Legendary trail legendary Wölzertal
The legendary trail “Legendary Wölzertal” is a circular hiking trail that is dedicated to the legends of the town of Oberwölz .
history
The legend trail of the rural youth Oberwölz was created in the course of the project "Legendary Wölzertal" and was planned and designed by the rural youth Oberwölz. The project started in 2008, the legend trail was opened in 2009. The Landjugend Oberwölz received an award for the project in 2009 and 2010. The circular hiking trail extends over a total of 4.5 km (375 m difference in altitude) and connects 11 different stations. The individual stations tell different legends from the Oberwölzer region using sculptures, pictures and texts.
Stations
The individual stations are freely accessible, but some of the sculptures cannot be viewed during the winter months.
Night watchman (starting point)
The starting point for the Sagenweg is on the north side of the Oberwölzer city wall in a small park.
The night watchman story
The night watchman's job was to scream out the hours. So in the evening, in summer at 10:45 p.m. and in winter at 9:45 p.m., each time for a quarter of an hour, he had to ring the so-called rag bell in the tower of the parish church. Then the rags had to rush home. The night watchman also had to make sure that no lights were left on in any house after this time. Since most of the houses were built of wood and covered with shingles or straw and there were mostly only open fireplaces and candles for lighting, the risk of fire was extremely high. Compliance with regulations, e.g. E.g. curfew hours in the restaurants had to be monitored by the night watchman.
According to tradition, the night watchman is said to have made his nightly patrols through the alleys of the town of Oberwölz with this funny song:
Hear it, gentlemen, and let me tell you, the hammer, it hit nine,
no good man stays out longer, because wife and children wait at the house,
a little supper, then into the nest, early at The plague of work is '
Has a nine hit'
Hear it, gentlemen, and let me tell you, the hammer, it struck ten,
with good friends and clever gentlemen you even talk to each other so gladly,
only sometimes the woman is silent about it. Now march home and give it a rest.
Has Zehne g'schlag'n
Hear's, gentlemen, and let's you sag'n, the hammer that has Elfe g'schlag'n,
now the wine is already rising to the brain, you just hear scream and disputier'n
only Right after home in the dog trot, they sell a brummelsuppe.
Did elves hit
it, gentlemen, and let me tell you, the hammer, it struck twelve,
"Is that going to the house for an hour? Where are you? 'wesn, you scoundrel?
You mess up the money as if you'd stolen it! I'll have the watch fetch you. "
Twelve have hit
Hear it, gentlemen, and let me tell you, the hammer has hit one o'clock,
one sings, the other sleeps, the others drink brotherhood.
You rags, go and don't mind a few slaps at home!
It struck one o'clock
Hear it, gentlemen, and let me tell you, the hammer, it struck two o'clock,
the right hand are now sitting together, they don't think rags are a shame.
"I am a scoundrel, if you are, he is, that's why it brings more to drink."
Has hit two o'clock
Hear it, gentlemen, and let me tell you, the hammer, it has struck three o'clock,
the woman who locks the room, the man who keeps his rest in the stable.
Sleep too! Anyone who indulges in the late hour will surely get on the dog.
It struck three o'clock
At four o'clock the guard no longer calls out, since he is already in bed at home.
Origin of Oberwölz
The second station of the legend trail is located near Rothenfels Castle . It tells the story of the origins of Oberwölz and offers a beautiful view of the city of Oberwölz.
The legend of the creation of Oberwölz
The whole Wölzertal is said to have once been a large primeval forest. This jungle was cleared by the Slavs who settled here and the soil made arable by them . Under Rothenfels Castle and on the site of what is now the town of Oberwölz, there is said to have been a large lake that stretched from the Tratten to the Kammersberg. This was also drained by the Slavs and only a small pond , which is still located under the castle in the middle of the valley, was left by them.
At that time, hunters lived on the heights of the mountains and hunted not only red deer but also lynx , bears, wolves, etc. In summer, the shepherds' cattle from the surrounding villages grazed on the alpine pastures in Schöttl as well as on the Langalm. The Slavs created a mule track over the Glattjoch and thus established a connection between the upper Mur and Wölz valleys with the Enns valley. At that time, salt and iron goods were lined up from the Ennstal. Even today there are stone circles at the height of the Glattjoch, which are called by the population as pagan cemeteries, where the muleers who died on this path should once have been buried.
The remains of the former royal feising'schen Amtshof, which is said to be one of the oldest buildings in the city of Oberwölz, is currently used as a farm building. This building used to serve as a large stable in which the pack animals were kept. Gradually others were built around this building and so the Slavic settlement of Wölz came into being. In contrast to Niederwölz (= the village of Wölz in the lowlands), where such a mule stables should also originally have existed, Wölz was later called Oberwölz.
