History Main / Uberwald

* In ''Videogame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'' Geralt goes to Velen, a war torn region which has this trope in spades. Botched mad science experiments, [[TheFairFolk Godlings]], creepy forests, [[HotWitch an attractive village witch]], a [[WitchDoctor Pellar]], superstitious peasants, a [[SwampsAreEvil cursed swamp]] ruled by [[TheWeirdSisters The Ladies of The Wood]], you name it. There isn't a Dracula expy, but there is a [[TheRedBaron Bloody Baron]]. The whole Witcher universe could be considered one giant Uberwald, but none embody so fully as Velen.

* The nation of Ulm in ''VideoGame/{{Dominions}}'' has turned into this in the Late Age. Vampires, wolves and sinister gypsies are included. Local {{Illuminati}} add some extra color with their plots and {{blood magic}}.

* Some of SolomonKane's adventures took place in the Black Forest, such as "Death's Black Riders", "The Rattle of Bones", and "The Castle of the Devil". Although the Black Forest is actually a few hundred miles to the west of most portrayals of this trope, the 16th-early 17th century setting justifies it.

* ''Literature/Carmilla'' takes place in Styria, which is a bit to the west of traditional Überwald (today, it is divided between Austria and Slovenia), but otherwise fits the trope quite well, with Gothic ruins, a HauntedCastle and the titular LesbianVampire.

** The Principality of Boldavia in ''TabletopGame/{{Mystara}}'', a province of [[TheMagocracy Glantri]] "rumored to" be rife with {{undead}}. "Boldavia is also a large producer of garlic..." Boldavia's ruler, Prince Morphail, received his undead status as a divine "gift", turned the local nobles into vampires and/or nosferatu, and then issued the Vampire Law which prohibits his vassals from converting non-nobles and killing while feeding. Things got a bit grimmer in Boldavia, but business goes on as usual. Some of the other wizards in Glantri know what Prince Morphail is, but they realize that if someone manages to destroy him -- and he's a [[TheArchmage top-ranked Glantrian]] -- ''all'' his undead magic-using spawn will become fully free-willed at once, and no-one wants to see how ''that'' may end.

You think you are in a nice little {{Ruritania}} somewhere in Eastern Europe. Only the black forests are even blacker than you expected, and even more full of wolves. Some of which seem to be [[WolfMan walking on their hind legs]]. When you finally get to the little town you were aiming for, the [[UsefulNotes/{{Romani}} vaguely ethnic]] and primitive locals are huddling fearfully in the tavern, refusing to talk to you except to give vaguely worded and [[VampireVords heavily accented]] warnings. So you go up to [[HauntedCastle the castle]] in the hope of finding some civilization. Bad move.

Invented by Creator/MaryShelley (''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}''), Frederick Marryat ("Literature/TheWhiteWolfOfTheHartzMountains"), and Creator/BramStoker (''Literature/{{Dracula}}''), codified by the Franchise/UniversalHorror movies of [[TheThirties the 1930s]] and [[TheForties '40s]], and carried on into [[TheFifties the 1950s]] and [[TheSixties '60s]] by Film/HammerHorror. Regarded as a bit kitsch nowadays and just as easily played for laughs, to the point of being an UndeadHorseTrope. Can also get you into [[UnfortunateImplications trouble]] now that there are a lot more Eastern European people in the English-speaking world. Of course, there are always the WeirdWest, SouthernGothic, LovecraftCountry and CampbellCountry as alternatives.

You think you are in a nice little {{Ruritania}} somewhere in Eastern Europe. Only the black forests are even blacker than you expected, and even more full of wolves. Some of which seem to be [[WolfMan walking on their hind legs]]. When you finally get to the little town you were aiming for, the [[UsefulNotes/{{Romani}} vaguely ethnic]] and primitive locals are huddling fearfully in the tavern, refusing to talk to you except to give vaguely-worded and [[VampireVords heavily-accented]] warnings. So you go up to [[HauntedCastle the castle]] in the hope of finding some civilization. Bad move.

* ''[[Film/TransylvaniaSixFiveThousand Transylvania 6-5000]]'' has portions of this, especially during the night scenes.

Invented by Creator/MaryShelley (''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}''), Frederick Marryat ("Literature/TheWhiteWolfOfTheHartzMountains"), and Creator/BramStoker (''Literature/{{Dracula}}''), odified by the Franchise/UniversalHorror movies of [[TheThirties the 1930s]] and [[TheForties '40s]], and carried on into [[TheFifties the 1950s]] and [[TheSixties '60s]] by Film/HammerHorror. Regarded as a bit kitsch nowadays and just as easily played for laughs, to the point of being an UndeadHorseTrope. Can also get you into [[UnfortunateImplications trouble]] now that there are a lot more Eastern European people in the English-speaking world. Of course, there are always the WeirdWest, SouthernGothic, LovecraftCountry and CampbellCountry as alternatives.

