Aachen sagas and legends

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Matthäus Merian : Aachen around 1647

The Aachen sagas and legends include sagas and legends that deal with the city of Aachen and its history , with individual locations in the city or its surroundings or with Aachen personalities. Charlemagne plays a special role in this ; he made Aachen his main residence and a center of politics, science and culture by building the Aachen Royal Palace and the associated Palatine Chapel , the core of today's Aachen Cathedral .

species

Emmaburg around 1860

Most of these stories are historical sagas that deal with a person or an event in the history of Aachen. Some of them explain certain objects or names in an aetiological way, for example the devil's thumb in the main portal of the cathedral, the existence of the Lousberg as a single mountain in the middle of the Aachen valley basin or the name of the Klappergasse .

In addition, there are a number of haunted and witch stories, which are also contained in a similar version in the legends of other places, but here are adapted to Aachen locations.

The assignment to Aachen is not always clear. For example, the legend of Eginhard and Emma is also associated with the Ingelheim imperial palace . In the Aachen variant, the Emmaburg in Hergenrath is named as the place of residence of the two after their exile from court . According to the Ingelheim variant, on the other hand, it was Seligenstadt , where Einhard and his wife Imma, to whom the legend relates, are also buried.

Lore

Title page of Müller's book Aachens Sagen und Legenden from 1858

For centuries, most of the sagas and legends were only passed on orally . In some cases, different variants of each other were created. They were often only written down in the 19th century. The Aachen naturalist and dialect poet Joseph Müller summarized about 25 of these stories in his book Aachens Sagen und Legenden in 1858 .

Aachen sagas and legends can be found in the following collections:

overview

City foundation and cathedral construction

The following legends are associated with the founding of the city of Aachen and the construction of the Aachen Cathedral :

Bronze statues of a farmer's wife and the devil on the Lousberg
  • The legend of the founding of the city of Aachen tells how Emperor Karl discovered the Aachen thermal springs while hunting and then decided to build an imperial palace here with a Church of Our Lady and to found a city.
  • The Aachen cathedral story tells how the Aachen councilors entered into a devil's pact to finance the cathedral building and promised him the soul that would be the first to enter the finished cathedral. With a trick they deprived the devil of the agreed consideration by being the first to chase a wolf into the cathedral. In anger, the devil slammed the cathedral door so hard that it cracked and his thumb got caught in the door pull.
  • The Lousberg saga tells how the devil wanted to take revenge for the fraud reported in the cathedral story and how the city of Aachen wanted to spill a huge pile of sand. But he was outwitted by a poor woman and dropped the pile of sand north of the city, creating the Lousberg .
  • The clapper alley tells of the cathedral's consecration . When only 363 of the 365 invited bishops were present on the eve of the consecration, God raised two dead bishops from Maastricht from their graves and sent them to Aachen as skeletons. The clatter of their bones gave the rattling alley its name.
  • Danko the bell founder is about a fraudulent bell founder who was supposed to cast a bell for the new cathedral. He put aside the silver that Charlemagne had provided for it and replaced it with lead. When the emperor was the first to pull on the bell rope, the bell made only a muffled sound. The bell-caster then had to try it himself and was killed by the falling clapper.

Charlemagne

The other legends related to Aachen and Charlemagne include:

