TheKlagmuhme orKlagemuhme (both: wailing aunt;German:[ˈklaːɡˌmuːmə,ˈklaːɡəˌmuːmə]) is a femalesprite fromGerman folklore also known asKlagmutter orKlagemutter (both: wailing mother;German:[ˈklaːɡˌmʊtɐ,ˈklaːɡəˌmʊtɐ]). She heralds imminentdeath through wailing and whining^[1] and is thus theGerman equivalent of thebanshee.

The termsKlagmuhme,Klage,Klag,Wehklage (all: wailing),Klageweib,Klagefrau (both: wailing woman), andKlagmütterle (wailing mother) refer both to theKlagmuhme and to theowl with which theKlagmuhme often is identified.^[2][3] The termKlagmutter also refers to thecaterpillar of both thedeath's-head hawkmoth and ofArctiinaemoths.^[4]

Further terms areKlagmütterchen (wailing mother),Winselmutter (whining mother),Haulemutter (wailing mother),Klinselweib (wailing woman), andKlagweh (wailing).^[4]

TheKlagmuhme is first attested in15th centuryMiddle High German asklagmuoter (wailing mother), denoting an owl.^[5]

TheKlagmuhme often appears as an animal. So she roves howling around the concerned house in the shape of a longhaired blackdog, or she sits whiningly in the corner as a whitegoose or in the eaves gutter as adove. She also appears as a big graycat wearing a scarf on its head or duringcurfewringing as a whimpering^[6] white or three-leggedsheep^[7] near the concerned house.^[6] She further is a very eeriebird,^[4] a fierytoad^[8] or acalf with red eyes. As a sheep, she will grow to gigantic proportions if pranked by humans.^[4]

TheKlagmuhme's human appearance is that of an old woman in a black dress with a white scarf. Otherwise, she is described as a small woman with a face covered withcobwebs who is wearing a littlethree-cornered hat.^[9] She also appears clad inlinen, as tall as a churchsteeple, and with glowing eyes^[4] or gigantic, hollow-eyed, deathly pale, and dressed in a wafting burial robe.^[10]

Her appearance can also be neither human nor animal, though. She then appears as a distorted black figure or a rolling tangled clew,^[4] particularly a misshapen blue clew spraying sparks.^[8]

TheKlagmuhme's wailing being anomen of death anddisaster, it can be downright deadly for those who hear her. If theKlagmuhme wails in front of a house where an ill person is inside, clothing belonging to the diseased is thrown outside the door. If theKlagmuhme carries the clothing away, the diseased will undoubtedly die; if she leaves it behind, the diseased will recover. The prophesied disaster can be averted by immediately telling theKlagmuhme an alternative.^[4] In the houses over which she stretches her long bony arm instormynights, there will be a corpse ere themoon has finished itscycle.^[10]

She is usuallyinvisible^[4] when she gets close to the houses without ever entering them^[9] and floats over them.^[4] Her whining (which sounds like "u-u-u!") can cause frightened people to fall ill with anervous disease. Otherwise, she does nobody harm. It might happen that a coldshiver can be felt at the sight of theKlagmuhme, though.^[9] She is usually active atmidnight.^[8]

Regarding its origin, theKlage inAustria is thesoul of a deceased.^[4] In Saxony, she is the soul of an unlucky mother looking for herdrowned son.^[11] In theAllgäu, there is a midnightprocession ofKlagefrauen (wailing women) or of ghostly men carrying acoffin. InCarinthia andSwitzerland, theKlagmuhme is part of thewild hunt (GermanWildes Heer meaning "wild host"). In theFichtel Mountains, theKlagmütterlein is a femalewood sprite, aWaldweibchen (forest woman). In theHarz,mythologists wrongly identified theHaulemutter with the similar-soundingFrau Holle.^[12]

• Ludwig Bechstein:Deutsches Sagenbuch.Meiningen 1852. (reprint: F. W. Hendel Verlag,Meersburg/Leipzig 1930.)
• Mengis:Gespenst. In: Hanns Bächtold-Stäubli, Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer:Handwörterbuch des Deutschen Aberglaubens: Band 3 Freen-Hexenschuss. Berlin 1931. (reprint: Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2000,ISBN 978-3-11-016860-0)
• Herold:Schaf. In: Hanns Bächtold-Stäubli, Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer:Handwörterbuch des Deutschen Aberglaubens: Band 7 Pflügen-Signatur. Berlin 1936. (reprint: Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2000,ISBN 978-3-11-016860-0)
• Hoffmann-Krayer:Klagevogel. In: Hanns Bächtold-Stäubli, Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer:Handwörterbuch des Deutschen Aberglaubens: Band 4 Hieb- und stichfest-Knistern. Berlin 1932. (reprint: Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2000,ISBN 978-3-11-016860-0)
• Jungbauer:Mitternacht. In: Hanns Bächtold-Stäubli, Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer:Handwörterbuch des Deutschen Aberglaubens: Band 6 Mauer-Pflugbrot. Berlin 1935. (reprint: Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2000,ISBN 978-3-11-016860-0)
• Peuckert:Kauz. In: Hanns Bächtold-Stäubli, Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer:Handwörterbuch des Deutschen Aberglaubens: Band 4 Hieb- und stichfest-Knistern. Berlin 1932. (reprint: Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2000,ISBN 978-3-11-016860-0)
• Ranke:Klage, Klagemutter, Wehklage. In: Hanns Bächtold-Stäubli, Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer:Handwörterbuch des Deutschen Aberglaubens: Band 4 Hieb- und stichfest-Knistern. Berlin 1932. (reprint: Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2000,ISBN 978-3-11-016860-0)

• German legendary creatures
• Female legendary creatures
• Personifications of death
• Sprites (folklore)
• Banshees
• Harbingers of death

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Pages with German IPA