Augsburg legends

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Woodcut by Augsburg from Schedel's world chronicle .

Augsburg legends are folk tales from the Upper Swabian city ​​of Augsburg and the surrounding area with fantastic or rather anecdotal content.

Overview

Tell the story

Representation of the Amazons in Schedel's world chronicle .

Prehistory and Antiquity

  • The foundation of Augsburg : Augsburg represents a city that goes back to a Roman legion camp at the beginning of the 1st century. According to the legend, however, the city's history begins much earlier. It is said to have been founded by the descendants of Japhet , one of Noah's sons , 600 years before Rome was founded. Later, Marthesia ( Marpesia ), the Queen of the Amazons , is said to have conquered and sacked the city, but the city was rebuilt afterwards. The Raetians came to the region later, around 548 BC , and worshiped the goddess Cisa , after which Augsburg was also called Vindelica.
  • The goddess Zisa : It is said in several sources from the Middle Ages that a goddess named Cisa was once worshiped in Augsburg , in old Augsburg there is said to have been a large wooden temple for her, which is said to have stood on the Zisenberg. After her, the city is said to have been called Cizaria in the past. Whether this goddess actually existed is disputed in research, Jacob Grimm had still assumed this. The more recent research, however, does not consider the tradition to be credible. Cisa is shown on the weather vane at the Perlach Tower. Cisa can also be seen on a relief on the Hercules Fountain. Since the late Middle Ages, a provincial Roman Medusa head was known in Augsburg, which is walled in the Protestant Ulrichskirche . The head was also interpreted as an image of the goddess Cisa.
  • The fleeing Varus : According to legend, the Roman general Varus , also known as Verres, did not throw himself into his sword after the battle in the Teutoburg Forest , but first hid from the Teutons in the area where Pfersee would later be located and finally to have been slain at a lake, which means either an oxbow lake or the Wertach . The current name Pfersee is said to have originated from Verres or Varus Lake.
  • Roman battle at Kriegshaber : The name of today's Augsburg district of Kriegshaber is said to be derived from a battle between the Romans and Vindelikers . According to legend, there was a Greek mercenary on the Roman side by the name of Avar, who was the son of King Bogud (who is historically tangible as a Punic ship captain). Avar was captured by the Vindelikers and sacrificed to their gods. The name Kriegshaber is said to have developed from “Greek Avar” over time.
  • Witches ride against Attila : The Hunnic King Attila is said to have devastated Europe with fire and sword, so that when he reached the Lech he had in mind to turn Augsburg there into a heap of rubble like other cities. The chapel of St. He had already devastated Afra . When he finally wanted to cross the Lech, however, an ugly old woman came up to him on an equally ugly horse and shouted three times loudly that he should back away. This terrified the king of the Huns so much that he immediately withdrew with his army. Another version of the legend reports that the old woman was a witch who was feared and was locked up in the barefoot tower by the authorities of the city of Augsburg because of her evil activities. When the Huns besieged the city and intended to starve it, the witch offered to drive out the enemy if she was allowed her freedom. The request was granted and the witch hitched a black stallion to a farm wagon. Then she took off all her clothes, swung herself onto the horse and flew through the air with it. So the Huns were driven out. A pictorial representation of the witch's ride against Attila is said to have been on the barefoot tower in Augsburg's old town, which was demolished in 1836.

middle Ages

  • The coat of arms of the Augsburg weavers : In the battle of the Lechfeld in 955 against the Hungarians, legend has it that the Augsburg weavers in particular stood out, they not only fight bravely, but also succeeded in killing the Hungarian prince. In this way, its flag and coat of arms came into the hands of the weavers, who eventually adopted the victory symbol as their own coat of arms.

Early modern age

Langenmantel brings Luther to Hohenschwangau, design by Wilhelm Lindenschmit the Elder, 1835.
  • In addition : After his appearance at the Reichstag in Augsburg, Martin Luther had to fear for his personal safety. His friends, especially Christoph Langenmantel, advised him to leave the city in secret. Before dawn he set off and made it to St. Gallus Gäßchen. From then on, however, he could no longer find his way around, wandered around and was unable to find the little Stephingertörlein that a benevolent gatekeeper should leave open for him. When he was already desperate, a figure suddenly appeared to him that resembled his friend Langenmantel. With the words "Down there" the figure showed him the way to the right that led to the gate. The figure was interpreted - depending on the attitude towards the person of Luther - either as a guardian angel or a devil . Luther got through the gate and found a donkey and messenger waiting behind it to escape.
  • Luther's ride to Hohenschwangau : Martin Luther and his friend Christoph Langenmantel had to leave Augsburg at night in 1518. The legend reports that they rode eight miles out of the Lechfeld and headed out of the mountains. When their pursuers had almost caught up with them, however, they saw Luther and Langenmantel roaring ahead of them at the speed of the wind on fire-snorting fire steeds that lit up the dark October night, whereupon they turned around in alarm. Langenmantel is said to have granted Luther the first break in Hohenschwangau , but from there he immediately passed him on to Hohenaschau Castle .
The "Stoinerne Ma" on the eastern city wall.
  • The Stone Man : In November 1634, Augsburg was besieged by the Bavarian Field Marshal von Wahl during the Thirty Years' War , the city was occupied by the Swedes. The city was to be starved to get a surrender quickly. The supplies eventually ran out and the Augsburgers feared they would starve to death. In this situation a master baker by the name of Konrad Hackher had an idea: He took a handsome loaf of bread (which, according to another version, was not made of dough but of sawdust ) and walked around the city wall with it while he sang a song. (In another version he even throws the loaf down as a provocation to show the besiegers that the city still has a large amount of bread.) This was intended to give the impression that the city's supplies of bread were still plentiful and the residents are still happy. The sight angered the besiegers and they shot the master baker with a field snake (in a different version with a crossbow ). His arm and loaf of bread were torn from him, and a few days later he died of his injuries. In his memory, the Augsburgers had a figure of the master baker erected, which is now located on the Unteren Graben and is known as the Stone Man ( Stoinerner Ma ). It is said to bring good luck to touch the stone figure's nose, this custom is particularly popular with lovers.
  • The Hexenbrunnen : Between the Lueginsland and the Fischertor there is a fountain with the figure of an old woman directly on the Augsburg city wall . It is said of this that women sentenced to death there in the 16th and 17th centuries and thought to be witches were allowed to take their last sip of water before proceeding to the stake . The legend is likely to be a more recent story and not a reminder of the actual witch hunt in Augsburg. The fountain with the figure is said to commemorate the victims of the witch hunt today . For reasons of protection, the witch figure is now behind a grid, which is also supposed to symbolize the social oppression of women in times past.