Adolph Ehrhardt: Emperor Karl mourning his deceased wife Fastrada , 1857
Emma carries Eginhard through the snow, illustration after a painting by GLP Saint-Ange
  • Emperor Karl's Homecoming tells of the fact that Karl was on a campaign in Hungary for so long that he was thought dead in Aachen because there was no news of him. The councils urged Karl's wife Hildegard to marry a rich king. Three days before the wedding, an angel appeared to Karl and told him to ride home. With God's help, Karl got to Aachen in three days, went to the cathedral on the morning of the wedding day and sat on his throne . So the sacristan found him and got the bishop. He reprimanded Karl that only the king could sit on the throne. Karl got up and made himself known.
  • The Fastrada saga refers to Karl's fourth wife, Fastrada . Karl had helped a snake to its right and received a ring with a gemstone from it, which he gave to Fastrada. The ring made Karl always love her. Even after her death, he could not part with her corpse until Bishop Turpin secretly removed the ring from her. From then on Karl was fond of Turpin and made him one of his closest advisers. Turpin wanted to put an end to the magic by throwing the ring into a lake near Aachen. Karl now felt drawn to the lake and built a hunting lodge there, the Frankenburg
  • Eginhard und Emma refers to Karl's scribeEinhardand his wife Imma, who in the legend is made Emma, ​​a daughter of the emperor. When Eginhard secretly visited Emma at night and wanted to go back at dawn, he saw that snow had fallen overnight. So that he didn't leave any suspicious tracks in the snow with his boots, Emma carried him across the Palatinate court. However, she was observed by Karl, who expelled them from the court. After a few years, while hunting, Karl came to a hut in the forest where Eginhard and Emma had found shelter, made up with them and took them back to court.
  • Wittekind in the cathedral in Aachen tells of Widukind ,Duke of Saxony,who wanted to take revengefor Karl's blood court of Verden . Disguised as a pilgrim, he came to Aachen Cathedralto stabKarl during Holy Mass . The architecture of the cathedral and the solemnity of the liturgy captured him so much that hehimself fell on his kneesduring the change . After Mass he identified himself to Karl, made up with him and received baptism .
  • Karl's Jagdritt tells of the fact that although Karl appreciated the solemn clothes of his court on festive occasions, he was repugnant when they appeared too dressed up on ordinary occasions. When the councilors again appeared too dressed up for a meeting, he spontaneously set up a hunt in the Aachen forest . He rode ahead through the thickest undergrowth and the councilors had to follow him. At dinner after the hunt, he made fun of the tattered clothing of the councilors while his leather doublet was intact. Since then the councilors have held back the luxury of their clothes.
  • Karl heals the plague tells of how an epidemic broke out in Aachen. An angel appeared in front of Karl and told him to ride out into the field and shoot an arrow. The plant that the arrow pierces is a cure for the disease. Karl rode out through the King's Gate and shot an arrow. The arrow struck a thistle-like plant, and Karl had his doctors make medicine from its sap. Everyone who took this medicine was instantly cured. That is why the plant was named Carlina in honor of Karl. At the point where the arrow fell, Karl had the Melaten infirmary built.
  • Charlemagne's Death and Grave tells of the passing of Charlemagne. His death was indicated by omens such as the collapse of the covered corridor between the imperial palace and the palace chapel. After his death, Karl was buried with the crown on his head in a crypt in the Palatine Chapel. He held a scepter in one hand, the other resting on a gospel book on his knees. Otto III. opened the grave in the year 1000 and found Karl sitting on the throne, incorrupt. Only the tip of the nose was rotten. Otto had it replaced with gold and took a tooth out of his mouth as a relic. Then he had the crypt closed again.
  • The print saga takes place after the fire in Aachen in 1656. The bakers wanted to help in particular with the reconstruction because the fire broke out in a bakery. A baker's boy came up with the idea of ​​baking the pastries that Emperor Karl loved so much at the time that the recipe was given to him in his grave. Because nobody knew where this grave was, the devil offered the baker's boy to show him the grave if he could get the key to the cathedral treasury for it . The apprentice responded. It was only in the grave that the emperor was annoyed by the disturbance of his peace and quiet. However, when he found out the reason, he felt sorry for his town and gave the baker's boy the Printen recipe. The Printen were a complete success, the Aacheners had something to eat and the sale brought in urgently needed money. When the devil wanted to collect his wages, the baker's boy first gave him a tray of freshly baked Printen. These smelled so delicious that the devil devoured the Printen and the hot tin all at once. It made him have a stomachache and went back to hell cursing - he forgot the treasury.

