Füssen, The witch

The witch

Death to the witch
der todt. Hupff auf du hessigs kammelthier, Im fewr muest du ietz schwitzen schier. Dein gabel reitten hat ein endt, Vom hewberg hol ich dich gar gschwendt.	Death. Hop up, you hateful goat,(1) In fire you must now sweat strongly. Your fork-riding(2) has ended, I quickly pick you up from Hewberg.(3)
The witch
Die Vnholdt, Gott selbst auch seine haÿlgen zwar, Hab ich verlaugnet offenbar. Mein glübt hab Ich dem teuffel thon O weh o weh waß wiert mein lohn.	the Fiend. God himself and also his holy ones I have publicly denied. I made my vow to the devil. Oh woe, oh woe, what will my wages be?

Witches brew

A flying witch.

The small detail picture on the left shows how the witches cook their brew in a pot, while one witch holds an oven fork. Presumably the cauldron contains a ointment that will enable the witches to fly.

The picture on the right shows the witch flying on a goat while holding the burning cauldron with the cooking fork,

Hans Baldung

The flying witch consists of the same elements as the famous woodcut by Hans Baldung from 1510: A woman riding a flying goat, holding a burning pot at bay with an oven fork.

The headline has caused problems:

The first to publish the text was Vogt in 1837, and he wrote "Die Unholdt" as it says today.
Vogt's transcription was republished in 1841, and here the heading was changed to "Der Unholdt". It said the same when the text was repeated in »Kalender für katholische Christen« in 1845.
The following year, in 1846, "Kalender für katholische Christen" described the dance in Oberstdorf. They did not reproduce the text, since they had published the one from Füssen the year before, but the author could inform his readers that three of the dancers had different titles than in Füssen. One of these was the witch, who was not called "der Unhold" but "das alte Weib" (the old woman).
Two years later, in 1848, the complete text from Oberstdorf was published by Johann Stützle, and now the headline was: "Die Hexe".

The chapel in Oberstdorf was called "Hexenkapelle" because of this scene. There were no witches in Basel's danse of death, but there is a witch in La Danse Macabre.

Footnotes: (1) (3) (3)

Kammelthier. . .: In older German, "camel-beast" was another word for camel. Reinhold Böhm believes Death is alluding to the witch's hunched back.

I find it more likely that Death is thinking of the angora goat, that gives "camel yarn".

There is a goat standing behind the witch.

Fork-ridning . . .: Witches are usually supposed to ride on brooms, but as the pictures show, the South German witches use cooking forks.

The witch herself holds a cooking fork in her hand.

Hewberg / Heuberg. . .: a local mountain where the witches meet. Just like they do on Brocken / Blocksberg in the Harz.