Wolpertinger
Overview
A mythical hybrid creature of southern Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg: a small mammal — typically a rabbit or hare — fitted with antlers, fangs, wings, and other animal parts, popularised through 19th- and 20th-century 'gaff' taxidermy mounts displayed in inns and museums.
Details
- Origin:
- Folkloric range is the alpine and pre-alpine forests of southern Germany, particularly Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, with extensions into the broader Alpine region.
- Regions:
- Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Bavarian Alps, Bavarian Forest, Black Forest
- First Reported:
- 1800
Full Account
The Wolpertinger is a folkloric beast of the alpine forests of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is conventionally depicted as a chimera with the head of a hare or rabbit, the body of a squirrel, the antlers of a deer or roebuck, the wings (and sometimes legs) of a pheasant, and prominent fangs, though the exact mix varies between specimens. The Wolpertinger is closely allied to other European hybrid creatures — the Thuringian Rasselbock, the Swedish Skvader, the Palatinate Elwedritsch, the Austrian Raurackl — and to the American Jackalope. It exists primarily as folklore and as a Bavarian taxidermy tradition: 19th-century Bavarian taxidermists assembled fanciful 'Wolpertinger' mounts from parts of multiple animals as inn decoration and tourist amusement, and these mounts remain staples of mountain-region inns and souvenir shops. The Deutsches Jagd- und Fischereimuseum (German Hunting and Fishing Museum) in Munich maintains a permanent display of Wolpertinger specimens. Some 17th-century European woodcuts of horned hares are now thought to depict real rabbits afflicted with the Shope papilloma virus, which produces horn-like growths and may have helped seed the Wolpertinger and Jackalope traditions.
Also Known As
- Wolperdinger (Bavarian German)
- Woiperdinger (Bavarian German)
- Poontinger (Bavarian German)
- Rasselbock (German, Thuringian Forest)
- Skvader (Swedish, Sweden)
- Jackalope (English, United States (Wyoming and the American West))
Etymology
- Origin:
- Origin of the Bavarian name is uncertain; one proposed derivation is from glassmakers of the village of Wolterdingen, who produced animal-shaped schnapps glasses called 'Wolterdinger'.
- Meaning:
- The exact meaning is unclear; popularly understood simply as the proper name of the creature.
- First Use:
- Bavarian folk usage from at least the 19th century; Wolpertinger taxidermy mounts attested in 1800s Bavaria.
Timeline
- 1600 — European woodcuts and engravings of horned hares circulate; some images are now thought to reflect rabbits affected by Shope papilloma virus (Earliest visual antecedents of the antlered-rabbit motif)
- 1800 — Bavarian taxidermists begin producing Wolpertinger gaff mounts for inns and tourists (Foundation of the Wolpertinger as a living folk-tourism tradition)
- 1918 — Swedish taxidermist Rudolf Granberg creates the Skvader, a parallel European hybrid creature (Demonstrates the wider European context of antlered/winged hare gaff creatures)
Sightings & Evidence
Cultural Significance
The Wolpertinger is a clearly tongue-in-cheek figure: it functions as folklore, tourist humour, and regional iconography, not as a sincere cryptozoological claim.
Related Phenomena
- Jackalope — American antlered hare, popularised in 1930s Wyoming
- Skvader — Swedish hare/grouse hybrid (1918 taxidermy mount by Rudolf Granberg)
- Rasselbock — Thuringian Forest cousin of the Wolpertinger
- Elwedritsch — Palatinate German hybrid creature
- Raurackl — Austrian counterpart of the Wolpertinger