Protection from, and exorcism of, supernatural evil in Germany (medieval to 19th century)

[malymin]

Hello!

Writing a fanfiction taking place inside of a fairy-tale kingdom. In-universe, the fairy-tale is a literary fairy tale (aka has a singular author, not a true folk tale), written by a German author, some time in the 18th century at earliest and the 19th century at latest. The author character lived and died in a fictional town heavily based on the real world town of Nördlingen. I'm writing a scene where a character from the fairy-tale setting is feeling guilt about having been "weak" against a supernatural, corrupting force, and is scared that force is still possessing or influencing him.

Most of the information I can find on the topic of exorcism, prayers against demonic/bewitching/etc influence, repentance for having practiced witchcraft, renouncing demonic temptation, etc I can find on my own are specifically resources aimed at modern-day Catholics living in English-speaking countries. (That is, when they're even remotely in the ballpark of what I'm looking for... new-age and non-Christian solutions, while interesting, are not helpful for what I'm writing.) However, I know that a large percentage of Christians in Germany are some flavor of Protestant. Even when it comes to Catholic-majority regions like Bavaria, there might be things that have been done there in the past that would not be recorded on an English-language website for English-speaking Catholics - especially folk beliefs and traditions not officially condoned by religious authorities.

Region:

• Least specifically looking for stuff from German speaking countries in Europe
• Most specifically: looking for things from the Swabia region of Germany, within the state of Bavaria

Religion:

• Christianity mainly, maybe some Germanic pagan stuff if I branch out.
• Protestant or Catholic
• Not just solutions ideally condoned by local religious authorities, but folk beliefs and practices

Historical Placement:

• Ideally, not newer than the 19th century. If people didn't believe it prior to, idk, 1925 or something, it's not as useful to me.
• Must have been practiced at some point after the Christianization of the region, at absolute earliest.
• However! Customs and beliefs that are not strongly attested to in reality, but that appear in fictional and folkloric depictions of the past or present written (or transcribed from oral tradition) within the "target range" (such as "pre-christian times" as they'd be seen in Wagnerian operas, or "feudal society" as depicted in both the feudal period's own courtly literature and later literature), are also helpful, as the fic I'm writing is set within an author-created world that would be influenced by such pre-existing and contemporaneous fiction's distortions of reality.

I hope this isn't too specific. If you know something in this ballpark but don't think it's "good enough" for my nitpicky criteria, please share anyways so I can learn something new! ^_^;

Comments

[athaia]

While I can't help you with specifics, I want to point out that the South of Germany (Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, i.e. Swabia) are traditionally Catholic; Protestantism was/is prevalent in the North (aka "de Saupreissn" 😉). That was even more true in the 19th century. So I'd stick to the Catholic way of dealing with demons et al.

[dr_zook]

I'm not exactly sure what kind of stuff you're looking for, but maybe you'll be entertained by this bit:

I'm from Northern Bavaria, which is actually not Bavaria (but Franconia) and most definitely not Swabia. ;) But my father is from a very rural part there, also Protestant. He was raised on a farm, and once, "between the years" (which means: between Christmas Eve and Epiphany), apparently his uncle (my guess is this took place during the 1960s) refused to collect his cattle that spilled out of their enclosure when the fence broke down. Because under no circumstances it was allowed to fix the fence (or anything else) between the years! He got them later, after Epiphany, collecting them from his neighbours who had picked them up. Also, no clothes hanging on the clothesline on New Year's Eve-- lest you want the Wild Hunt to get tangled up in there (and nick your undies or something)!

Good luck with your story. :)

[jadelennox]

• If you feel like doing some reading, I suspect you'll find some really good references in the work of Jack Zipes, or in people who cite him. This has a huge overlap with his field. Two caveats:
  • Zipes both writes critically about folk and fairy tales, and collects them, so if you find his books they will be one or the other. I can see either or both being something interesting to you!
  • As well as being a scholar or Germanic literature with a folk & fairy tales specialty, he's a scholar of Jewish studies, some some of what you find relating to demons and exorcism from him will be Jewish, not Catholic or Protestant. (Dybbuks, etc.) It will be pretty obvious which is which, though.
• One warning: a vast amount of "supernatural, corrupting forces" in medieval Germany are going to be, well, Jews. Or Jewish coded. This can be absolute fine in your story if you're doing it intentionally (eg. Novik's Spinning Silver), but assuming that's not your goal, then unless you feel confident about assessing the material yourself, it would probably be helpful to get a sensitivity reader who knows the tropes. It can be surprising how many medieval continental demonic tropes are just a hair from blood libel.

[liriaen]

I’m sure you’re aware of this, it’s Nördlingen by the way.

This article might yield a bit, https://www.bayerische-staatszeitung.de/staatszeitung/kultur/detailansicht-kultur/artikel/magische-rituale.html#topPosition
if you shove it through DeepL or Google Translate or some such :)

[melannen]

I suggest Montague Summers, History of Withcraft and Demonology, which was written right in the time range you're looking for, and while British rather that German, looks worldwide and was written by someone who is in that space between Catholic and Protest. Also it's public domain and available for download/reading on Archive.org. I suggest chapter 6, Diabolic Possession, starting here : https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.173667/page/n223/mode/2up It'll give you a good broad overview of what was known/believed at the time without the modern paganism/catholicism overlay you'll see on most newer stuff even if it's trying to be historically based.

[liriaen]

Glad to be of service! DeepL is an amazing tool most of the time; I'm glad you found the link useful. This book review on practices in Swabia may yield some more practical information (again, DeepL might be your friend), as well as this feature in Süddeutsche Zeitung may be helpful, too.

I found a legend from Passau (17th c.) that mentions the swallowing of protective letters ("Zeddel" in dialect; Zettel in today's German is a paper note or small sheet of paper), here.

[oldshrewsburyian]

I know that deciding on a "fairy-tale setting" gives you a lot of latitude, but... as a historian, I'd say this isn't specific enough. There were practices current in the 11th century that weren't by the 15th. And there were a lot of things current in the 19th century that aren't clearly attested before the 17th, and we really can't just say "oh it probably pre-existed this date" because it doesn't work this way. I have a whole spiel about the Brothers Grimm! I presume that, even if your author is including "distortions," you want to know what the distortions are.

I'd recommend looking at Burchard of Worms' Corrector, the work of Thietmar of Merseburg, and the very weird Formicarius of Johannes Nider. Burchard has such great questions as "have you baked bread and put it under your roof tree to appease elves?" And his target audience was also coming to confession. Among other things, premodern Christianity was a lot more diverse and flexible than your question seems to account for.

[(Anonymous)]

You might find some interesting stories in the Sunken Castles, Evil Poodles collection of translated German folk tales!

Here's a couple of exorcism tales: https://www.patreon.com/posts/send-in-monks-45254337 and there are quite a few more on that project.