Legend of the missing crown on the southern cathedral tower
The legend of the missing crown on the southern cathedral tower takes place in the 17th century during the Thirty Years' War in Magdeburg and the surrounding area.
Historical background
It is unclear whether the southern spire ever had a crown. In the records, postils about the Evangelia, on the day of Mauritii , the cathedral preacher Dr. Sack a storm is mentioned in which the crown was smashed and fell. Therefore it was no longer present during the Thirty Years War.
In 1631 Magdeburg was besieged by the imperial troops under Tilly and Gottfried Heinrich zu Pappenheim . The siege went down in history as the Magdeburg wedding . The Kroatenberg hill is called Georgshöhe today.
legend
During the siege of Magdeburg, Colonel von Boye from Magdeburg had some artillery installed in the galleries of the southern cathedral tower. From there the enemy trenches and batteries at Sudenburg were under fire with such a skill that they caused great damage.
When Pappenheim heard about it, he went to see the matter for himself. On the way there he was called to see Tilly, who was just courting an escaped and recaptured Croat, and sentenced him to death. While the Croat was standing nearby with his hands tied, Pappenheim told the general about the new threat. The Croat overheard the conversation and fell on his knees in front of the two commanders and asked for his life, in return for his life he promised to shoot down the crown of the southern cathedral tower with three shots. Tilly accepted the offer and immediately ordered him to straighten the gun. Thereupon the Croat was led to a hill in front of Sudenburg, on which one of the most threatened batteries was. With the first shot the Croat hit the crown of the southern cathedral tower and with the second and third he completely destroyed it. The shattered crown fell and the guns in the gallery fell silent.
From then on the hill was named Kroatenberg in his honor.