More sagas and legends

Well-fortified blacksmith , monument by Carl Burger
First Bahkauvbrunnen by Karl Krauss
  • Rudolf von Habsburg tells of the coronation of Rudolf I , the first Roman-German king after the Interregnum . At the feast after his coronation in Aachen, a singer performed a ballad by a count who, while riding, met a priest who wanted to bring food to a dying man. Because a flood had torn away a bridge, the priest wanted to wade through the stream on foot. The count gave the priest his horse so that he could reach his destination safely. Rudolf recognized in the singer the priest to whom he had once given his horse. The Aachen saga, for its part, takes up another saga, the saga Rudolf von Habsburg and the priest of Ibach .
  • The Knights Templar in Aachen tried to explain the names Templergraben and Templerbend. Accordingly, there was a monastery of theKnights Templar. On the night in which thelast Grand Master ofthe Templar Order was burned at the stake in Paris, the monastery and church sank into the ground. The legend has no historical basis because there was never a settlement of the Knights Templar in Aachen.
  • The blacksmith of Aachen tells of the failed attempt by CountWilhelm IVof Jülich to bring Aachen under his control. InGertrude's nightin 1278 he left allies into the city. Wilhelm and his warriors were able to advance to the market until the intrusion was noticed and the citizens were called to arms. Wilhelm got into distress and avoided Jakobstrasse with a small remnant of his warriors. There a blacksmith met him and killed him and his three sons.
  • The Hinzenmännchen tells of a people ofgnomesorgoblinswho lived in an underground cave system under theHinzenturm, a watchtower of theAachen city wall. For their celebrations, they asked the Aacheners to put cleaned dishes in front of the door, which they picked up at night and put back cleanly in front of the door in the morning. If you hadn't found anything out, they rattled all night long so that you couldn't sleep. Two war journeymen who came to Aachen made fun of it. They wanted to keep watch at night and get on the Hinzenmännchen with their swords. The next morning they were found dead in front of the Hinzenturm, they had pierced each other.
  • The humpbacked musicians tells of a fiddler who had a humpback. One night he came to the fish market at midnight and found a company of celebrating women. One of them asked him to play them to dance. As a reward she took his hump from him, and when he got home he found his jacket pockets full of gold. A second fiddler, who also had a humpback, envied his success. After practicing dance tunes for a long time, he also sneaked to the fish market at midnight and found the same company. In spite of all his efforts, however, he only produced sad melodies, and when he finally asked for his wages, one of the ladies grabbed the hump of the first fiddler for him.
  • The Mobesin tells about the Countess Mobesin, who lived in a large house and had no company. At night she seemed to have big parties, although no visitors were seen entering the house. The mobesin had a cat that harassed craftsmen working in the house. One day a roofer cut off three claws from her front paw. There was a scream from inside, and servants found the countess bleeding. Three fingers were missing from her hand. When the fingers were found in the gutter and the roofer told his story, she was convicted of a witch and burned at the stake.
  • The Bahkauv legend tells of a monster in the shape of a shaggy calf with sharp teeth and bear claws that lived in the sewer of the thermal springs at the Büchel . At night it suddenly jumped on its back on men returning home drunk and let them carry it home. There it jumped off and looked for its next victim. The Bahkauv never bothered women or children.