Holy sayings

A representation of St. Simpert with the child and wolf in St. Konstantin Church near Völs in South Tyrol.
  • The holy Afra
  • St. Ulrich with the fish
  • The grave of St. Simpert : The bones of St. Simpert were in the chapel of St. Afra buried, but when the Huns destroyed them, the bones were scattered. St. Ulrich is said to have picked them up again and had them solemnly buried. Many miracles are said to have happened near his grave. For example, once a wolf near Augsburg carried a child with her in her throat. The child's mother asked for help at his grave and a few hours later it actually happened that the she-wolf reappeared and returned the child unharmed.

Ghosts and ghosts

  • The Augsburg ghost mass : once a woman accidentally got up at midnight on the night before All Souls' Day and went to the crypt church to attend early mass there. There she saw her recently deceased godfather and other poor souls make sacrifices. The godfather turned to her and whispered to her that she had gone to church at the time of death and should leave as soon as possible and leave her alone, otherwise a misfortune would happen and she would have to stay here forever. The woman was very shocked at these words and immediately left the church. She could still hear the church door slam, then collapsed and passed out. She was found lying there in the morning; she was sick for six weeks.
  • The wistful mother : The so-called wistful mother is a midwife who is said to have baptized children in the name of the devil during emergency baptisms . After her death she reappeared in various forms, such as a dog or a calf. She made herself noticeable through wistful whining, she was especially dangerous to women who had recently given birth and to children. She is said to have roamed the streets, especially in the rough nights . Anyone who stuck their head out of the window to see her should have swollen as a result. Later it is said to have been successfully banned by a clergyman - either in the Danube near Regensburg or the Wertach .
  • The Gögginger Wassermann
  • An Augsburg Freischütz

literature

  • Gustav Schmidt: Legends from Bavarian Swabia , Gondrom Verlag, Bindlach 1989.
  • Leander Petzoldt: Swabian legends. From the Odenwald to Lake Constance, from the Black Forest to the Lech , Bechtermünz Verlag, Augsburg 1998.
  • Günther Kapfhammer: Bayerische Sagen , Eugen Diederichs Verlag, 5th edition, Munich 1992.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Günther Kapfhammer: Bayerische Sagen , Eugen Diederichs Verlag, 5th edition, Munich 1992, pp. 90f.
  2. ^ Gustav Schmidt: Sagen aus Bayerisch-Schwaben , Gondrom Verlag, Bindlach 1989, p. 91f.
  3. ^ Gustav Schmidt: Sagen aus Bayerisch-Schwaben , Gondrom Verlag, Bindlach 1989, p. 35.
  4. ^ Gustav Schmidt: Sagen aus Bayerisch-Schwaben , Gondrom Verlag, Bindlach 1989, p. 38
  5. ^ Gustav Schmidt: Sagen aus Bayerisch-Schwaben , Gondrom Verlag, Bindlach 1989, p. 41f.
  6. ↑ Gustav Schmidt: Sagen aus Bayerisch-Schwaben , Gondrom Verlag, Bindlach 1989, p. 42.
  7. ^ Gustav Schmidt: Sagen aus Bayerisch-Schwaben , Gondrom Verlag, Bindlach 1989, p. 48.
  8. ↑ Franz Häußler: Schauerliche Mythen about a witch In: Augsburger Allgemeine. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  9. ↑ Bernd Wißner: Discover Augsburg , Wißner-Verlag, 4th edition, Augsburg 2010, p. 32.
  10. ^ Simpert, the legend of St. Simpert, Bishop of Augsburg. In: heiligenlegende.de. Retrieved July 24, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Simpert von Augsburg - Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints. In: heiligenlexikon.de. Retrieved July 24, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Gustav Schmidt: Sagen aus Bayerisch-Schwaben , Gondrom Verlag, Bindlach 1989, p. 43
  13. ^ Günther Kapfhammer: Bayerische Sagen , Eugen Diederichs Verlag, 5th edition, Munich 1992, p. 93