Invented by Frederick Marryat ("Literature/TheWhiteWolfOfTheHartzMountains"), Creator/BramStoker (''Literature/{{Dracula}}''), and Creator/MaryShelley (''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'', though Shelley's novel explicitly takes place in Ingolstadt, Germany and Switzerland), codified by the Franchise/UniversalHorror movies of [[TheThirties the 1930s]] and [[TheForties '40s]], and carried on into [[TheFifties the 1950s]] and [[TheSixties '60s]] by Film/HammerHorror. Often regarded as a bit kitsch nowadays and played for laughs, to the point of being an UndeadHorseTrope. Can also get you into [[UnfortunateImplications trouble]] now that there are a lot more Eastern European people in the English-speaking world. Of course, there are always the WeirdWest, SouthernGothic, LovecraftCountry and CampbellCountry as alternatives.

If there's a local nobleman living there, he will probably welcome you warmly -- although he may be strangely insistent that you [[MustBeInvited "enter freely and of your own will"]]. He will probably be the kind of old-school nobility that views peasants as [[PeopleFarms farm animals on two legs]]. '''[[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld Very]]''' old nobility. [[{{Dracula}} Blood nobility]]. Alternatively, there might be somebody [[MadScientist more modern and technically minded]] living there, along with his [[TheIgor lab assistant]] and his [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter daughter]]. Unfortunately, he will probably [[GoneHorriblyWrong not be big on the Precautionary Principle]] and make strong attempts to persuade you to "volunteer" to [[StrappedToAnOperatingTable take part in his research]]. Sometimes, the castle might not even be inhabited by anybody... [[HauntedCastle visible]].

Invented by Frederick Marryat (for a werewolf short story "The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains" in ''The Phantom Ship''; he also wrote ''Mr. Midshipman Easy''), Creator/BramStoker, and Creator/MaryShelley (though Shelley's novel explicitly takes place in Ingolstadt, Germany and Switzerland), codified by the Franchise/UniversalHorror movies of [[TheThirties the 1930s]] and [[TheForties '40s]], and carried on into [[TheFifties the 1950s]] and [[TheSixties '60s]] by Film/HammerHorror. Often regarded as a bit kitsch nowadays and played for laughs, to the point of being an UndeadHorseTrope. Can also get you into [[UnfortunateImplications trouble]] now that there are a lot more Eastern European people in the English-speaking world. Of course, there are always the WeirdWest, SouthernGothic, LovecraftCountry and CampbellCountry as alternatives.

** Heck, the game is set in what amounts to the wreckage caused by a defunct crusade between Lovecraft Country and Überwald... [[spioler: that took place in the Dreamlands and/or Unlondon]].

Invented by Frederick Marryat (for a werewolf short story "The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains" in ''The Phantom Ship''; he also wrote ''Mr. Midshipman Easy''), Creator/BramStoker, and Creator/MaryShelley (though Shelley's novel explicitly takes place in Ingolstadt, Germany and Switzerland), codified by the Franchise/UniversalHorror movies of [[TheThirties the 1930s]] and [[TheForties '40s]], and carried on into [[TheFifties the 1950s]] and [[TheSixties '60s]] by Film/HammerHorror. Often regarded as a bit kitsch nowadays and played for laughs, to the point of being an UndeadHorseTrope. Can also get you into [[UnfortunateImplications trouble]] now that there are a lot more Eastern European people in the English-speaking world. Of course, there are always the WeirdWest, SouthernGothic, LovecraftCountry, CampbellCountry and MacabreMediterranean as alternatives.

Invented by Frederick Marryat (for a werewolf short story "The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains" in ''The Phantom Ship''; he also wrote ''Mr. Midshipman Easy''), Creator/BramStoker, and Creator/MaryShelley (though Shelley's novel explicitly takes place in Ingolstadt, Germany and Switzerland), codified by the Franchise/UniversalHorror movies of [[TheThirties the 1930s]] and [[TheForties '40s]], and carried on into [[TheFifties the 1950s]] and [[TheSixties '60s]] by Film/HammerHorror. Often regarded as a bit kitsch nowadays and played for laughs, to the point of being an UndeadHorseTrope. Can also get you into [[UnfortunateImplications trouble]] now that there are a lot more Eastern European people in the English-speaking world. Of course, there are always the WeirdWest, SouthernGothic, LovecraftCountry, and CampbellCountry as alternatives.

Compare with MacabreMediterranean, DontGoInTheWoods, TheLostWoods, WildWilderness, and other TropesOfNature locations. Will often be the setting of TheOldCountry.

Compare with DontGoInTheWoods, TheLostWoods, WildWilderness, and other TropesOfNature locations. Will often be the setting of TheOldCountry.