The heavy traffic on this mule track, as well as a richly blessed and fortunate mining for precious metals, which is said to have existed in the Schöttelgraben, quickly attracted a large population and great wealth. As a result, the town of Oberwölz experienced a great boom and was elevated to a town. In Oberwölz there is still an alley called Schmalzgasse (formerly Schmelzgasse), in which silver melting furnaces are said to have once stood and of which remains were found a few decades ago.
At that time, the small town of Oberwölz is said to have been much larger than it is now and to have extended to the "Schütt".
Lindworm
The station on the legend about the Lindwurm forms the center of the legend trail and is not far from the station on the origins of Oberwölz. A children's playground in the shape of a dragon is the central sculpture of this station.
The lindworm legend
One day, to the amazement of the people, a little man dressed in red with a copper-colored face appeared in the Schöttlgraben; nobody knew where it came from. At the last hut in Schöttl someone knocked on the window and called out, people may have nothing against it, because he'll be back tomorrow on his big horse ridden and they should provide. Then it hurried to the Wildsee am Hohenwart and disappeared into it, as some of the lads sneaking up noticed. The next day, a heavy downpour fell on Hohenwart and Schöttl. As a result, the Schöttlbach began to swell powerfully; With particular force, the floods of the ever higher rising brook uprooted trees and tore large boulders with them.
Terrified, the residents fled to the surrounding mountains and looked down as the unleashed element destroyed everything with terrible fury and carried it away with it. When at last the water had gradually disappeared again, shepherds hurrying up breathlessly brought the terrible news that an ugly giant worm with claw feet had broken out of the Wildsee and had already devoured some cattle and a human being. The voracious monster drove its mischief here for a long time, until the farmers finally discussed how they could get rid of it. Since all attempts to kill or drive away the dragon had failed, the people wanted to try a trick. Before a thunderstorm they drove a cattle near the dwelling of the dragon, which it devoured and immediately submerged again in the lake. As soon as the monster disappeared under the surface of the water, people poured quick lime into the lake. The water splashed upwards, hissing and foaming, and took on a cloudy color. This admixture did not seem to bother the Lindwurm; he disappeared as usual in the underground drain. But when the sun's rays penetrated through the clouds again, a snort that could be heard from afar announced to the residents that their ruse had failed. A short time later the little red man appeared again in the Schöttelgraben. He complained that his favorite horse was in danger and asked him not to harm it. The next day the lindworm was surprised by a heavy thunderstorm on its raid and was unable to get to safety. The masses of water carried the monster with them as far as the Grössingwald, where it ultimately lay unconscious. Since the way back was blocked by rubble and tree trunks, the residents were able to kill the dragon. As the people say, the skeleton of an animal is said to have been in the Grössingwalde for a long time between the path and the stream, through whose eye sockets sheep and goats could slip and under whose ribs some cattle could comfortably stand.
Lumberjack hut
The Holzknechthütte is located in a wooded area next to Rothenfels Castle .
The saga of the lumberjack
There was once a logger's hut in Hinterburg , which was always haunted . As soon as the lumbermen had gone to rest, the old beams began to groan and crack. The haunted peak at midnight. The lumberjacks then got up and sprinkled the room with holy water , whereupon calm returned.
One day one of the lumberjacks fell ill and someone from another area had to stand in for him. During the night he too was awakened by the ghost and saw the others sprinkling the holy water. "Why are you doing this, why don't you look where the noises are coming from?" Asked the strange woodcutter.
The following night, when the ghost began again, he went into the room where the lumbermen used to eat. When he entered he saw that everything there was shrouded in a gray mist. Fearlessly, the lumberjack went to the table and tore open the table drawer. Then three large, white mice jumped towards him, and they ran out of the room in a hurry . They disappeared, never to be seen again, and the ghost was over from then on.
Lintel
The Rothenfels window lintel station is located in a wooded area below Rothenfels Castle .
The lintel saga
Several centuries ago, a noble burgrave lived at Rothenfels Castle . He came from the knightly family of Welzer. Honored both by his superiors, he was generally loved and respected by his subordinates because of his mildness, goodness of heart and justice. At his side stood a gracious and virtuous wife, and she, like a five-year-old lively boy, made the burgrave's joy and happiness. Once the knight ran on a brave horse , surrounded by his squires and brushwood, from the castle courtyard and down the street to the nearby town of Oberwölz. The knight nodded in a friendly manner to the citizens who greeted him respectfully and at their head he marched towards the Bishop of Freising.
