Goat magic in Kötzschenbroda

Since April, Altkötzschenbroda has been home to 3 new residents in the form of colourfully painted wooden goats grazing on a patch of land known as Goat Island. But some local residents may never have heard this name before. The city archive went in search of its origins and came across something astonishing.

Adolf Schruth (1872-1946), one of the most important local chroniclers, tells us a story from the 17th century full of hocus-pocus about the beloved goats. Aegid and Ebelies Haake, two poor and run-down farmers, lived in a run-down farmstead on the edge of Altkötzschenbroda, "where the road led to Naundorf". Not only did they steal from the neighbouring farmers, but their crooked and littered dwelling also gave everyone cause for resentment and grumbling. Only the milk of a goat, "old as Methuselah", kept the two figures alive - they guarded this precious possession like the apple of their eye. But in this milieu, every meäääh and meck meck comes to an end, and so one evening Aegid stood despondently in front of the "horned goat, which stretched out all fours stiffly and panted and moaned pitifully." It was immediately clear: the goat was bewitched! - as revenge from the neighbours, whose thieving victims they had become one too many. In the fight against evil spells, however, there was only one person to turn to, the 'warlock of Kötzschenbroda': Fisch-Georg. This odd fellow from Rietzschke-Grund was widely known as a miracle worker and made no distinction between humans and animals when it came to his healing powers. Aegid reached the miracle healer gasping and shouted: "Zschorsch - Fischer - come with me, Se machts alle". His face was so desperate that Fisch-Georg immediately suspected the worst for Ebelies, but no, "De Ziege, Zschorsch, de Ziege machts alle!"On arriving at the Haake stable, Georg realised that "the animal was whistling from the last hole", but he couldn't bring himself to completely rob the two hardened men of their hope, so he began to "talk"to the animal. He grabbed a bundle of straw, dipped it in a puddle of manure into which no ray of sunlight had ever penetrated, rubbed it three times over its back and whispered all kinds of incantations to banish the demon. And oh wonder! - the spirits seemed to return after the exorcism, the goat stood again and even drank some water. Everyone could hardly believe their luck, least of all the fish-Georg himself, who was suddenly in a great hurry to get away.

The next day, curiosity drove him back to Haake's horn bearer, but he could already hear the screaming from afar: the goat was dead! Bad luck for Georg, Aegid had already seen him lurking around the corner, and immediately a wild brawl broke out, which even Ebelies was not too keen to get into. It took a few buckets of water, which were poured over the hotheads" amidst much jeering and laughter, to put an end to the scene. Ebelies openly accused Fisch-Georg of witchcraft. He had wished death on the goat because, as poor farmers, they had been unable to pay him for his miraculous services. This was, of course, a serious accusation that the priest could not ignore and had to report to the Dresden bailiff. For there they had long been waiting for the opportunity to put an end to Georg Fischer's occult activities.

Continued:

But that was not the end of the goat magic. The Haake moaned so much about the great loss that the priest took pity on him and gave him a loan to buy a new dairy goat, which he did immediately. She tugged stubbornly at the lead, perhaps already suspecting from her appearance that her future in the Haacke stable would not be a happy one. He returned to the Naundorf inn for refreshments, where he promptly met his new adversary Fisch-Georg. He had already seen him coming and had concocted a mischievous prank with his drinking buddies. If he had known that a storm was gathering around him in the form of a trial for witchcraft and blasphemy, he would probably have left it alone. But he got his drinking companions to buy Aegid beer and schnapps one after the other to distract him properly. Aegid, of course, thought he was in paradise! First the successful goat deal and now the recipient of everyone's joyful spending spree - what a marvellous day. So he let go of all doubts and downed every drink offered to him. Georg took advantage of the drinking and stole away secretly, but not for too long for his absence to be noticed. Gradually, the flow of alcohol came to a standstill, Aegid felt a little dizzy and so he made his way home, staggering and staggering.

If the goat had already been unruly, this was no comparison to its current behaviour. At the windows of the tavern, the farmers and the landlord pressed their noses against the small panes and took thieving pleasure in the battle that Aegid had to fight with the increasingly stubborn goat." The Kötzschenbroda man's patience ran out and the goat also went on the attack, which led to Aegid measuring the way home with his nose time and time again. Eventually, some neighbouring lads took pity on him and led man and beast to their respective night shelters. By then, Fisch-Georg was already heading towards his little house in the Rietzschke grounds.

Curious and cautious, Ebelies approached the stable the next morning, as she wanted to see with her own eyes what new acquisition her husband had made. While she was still fiddling with the lock, the door burst open with such force that she was thrown across the yard into a puddle of manure. Alarmed by the shrieking, Aegid came running up and before he knew what hit him, he too was struck and found himself on the seat of his trousers again. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end in shock. He had bought a goat the day before, but overnight it had been magically transformed into a black goat - and the devil himself seemed to have got into him. The farmer's head was buzzing, not only because of the fall, but also because he was struggling with the after-effects of yesterday's feast, but he thought he could dimly remember seeing Fisch-Georg at the Naundorf inn. That couldn't be a coincidence! It was clear that the fisherman had also bewitched his new goat. And to top it all off, Satan himself had taken up residence in it. Ebelies, of course, had a completely different theory, instead ranting incessantly about her husband's tiresome drinking, "and she expressed this opinion to her lover so forcefully that Aegid almost wished Satan had kidnapped him as well."

Having barely regained his freedom, the black horned bearer galloped back to his home in Naundorf, straight to farmer Hernichen, who was astonished to discover his breeding ram outside the gate. And now it dawned on him that he could be miraculously involved in this curiosity, that the devil in billy goat form was raging in Kötzschenbroda. And indeed, when he looked into his own stables, a strange dairy goat peered at him, chewing. What to do with the treacherous animal? He quickly ran into the inn and hatched a plan with his companions

"The next morning, to their utter astonishment, Ebelies found the Kötitz goat in the orphaned goat shed, which greeted them with cheerful bleating, and now even the Haakin herself began to believe in magic."

But not everyone was so happy about it. It seemed to be the fish-Georg's turn. A delegation of Dresden officials appeared in his garden to take the much-wanted miracle man into custody. For months, he had to wait in a musty hole for his trial, which was held in Leipzig. But the authorities there were merciful. Georg Fischer had caused no harm, the remedies were not dangerous and the hocus-pocus was harmless. He was therefore only banned from the country for 3 years.

-end-

What is authentic and what is invented in this tale can no longer be traced today and it is up to the reader to decide.

Maren Gündel, City Archive

Source: Die Elbaue, 6th year, 1929, No. 21-23.

Published in: Radebeul Official Gazette, July 2013.