* The Cainhurst Castle of ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' is one, it is a foggy, dark East European castle inhabited by bloodthristy Cainhurst Knights. That said, in a world where ''everyone'' (including you) is a vampire, calling someone a vampire would be ''redundant''.

Don't expect too much help from anyone: if things get really out of hand the TorchesAndPitchforks might get broken out, but the locals probably think that outsiders get what they deserve, even if they aren't all [[TownWithADarkSecret actively involved]] in the nastiness.

''Überwald'' (spelled with an umlaut or as "Ueberwald" for those lacking a German keyboard), is [[TropeNamers named after]] the Literature/{{Discworld}} country; there is also an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Überwald Überwald]] region in UsefulNotes/{{Germany}}, located within the Odenwald region where the eponymous Frankenstein castle resides. A direct translation would be "Over the Forest", the word being a German translation of ''"Transylvania"'' (a.k.a. Transsylvania in some spellings), "trans silvania" being Latin for "beyond the forest". Since [[TheMiddleAges medieval times]], Transylvania has been home to three major population groups - Romanians, Hungarians (Székely), and Germans ("Siebenbürgen Saxons"[[note]]in German the region is mainly called "Siebenbürgen", "Seven castles", and referred to the seven most important towns founded by German colonists[[/note]]), and thus most towns and places come with a German, Hungarian, and Romanian name attached. Originally, it belonged to UsefulNotes/{{Hungary}}, up until UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, and it had a lot of German settlers. In the treaty of Trianon it was transferred to UsefulNotes/{{Romania}} (the Hungarian name of Transylvania is ''Erdély'', coming from ''Erdő-elve'' meaning the same thing as the Latin; the Romanian is either the more traditional ''Ardeal'' or just ''Transilvania'').

* Named after a region (a collection of a lot of geo-political entities, in fact) of Literature/{{Discworld}} that is a parody of this trope, while simultaneously being a lot more true to the original than most examples. The name is a BilingualBonus; it's German for "above the forest", or alternatively, and possibly more true to some of its inhabitants' [[PuttingOnTheReich lifestyles]], akin to Nietzsche's "Übermensch" meaning something like "superior forest" -- in Latin, Transylvania.

* ''Film/VanHelsing'', being mostly set in Transylvania, and pastiching both Film/HammerHorror and Franchise/UniversalHorror.
* In a similar vein, ''Film/{{Severance}}'' is a not-too-serious slasher flick about a bunch of British corporate drones on a trip in Hungary who come across bloodthirsty psychopathic former soldiers.
* The foremost advocate of the Überwald was Film/{{Hammer|Horror}} Films. They set most of their many versions of ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' and ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'', along with several other movie horrors, in some Victorian never-never-land, not quite Germany, not quite Transylvania, not quite anywhere else between France and Russia. Hammer didn't make all this up. In the 19th Century, much of eastern Europe had German-speaking upper classes with peasants, villagers, and travelers who could be Germans, Slavs, Magyars, Turks, Jews or Romani.

* ''Film/YoungFrankenstein'', which parodies the Universal horror movies, is another example. The film is clearly set after World War I, but the police wear Austro-Hungarian Empire-type uniforms and the whole country apparently has just one railway station! ("Pardon me boy, is this the Transylvania station?")

* ''[[Film/TransylvaniaSixFiveThousand Transylvania 6-5000]]'' has portions of this, especially during the night scenes.

* ''Film/FrankensteinsCastleOfFreaks'' is set at some unspecified location in Europe that ticks most of the boxes for the Überwald: a MadScientist living in a castle that is prone to lightning strikes, a village full of superstitious villagers itching to form a TorchesAndPitchforks mob, a local official trying to drag the region into the modern day, and wild [[AllCavemenWereNeanderthals Neanderthals]] living in the forest (ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext).
* PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'', which has an Überwald in a suburban American town.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has the Everfree Forest, which is home to plenty of scary stuff, including timber wolves (made of real timber), manticores, cockatrices, [[ManEatingPlant pony-eating plants]] and a creepy old castle that may or may not be haunted. However, to the ponies its scariest feature is that [[EldritchLocation it does not follow the rules of the rest of their world]], [[PaintingTheFrostOnWindows the weather runs by itself and the animals need not be taken care of]].
--> Applejack: "It ain't natural!"

* The ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' comic strip "Universal Monsters" takes place in such a setting.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', Baron Ünderbheit rules Ünderland, a grim and despotic land that somehow borders Michigan.

* A ''ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' comic issue caused some offence to European fans by depicting modern Germany in this manner. It ''was'' specifically shown to be an out-of-the-way, not at all normal town, akin to a Sunnydale counterpart, but... well, Germany has a third of the US' population and is about the size of Montana. There is really no such thing as an "out of the way" place there.