From haunted castles and singing sirens to werewolves and princesses, there’s enough to crack open the imagination of even the coldest of cynics.
So take a look, and let us know just how much truth you think lies in our favourite nine myths and legends.
1.King Watzmann
(mesothelioma attorneys, donate your car)(mesothelioma attorneys, donate your car)(mesothelioma attorneys, donate)
(mesothelioma attorneys, donate your car)(mesothelioma attorneys, donate your car)(mesothelioma attorneys, donate)
In deepest southern Bavaria, blood-thirsty King Watzmann once ruled with an iron fist. The story says that the king and his family enjoyed hunting local peasants, until one day when, after having slaughtered an entire family, a curse was set upon them. The whole family were turned to stone and are thought to be entombed in a range of seven mountains in Berchtesgaden, each hill a different member.
2.The Loreley
(mesothelioma attorneys, donate your car)(mesothelioma attorneys, donate your car)(mesothelioma attorneys, donate)
Sailors beware: There once was a beautiful young woman named Lorelei who threw herself into the Rhine and drowned after her heart was broken. She was transformed into a siren whose sad, haunting singing lures drooling sailors to come crashing onto the rocks. A statue of the vengeful Lorelei watches over the treacherous stretch of water near Sankt Goarshausen.
3.The Children's Crusade
(mesothelioma attorneys, donate your car)(mesothelioma attorneys, donate your car)(mesothelioma attorneys, donate)
In the thirteenth century, legend tells of a misguided German boy who was visited by Jesus, who told him to go forth and convert Muslims. So he gathered a sizeable group of followers, mostly children, and led them towards the Mediterranean where they got on boats headed east. One boat crashed, killing everyone onboard. The other arrived in Tunisia, and the children were sold into slavery. None of them made it to their destination.
In deepest southern Bavaria, blood-thirsty King Watzmann once ruled with an iron fist. The story says that the king and his family enjoyed hunting local peasants, until one day when, after having slaughtered an entire family, a curse was set upon them. The whole family were turned to stone and are thought to be entombed in a range of seven mountains in Berchtesgaden, each hill a different member.
2.The Loreley
Sailors beware: There once was a beautiful young woman named Lorelei who threw herself into the Rhine and drowned after her heart was broken. She was transformed into a siren whose sad, haunting singing lures drooling sailors to come crashing onto the rocks. A statue of the vengeful Lorelei watches over the treacherous stretch of water near Sankt Goarshausen.
3.The Children's Crusade
In the thirteenth century, legend tells of a misguided German boy who was visited by Jesus, who told him to go forth and convert Muslims. So he gathered a sizeable group of followers, mostly children, and led them towards the Mediterranean where they got on boats headed east. One boat crashed, killing everyone onboard. The other arrived in Tunisia, and the children were sold into slavery. None of them made it to their destination.
4.The Morbach Monster
Legend has it that Morbach, Rhineland-Palatinate was the last place a werewolf was killed. A single candle still burns in the village as a reminder, and a warning. One night in 1988, this candle went out and a huge wolf figure was soon spotted, standing upright at a US airbase, having scaled a three-metre high fence. He stood, staring at the soldiers then returned to the forest. The candle was re-lit, and has never gone out since.
5.The Rübezahl
This naughty mountain spirit has woven his way into countless tales across northern Europe, including Germany where he has been roaming mountains exercising his taste for trickery and occasionally giving out presents for hundreds of years. The sock-and-sandal clad figure is one artist’s impression, while other believers think he might be more of a spindly black dragon-man.
6. Rosstrappe: The story of Princess Brunhilde
The Rosstrappe is a craggy hill in the Harz mountain range, central Germany. Those who make it to the very top can see a hoof print in the rock on cliff edge and legend has it that this is where princess Brunhilde escaped from a giant, Bodo, who wanted to marry her. He chased her to the cliff edge, where her white stallion jumped across and reached the other side, while Bodo jumped after her and plunged to his death. The hoof print in the rock is t
7.The Resl von Konnersreuth - the Konnersreuth mystery
Therese Neumann, known as the Resl von Konnersreuth, was born in Bavaria in 1898 and lived a life shrouded in mystery and dominated by Nazi persecution. Followers claim the devout Catholic was cured of both blindness and appendicitis without medical help, and was found with stigmata on hands, feet and chest. She is in the process of being made a saint, and remains popular among fellow Catholics.
8.The Pied Piper of Hameln
The classic Pied Piper tale can be traced back to an unfortunate event in the Middle Ages, in a small town of Hameln, Lower Saxony, where masses of children disappeared at the same time. No one quite knows where they went, but legend has it that a rat catcher lured them all away after the mayor refused to pay him...
9.Barbarossa - a hero lies in wait
Deep inside the Untersberg Mountain on the border of Austria and Germany, Barbarossa – one of Germany’s most celebrated kings – lies in wait. He sits, slumbering at a table in the middle of the hill. When his beard has grown around the table three times, and when ravens stop circling the Untersberg peak, he will awake, heralding a golden age free from evil. No-one knows how long his beard is, but rumour has it he’ll be arriving any day now.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire