The Witch in the Gingerbread House

During spring break 1988, I went with other students and parents and my German teacher to four German-speaking countries: Austria, West Germany, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. A teenager wrote this.

After spring break in Europe, I returned to normal life in a rural Indiana high school, but it didn’t entirely feel like normal life. The following is a speech I wrote and delivered for Speech Class shortly after returning from Europe.

It was years before I read about the Burning Times, also known as the European Witch-Craze, which involved the murders of thousands of innocents, mostly women. It was also years before I learned about Wicca and Neopaganism. Nowadays I’m obsessed with witches, symbols of women’s power.

I’m sure you have heard of the tale of Hansel und Gretel. In it, two children lost themselves in the woods. They came upon a house made of gingerbread, wherein lived an evil witch. The witch wanted to eat the children, but instead was pushed into her own oven.

It’s interesting to note that, in those days, people who were supposedly witches were burned at the stake… but not in their ovens.

This fairy tale was based somewhat upon a true story. An old woman who lived in Nuremburg, Germany, was popular for making delicious gingerbread. The other bakers in town were jealous and…