But upstairs in the castle the lovely woman was sitting and playing with her cheerful boy. For a while she peered through the window onto the street on which the festive procession was to come. At last he came closer, closer and closer, and soon she could distinguish her husband from the multicolored crowd as he rode to the side of the bishop and he was talking to him. And when the procession was near the castle, there she lifted the boy up on the wide edge of the window so that he could look down and delight in the glory of the festive procession down there deep in the valley. In his joy, however, the quick boy pushed himself too close to his mother, slipped out of her protective arms and fell over the steep rock into the terrible depths. Rigid and seized with horror, the knight saw the fall of his only beloved child, while the crowd announced their horror with a loud outcry. Hastily he spurred his horse, and sprang near the spot where the delicate offspring of his love might lie in his blood; the worthy bishop followed hurriedly with his companions. In front of the thicket that surrounds the foot of the steep rock, they jumped out of their saddles and began to work their way through the undergrowth to the corpse of the unfortunate child. But Providence had spread its protective hand over the innocent boy and did not want the boy to die. When the father with a terrified heart, the bishop and the other companions approached the place where the boy might be lying, they found him not dead, but happy and cheerful and playing with the stones lying around. A spruce tree had caught the falling child with its wide branches and thus, softening the force of the terrible fall, let it slide gently onto the ground. The happy father pressed the child, who had been saved in such a wonderful way, to his heart, deeply and touched, and cheerfully the train continued up the path to the castle. In memory of this incident, the knight had a picture painted on wood installed in a rock niche next to the street, which can still be seen today.
Christmas Eve
The station for the Christmas Eve legend is also located in a forest below Rothenfels Castle .
The Christmas Eve legend
At the host vlg. Once on Christmas Eve, Sagmeister in Winklern , a few fellows sat around the tavern and made a bet. They bet that none of those present would dare to go to the Petzenhütte in the Hinteregger Alm on Christmas Eve. Whoever dared would have to bring the mixing bucket from there as proof.
An intrepid farm boy accepted the bet and immediately set off with his "Vieräugl-Hund". This got its name because it had a black spot above each eye so that it looked as if it had four eyes. When the boy reached the hut, he tied his dog to a wooden stake in front of it. Then he went in to get the mixer. After he stepped outside the hut again, two dogs were suddenly tied up there. The two looked alike and the farm boy didn't know which of the two belonged to him. One dog sat sad and hung its head, but the second jumped up on it with a joyful bark. Then the boy thought to himself: "That one is sure my dog" and untied him. He jumped merrily next to his master. But suddenly he got bigger and pulled harder and harder on the leash. Then the boy became frightened and afraid. He ran back to the hut and hung the monster on the wooden stake again. Now he also knew why his own dog had looked so sad. He hurriedly untied it and ran home as fast as he could. Bathed in sweat, he arrived at the inn, where he told his comrades about his eerie experience.
Spring root
The station for the Springwurzel legend is also located in the forest under Rothenfels Castle .
The spring root legend
The Eselsberger Graben belongs to the community of Winklern near Oberwölz . There a shepherd boy once discovered the nest of a "tree hackl" (a woodpecker ) in a tree . “Holla”, thought the very smart boy, “if I wedge the nest hole properly, the woodpecker will surely look for a spring root to open the hole again”. Thought and done! The boy carved a piece of wood and closed the hole in the nest with it. Then he lay down under the tree to wait for the woodpecker to return.
When the old woodpecker came back to his nest after a while and found the nest hole wedged, he flew away again. After a while it came back with a strangely shaped root in its beak. With this he touched the wedge, which immediately jumped out with a slight bang. The root fell to the ground and hui, it was already in the hand of the boy, who quickly ran away with it. With this spring root the boy would have been able to find and open hidden treasure caves and he would soon be a rich man. But since the boy was quite malicious and depraved, he only used the root to steal the people's hard-saved money from their locked chests and boxes. In this way he became a dreaded thief and burglar, who was finally arrested and put in prison when the measure of his crimes was overflowing. When the bailiffs carefully examined him in the cell, they also found the strangely shaped root, but carelessly threw it out the window because they did not know its mysterious power. At that moment the tree chopper came flying, picked up the root with its beak, flew away with it, and was never seen again. Since then, no one has found the spring root either. The former shepherd boy, however, was sentenced to death as a persistent thief and burglar and atone for his crimes on the gallows of the high court .
Blue Törl
The station for the legend of the Blue Törl is located next to a cycle path below Rothenfels Castle . In 2014 the legend trail was supplemented by the Blaues Törl station (original location) .
The legend of the Blue Törl
On the northeastern rock face of the Gaistrum furnace one can discover a bluish-looking spot, which stands out from the rest of the rock because of its darker color and resembles a half-open gate. This spot is called the "blue törl" by the inhabitants of the area and according to popular belief it is the mystical entrance to a large cave, inside of which there are immeasurable treasures. The gates of this magical cave only open every 100 years, on the solstice evening shortly before the Ave Maria bell and on Palm Sunday during the Passion ; But only he who during his entire lifetime did not commit himself to a single sin , either in thought or in practice, and unconsciously comes near the rock face at such a time, then sees the cave open, and he alone can get one on it Raise part of the rich treasure.
