, which causes the growth of antler-like tumor
Tumor
A tumor or tumour is commonly used as a synonym for a neoplasm that appears enlarged in size. Tumor is not synonymous with cancer...
s in various places, including on the head.
Traditions
There are clubs in several Palatinate cities which promote the myth of the Elwetritschen. The Elwetrittche-Club in Landau, formed in 1982, is the oldest club. A square dancing club from the same city calls its annual 'Dance-Special' the „Landauer Elwetrittsche-Jagd“ (Landauian Elwetrittche-Hunt). There is also an Elwetritsche Academy in Pirmasens, a college for „Tritschology“ in Dahn and an exhibition with figures of the mythical creatures in the Landauian zoo as well as in the zoo in Kaiserslautern.Memorials for the Elwetritsch
Many memorials can be found in the Palatinate:- Dahn:
- Elwetritschefountain
- Elwetritsche lecture trail
- Elwetritsche hiking trail
- Elwetritsche memorial in municipal park
- local CarnivalCarnivalCarnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
club uses Elwetritsche as mascot
- Neustadt an der Weinstraße:
- Elwetritschefountain (see pic)
- Winnweiler:
- local brewery uses Elwetritsche as mascot
See also
- SkvaderSkvaderThe skvader is a Swedish fictional creature that was constructed in 1918 by the taxidermist Rudolf Granberg and is permanently displayed at the museum at Norra Berget in Sundsvall. It has the forequarters and hindlegs of a hare , and the back, wings and tail of a female wood grouse...
- JackalopeJackalopeThe jackalope is a mythical animal of North American folklore described as a jackrabbit with antelope horns or deer antlers and sometimes a pheasant's tail . The word "jackalope" is a portmanteau of "jackrabbit" and "antalope", an archaic spelling of "antelope". It is also known as Lepus...
- Jenny HaniverJenny HaniverA Jenny Haniver is the carcass of a ray or a skate which has been modified and subsequently dried, resulting in a grotesque preserved specimen.One suggestion for the origin of the term was the French phrase jeune d'Anvers...
- DahuDahuThe dahu is a legendary creature well known in France, Switzerland and the north of Italy.French pranksters often describe the dahu as a mountain goat-like animal with legs of differing lengths....
- WolpertingerWolpertingerIn Bavarian folklore, a wolpertinger is an animal said to inhabit the alpine forests of Bavaria in Germany. It has a body comprised from various animal parts — generally wings, antlers, tails and fangs, all attached to the body of a small mammal...
- Snipe huntSnipe huntA snipe hunt, a form of wild-goose chase that is also known as a fool's errand, is a type of practical joke that involves experienced people making fun of credulous newcomers by giving them an impossible or imaginary task...