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Perchta or Berchta ('Bertha; ), also commonly known as Percht () and other variations, was thought to be a goddess in Alpine paganism in the Upper German and also Austrian and Slovenian regions of the Alps. Her name may mean 'the bright one' or 'the bearer' (, from Proto-Germanic * berhtaz) and is probably related to the name Berchtentag, meaning 'the feast of the Epiphany'. Eugen Mogk provides an alternative etymology, attributing the origin of the name Perchta to the Old High German verb pergan, meaning 'hidden' or 'covered'.Mogk according to Natko. The exact origin or time of origin is unknown.
Perchta is often identified as stemming from the same Germanic goddess as Holda and other female figures of Germanic folklore (see Frija-Frigg). According to Jacob Grimm and Lotte Motz, Perchta is Holda's southern cousin or equivalent, as they both share the role of "guardian of the beasts" and appear during the Twelve Days of Christmas, when they oversee spinning.Motz according to Hilton 1984.
Grimm says Perchta or Berchta was known "precisely in those Upper German regions where Holda leaves off, in Swabia, in Alsace, in Switzerland, in Bavaria and Austria."
The mother of the Franks emperor Charlemagne may have had a related albeit unwitted influence, as it did the Visigoth queen Brunhilda on her own, into its medieval folklore, Bertha or Berthrada was said to be of long and wide feet, in effect taller than her husband called precisely, Pippin the Short and may have been the reason why Charlemagne inherited from her his unusual height.
In southern Austria, in Carinthia among the Slovenes, a male form of Perchta was known as Quantembermann, in German, or Kvaternik, in Slovene (the man of the four Ember days). Grimm thought that her male counterpart or equivalent is Berchtold.
Regional variations of the name include Berigl, Berchtlmuada, Perhta-Baba, Zlobna Pehta, Bechtrababa, Sampa, Stampa, Lutzl, Zamperin, Pudelfrau, Zampermuatta and Rauweib.
In many old descriptions, Perchta had one large foot, sometimes called a goose foot or swan foot. Grimm thought the strange foot symbolized her being a higher being who could shapeshift to animal form. He noticed that Bertha with a strange foot exists in many languages (Middle German "Berhte mit dem fuoze", French "Berthe au grand pied", Latin "Berhta cum magno pede", Italian " Berta dai gran piè", title of a medieval epic poem of Italian area): "It is apparently a swan maiden's foot, which as a mark of her higher nature she cannot lay aside...and at the same time the spinning-woman's splayfoot that worked the treadle".
In the Tyrol, she appears as a little old woman with a very wrinkled face, bright lively eyes, and a long hooked nose; her hair is dishevelled, her garments tattered and torn.
The cult of Perchta, under which followers left food and drink for Fraw Percht and her followers in the hope of receiving wealth and abundance, was condemned in Bavaria in the Thesaurus pauperum (1468) and by Thomas Ebendorfer von Haselbach in De decem praeceptis (1439).
Later canonical and church documents characterized Perchta as synonymous with other leading female spirits: Holda, Diana, Herodias, Richella and Abundia.
The word Perchten is plural for Perchta, and this has become the name of her entourage, as well as the name of animal masks worn in parades and festivals in the mountainous regions of Austria. In the 16th century, the Perchten took two forms: Some are beautiful and bright, known as the Schönperchten ("beautiful Perchten"). These come during the Twelve Nights and festivals to "bring luck and wealth to the people." The others are the Schiachperchten ("ugly Perchten") who have fangs, tusks and horse tails for the driving out of demons and ghosts. Men used to dress up as the ugly Perchten during the 16th century and went from house to house driving out bad spirits.Frazer 1920:242-243Wagner 2007.
Sometimes, The Devil]] is viewed as the most schiach ("ugly") Percht and Frau Perchta as the most schön ("beautiful") Perchtin.
Perchta is also the Queen of the Heimchen.Ludwig Bechstein: Deutsches Sagenbuch. Meersbusch, Leipzig 1930, p. 377.
Perchta was also depicted in very well known Slovene film Kekec as teta Pehta, the old woman living in the mountains that supposedly steals children and knows how to use medicinal plants.
Today in Austria, particularly Salzburg, where she is said to wander through Hohensalzburg Castle in the dead of night, the Perchten are still a traditional part of holidays and festivals (such as the Carnival Fastnacht). The wooden animal masks made for the festivals are today called Perchten.
In the Pongau region of Austria large processions of Schönperchten ("beautiful Perchten") and Schiachperchten ("ugly Perchten") are held every winter. Beautiful masks are said to encouraging financial windfalls, and the ugly masks are worn to drive away evil spirits.
Other regional variations include the Tresterer in the Austrian Pinzgau region, the stilt dancers in the town of Unken, the Schnabelpercht or Schnabelperchten ("trunked Percht") in the Unterinntal region and the Glöcklerlaufen ("bell-running") in the Salzkammergut. A number of large Ski resort have turned the tradition into a tourist attraction drawing large crowds every winter.
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