A farmer from Schöttl, who did many benefits to the poor in the area and, because he had refused a request to anyone in need, had fallen into deep poverty himself, sat down, depressed by grief and worries, just on a Palm Sunday near the “blue Törls ”. A little away from him, a small spring trickled murmuring through the soft green that covered the lawn. But the farmer neither paid attention to the source, nor did he notice that he was near the “blue törl”. He only considered his sad situation and it hurt him immensely that he was no longer able to support the poor and needy. Suddenly he heard a mysterious voice calling out to him: "Have the Bründl next to you and don't wash yourself!" The farmer looked to the side from which the strange voice had come and saw the mystical cave open. In astonishment he stared into its interior; but then he thought of the meaning of the words that the mysterious voice called out to him, and remembering that he had not yet found time to do the usual cleaning of his face and hands by washing, he looked around helplessly looking around, whether he was not in the The vicinity of some water could give it the opportunity. At last he found the spring mentioned, which, previously unnoticed by him, meandered like a narrow silver strip through the lush green meadow.
He hurried to it, dipped his hands in the crystal flood, and washed his face. Meanwhile, the bells rang from the tower of the nearby parish church and announced that the priest at the altar had ended the Passion. The mystical gate of the wonderful cave closed with a loud, widely resounding crash. But a large whip made of pure, solid gold fell at the farmer's feet, and the same mysterious voice that he had heard earlier called out to him: “Too late! You missed it! ”The farmer used the proceeds of this golden crop to build the cross altar in the St. Sigismund hospital church in Oberwölz and has been lucky since then; his economy was growing rapidly and he was soon able to do good to the poor in the area.
Cemetery floor
The station for the legend of the cemetery floor is located near the eastern entrance to Oberwölz.
The cemetery floor legend
High up on the Alm, where the Roßalpe and Geißtrummer Alm meet, is a beautiful piece of lawn called the cemetery floor. Some old farmers still know how the place got its name:
The cattle farmer from the Roßalpe once sat there and cheered. Then he heard someone shouting up from the valley. The holder called down in high spirits, saying that he who had been cheering should just come up. A stranger came up and asked the keeper to wrestle with him. Then the two began to wrestle. After a long struggle, the friend got the upper hand and tore the holder's back. The stranger had been the devil . When the farmers found the keeper, they knew straight away who had done this to the poor. They harnessed a couple of oxen and let them go wherever they wanted. The keeper was buried where they stopped for the first time. Since then, that Almboden has been called "Friedhofsboden". A large pile of stones still indicates the grave site, which over time took the form of an archway, because every person who passes there should add a stone.
Wild women
The station for the wild women saga is located behind a chapel next to the Oberwölz main music school.
The wild women legend
Where a small saddle the transition from Dürnberg in the municipality of Schoenberg-Lachtal formed by Oberwölz, there was once a farm with the Vulgonamen "Luagi". The farm surely got his name because from it you could enjoy a wonderful view of the Wölzertal. Near the Luagi once lived in the rock caves of the Dürnberg the wild or forest women who were very helpful, did the people around us a lot and delighted them with their wonderful singing. They were also very knowledgeable about herbs and saved the farmers' cattle from falling.
A servant who worked near the Luagi was sweating very badly because the sun was hot down on him. He pulled out his pile and hung it on a fence hedge. The shirt was very dirty and pretty torn. When he went to fetch it that evening after work was done, it was crisp white and neatly mended. Only beautiful wild women could have done this good deed. A son of the farmer vlg. Hipfl once said to his comrades that he would find out what it looked like behind the rocks in the caves where the wild women lived. One day the boy surprised the lovely young ladies with their wonderful singing in front of the open entrance gate and cheekily asked to be allowed into their rooms. The wild women silently granted the farmer's wish and took him into their caves. Inside he saw immeasurably valuable treasures. The lad was entertained lusciously and then taken outside again. People passing by found him sitting at the foot of a huge boulder in the late afternoon, but the farmer was silent and blind. In his right hand he held a long, golden woman's hair, a gift from the wild women. The helpful Fraulein lived in Dürnberg for a long time, but when after many years the so-called "Flatschen" or Wurzhorns (wind instruments made of spruce wood) came up, they left the area overnight. They couldn't take a liking to the very beautiful sound of these instruments. Nobody knew where the wild women had moved to. The farm vlg. Luagi gradually fell into disrepair, and no one knows exactly where he once stood.
Blaues Törl (original location)
In 2013, the original location for the legend of the Blauer Törl was developed by the Oberwölz rural youth and finally opened in 2014. The extension is 1.8 km long, the difference in altitude is 230 meters.
Web links
- Homepage of the rural youth in Oberwölz
- Info folder on the legendary trail Oberwölz
- Legends book "99 legends from the Wölzertal"
- Tourist association Oberwölz - Lachtal