Liechtenstein legends

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Legends from Liechtenstein are stories that report first verbally and later in writing of unbelievable, fantastic events in the area of ​​the Principality of Liechtenstein . These are often structured as truth reports or are based in part on actual events.

Collections of Liechtenstein sagas

In the Liechtenstein area, the first collection of sagas appeared in book form under the title "The sagas of Vorarlberg" by Franz Josef Vonbun as early as 1858, 40 years after the collection of the Brothers Grimm , which were re-edited in 1950 by Richard Beitl. This collection also contains Liechtenstein sagas. One of the first evidence of the written form of the legends in Liechtenstein is the recording of the legend of "Weidmann" in a Triesenberg exercise book (around 1860). In the 20th century there are some collections of sagas. Albert Schädler (1916) and Eugen Nipp (1924) are the first collectors of sagas in Liechtenstein to publish their notes. A very widespread collection of legends appeared in 1948: HF Walser's “Legendary Home” accompanied many Liechtenstein residents in the 1950s.

The first and only collection that claimed to be complete appeared in 1965. The Vaduz teacher Otto Seger collected the legends with secondary school students and published them in the yearbook of the Historical Association for the Principality of Liechtenstein. A few years later (1973) he already had to add a quantitatively not insignificant supplement to the collection. Otto Seger's collections later appeared as separate prints .

Say

Some famous legends:

  • The three sisters
  • The pious man
  • The night people
  • The legend of the devil's stone
  • The thief holes
  • The strange man from Balzers
  • The living doll
  • The wild mandli
  • The ghost horse
  • The two brothers

The three sisters

Weather fir on the Alp Gafadura

Three sisters went to Gafadura on the morning of Our Lady’s Day (August 15) to pick berries. On the way there they heard the church bells, which proclaimed the holiday and called the Christians to church. One of the sisters asked if it might not be better to go to church as well, but the other two reassured that the baskets had to be full of berries before they went back to the village. When the baskets were full in the late afternoon, the three girls were on their way home when they met a beautiful woman and asked for a few berries. But the three sisters only said that if you want berries, you have to get them yourself. Then the beautiful woman shone in a bright glow and said to the girls: «You have violated my feast day and you have not heard my request. Your heart is made of stone, and as stone you shall stand here forever. " They froze into large rocks, and from then on these rocks were called the Three Sisters.

The thief holes

Diebalöcher (Diebeshöhlen) is a rocky forest slope in the Ellholz in Balzers , but in the Grisons area. It is said that a stranger came to Mäls once. He had a fishing rod with him and was trying to catch fish in the septic tanks. The Balzner were very surprised and laughed at him. But the stranger only said: "What I don't catch, my brother catches." And really - while the Balzner made fun of the strange owl, meat, goats, chickens and much more were stolen from his accomplice. Begging women were also up to mischief at this time and stole everything that was not supervised. One of the robbed Balzner farmers, who had business to do over the Rhine, told of the thefts and that the thieves could not be found or caught. The Swiss then told him that at night you could see a fire burning in the rocks in Ellholz every night, and that you could occasionally hear voices. The Balzner and Mälsner immediately suspected that the thieves would have to hide there. They immediately went on their way and dug up the robbers' nest and arrested the thieves. During the arrest, a young couple, who also belonged to the thieves, jumped dancing over the rocks in front of the attack.

The wild mandli

On the Triesenberger Alp Sareis in the Gamperdonatal , above the Nenzing sky, the Wildmandli used to live in caves; one of the caves is still called Wildmanschilchli today. They wore no clothes but were very hairy. They were good-natured and looked after the cattle of the Triesenberg farmers in the Malbun and by the jetty . Often, when the farmers were overburdened on their own farm, they left the feeding of the cattle to the wild mandli when it was above the Kulm in the stables. They only failed to help in bad weather or when the hair was blown. Once it happened that there was foehn weather on the heights and nothing was felt in the village. The farmers were busy in the potato field and trusted the help of the wild mandli. After three days, when they looked after their cattle in the stables by the pier and in the Malbun, they found the cattle half starved. Once before Christmas, when the farmers were fetching their cattle from the Malbun, a voice rang out from Gamsgrad, calling out: “The Biizi and the Baazi have died!”. From then on the wild almonds were gone.

The Wild Gampriner billy goat

The legend of the Wild Gampriner goat is about a farmer and his goat, who was badly treated by the former. Thereupon the billy goat used the chance to escape and fled to Oberbendern . Angry about this, the farmer decided to kill the billy goat. He packed up his rifle and went to the forest in Oberbendern. At first the billy goat was nowhere to be found, but just as the farmer was about to give up the search, the billy goat stood in front of him, two meters tall, with red eyes and huge black horns. The farmer ran in fear and fell in a panic down the rock wall of the Oberwald. According to legend, the billy goat still lives in the forest in Oberbendern and lies in wait for lonely hikers.

The Malanser mold

On the Malanser, a hill above Eschen , a castle is said to have once stood in which a cruel knight lived. The farmers of Eschen und Mauren decided to destroy his house and set it on fire. All of the robber baron's soldiers perished in the burning fortress. The knight escaped on a white horse, but fell to his death over a rock. Since then he has had to haunt the Malanser on his horse until all the damage is repaired.

Historically, there is a small prehistoric settlement on the Malanser, but not a medieval castle. In contrast, the Upper Schellenberg Castle was burned down during the Appenzell War in 1405 . The legend probably reminds of this incident and connects it with the popular idea of robber knights .

See also

literature

  • «The sagas of Vorarlberg». Edited by Franz Josef Vonbun. 1858.
  • “Homeland shrouded in legend” by HF Walser
  • «Liechtenstein Legends» by Dino Larese

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sage information sign on the Eschnerberg high trail. Photography on Wikimedia