The Legend of the Witches, France

In this beautiful town, they tell that in the XVIIth Century a young lady of Riquewihr named Marie Wolf lived happy with her fiance.  Her happiness did not last long because the war burst and separated them.
Her soldier fiance was killed in action, so Mary was so sad that her sorrow made her live confined in a small place with her black cat as a companion.  For that reason, the villagers nicknamed her "the witch".
One night, that she was walking around the walls of the besieged city, the enemies were terrorized by her long sobs and ran away panicked.
From that moment on, the habitants of Riquewihr declared her the benefactress and guard of the city.
This event was share ad spread out in the region and since that moment, every person to protect their house put a witch outside near the window.  This symbolize Marie Wolf.