Hexentanz

The «Hexentanz» (witches‘ dance) is the place on the old country road running parallel to Lake of Zurich between Männedorf and Stäfa, where witches are said to have gathered in the past during stormy weather. However, the Hexentanz is also a steep sunken path that crossed the flank of the Lattenberg as a historical traffic route. Natural obstacles such as this arduous incline contributed to the construction of the lakeside road following the lake level in the 1830s.

Today, the Lattenberg and the Hexentanz lie in the middle of the agglomeration area of the Gold Coast.  Their original shape has remained almost unchanged: The Lattenberg, used for winegrowing, because of the ban on building that has existed for generations, the Hexentanz thanks to the change in traffic routing almost 200 years ago. Today, the paths of walkers, dog walkers or joggers – and sometimes children sledding in winter – meet here. The photographs show a historic cultural landscape that has largely been spared the pressure of economic exploitation. The insignia of agglomeration only reveal themselves to the sharpened eye at second glance.

The photographs were taken in Stäfa at the beginning of 2018 and are part of an ongoing project on the transformation processes on the Gold Coast and in the greater Zurich area.