literature

  • Brothers Grimm (ed.): German legends . tape I . Nicolaische Buchhandlung, Berlin 1816 ( Wikisource ).
  • Brothers Grimm (ed.): German legends . tape II . Nicolaische Buchhandlung, Berlin 1818 ( Wikisource ).
  • Alfred von Reumont : Aachen's song wreath and world of legends . Verlag JA Mayer, Aachen and Leipzig 1829 ( digitized in the Google book search).
  • Alfred von Reumont: Rhineland's sagas, stories and legends . Verlag Ludwig Kohnen, Cologne and Aachen 1837 ( digitized in the Google book search).
  • Ludwig Bechstein : German book of legends . Georg Wigand Verlag, Leipzig 1853 ( digitized in the Google book search).
  • Joseph Müller : Aachen's sagas and legends . Verlag JA Mayer, Aachen 1858 ( digitized in the Google book search - a faithful reprint of the original edition was published by Verlag Ute Kierdorf, Lindlar 1979, ISBN 978-3-922055-02-0 ).
  • Johann Georg Theodor Grasse : The Rhine Province . In: Book of legends of the Prussian state . tape 2 . Verlag Carl Flemming, Glogau 1871 ( digitized in the Google book search).
  • Anke Schütt: Aachen sagas and legends . Einhard-Verlag, Aachen 2005.
  • Nadine Boos: Aachen: sagas and legends . John Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-942057-14-1 (audio book, speaker: Uve Teschner).
  • Sabine Mathieu: Devil, Printen, witchcraft: true and legendary stories from Aachen . Meyer & Meyer, Aachen 2012, ISBN 978-3-89899-729-4 .
  • Ronald Thiel: Aachen sagas and legends . BookRix, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-7368-4757-6 .
  • Richard Wollgarten, Will Hermanns, Max Claassen, Jupp Müller: Aachen legends and fairy tales . Prose and poems, performed in Aachen dialect on the enclosed CD. Ed .: ÖCHER PLATT e. V. (with high German translation; 70 minutes).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Johann Georg Theodor Grasse: The foundation of the city of Aachen . In: Book of legends of the Prussian state . tape 2 . Verlag Carl Flemming, Glogau 1871, p. 86-87 ( online at Zeno.org .).
  2. ^ Johann Georg Theodor Grasse: The cathedral building, the wolf door and the thumb of the devil in Aachen . In: Book of legends of the Prussian state . tape 2 . Verlag Carl Flemming, Glogau 1871, p. 87-89 ( online at Zeno.org .).
  3. ^ Johann Georg Theodor Grasse: The Loosberg near Aachen . In: Book of legends of the Prussian state . tape 2 . Verlag Carl Flemming, Glogau 1871, p. 90-91 ( online at Zeno.org .).
  4. ^ Johann Georg Theodor Grasse: The Klappergasse in Aachen . In: Book of legends of the Prussian state . tape 2 . Verlag Carl Flemming, Glogau 1871, p. 89-90 ( online at Zeno.org .).
  5. ^ Johann Georg Theodor Grasse: The bell in the dome of Aachen . In: Book of legends of the Prussian state . tape 2 . Verlag Carl Flemming, Glogau 1871, p. 91 ( online at Zeno.org .).
  6. ↑ Ludwig Bechstein: Emperor Karl returns home . In: Deutsches Sagenbuch . Meersburg and Leipzig 1930, p. 101-102 ( online at Zeno.org .).
  7. ↑ Ludwig Bechstein: Snake ring . In: Deutsches Sagenbuch . Meersburg and Leipzig 1930, p. 100-101 ( online at Zeno.org .).
  8. ↑ Ludwig Bechstein: Fastrada's love magic . In: Deutsches Sagenbuch . Meersburg and Leipzig 1930, p. 102 ( online at Zeno.org .).
  9. ↑ Ludwig Bechstein: Eginhart and Emma . In: Deutsches Sagenbuch . Meersburg and Leipzig 1930, p. 51-52 ( online at Zeno.org .).
  10. ^ Joseph Müller: Wittekind in the cathedral in Aachen . In: Aachen's sagas and legends . Verlag JA Mayer, Aachen 1858, p. 75–79 ( digitized in the Google book search).
  11. ↑ Joseph Müller: Karls Jagdritt . In: Aachen's sagas and legends . Verlag JA Mayer, Aachen 1858, p. 83–86 ( digitized in the Google book search).
  12. ↑ Joseph Müller: Karl heals the plague . In: Aachen's sagas and legends . Verlag JA Mayer, Aachen 1858, p. 87–90 ( digitized in the Google book search).
  13. ^ Ludwig Bechstein: Charlemagne death and grave . In: Deutsches Sagenbuch . Meersburg and Leipzig 1930, p. 102-103 ( online at Zeno.org .).
  14. ↑ Hans-Peter Pracht: The Aachen Printen . In: sagas and legends of the Eifel . Bachem, Cologne 1983, ISBN 978-3-7616-1146-3 , p. 14 .
  15. ^ Joseph Müller: Rudolph von Habsburg . In: Aachen's sagas and legends . Verlag JA Mayer, Aachen 1858, p. 95–100 ( digitized in the Google book search).
  16. ^ Johann Georg Theodor Grasse: The Knights Templar at Aachen . In: Book of legends of the Prussian state . tape 2 . Verlag Carl Flemming, Glogau 1871, p. 86 ( online at Zeno.org .).
  17. ↑ Joseph Müller: The Schmid and the Count Wilhelm von Jülich . In: Aachen's sagas and legends . Verlag JA Mayer, Aachen 1858, p. 104–107 ( digitized in the Google book search).
  18. ^ Johann Georg Theodor Grasse: The Hinzenthurm . In: Book of legends of the Prussian state . tape 2 . Verlag Carl Flemming, Glogau 1871, p. 97-99 ( online at Zeno.org .).
  19. ^ Johann Georg Theodor Grasse: The humpbacked musicians . In: Book of legends of the Prussian state . tape 2 . Verlag Carl Flemming, Glogau 1871, p. 93-95 ( online at Zeno.org .).
  20. ^ Johann Georg Theodor Grasse: The Mobesin to Aachen . In: Book of legends of the Prussian state . tape 2 . Verlag Carl Flemming, Glogau 1871, p. 92-93 ( online at Zeno.org .).
  21. ^ Johann Georg Theodor Grasse: The Bach calf or Baahkauf zu Aachen . In: Book of legends of the Prussian state . tape 2 . Verlag Carl Flemming, Glogau 1871, p. 91-92 ( online at Zeno.org .).