Devil's kick
The black kick , also known as the devil's kick , is an imprint on the floor of the entrance hall of the Frauenkirche in Munich .
The imprint shows a human foot with the imprint of a spur on the heel . There is an old legend about this imprint.
legend
As with many legends, there are several slightly modified versions of this one, here two of them:
The devil wants to destroy the church
When another church was being built in Munich, the devil decided to destroy it. So the devil sneaked through the large gate of the entrance hall after the church was finished but not yet consecrated. He looked at the building curiously and began to laugh out loud, since he had noticed that there were no windows (which was because he was standing exactly where all the windows are covered by pillars). Triumphant with joy, he stamped firmly on the floor, left his footprint in the pavement and left the church. When the church was completed and consecrated, the devil saw the crowd pouring into the new church. Then he discovered from the outside that the church did have windows. When he realized he was wrong, he turned furiously into a violent wind and tried to bring the building to collapse. However, he did not succeed. Even today, one or the other of his journeymen “storms” around the church.
The devil as a helper in building the church
The builder Jörg Ganghofer had made a pact with the devil so that he could help build the church. In exchange for the help, the devil should get the soul of the first person to enter the church. When the church was finished and the people poured into the church, the devil wanted to collect his wages. When he went to the builder, however, he said that the work the devil had done was bad because he had forgotten the windows in the church. Indeed, when he glanced into the church, there wasn't a single window in the whole church. The devil stamped hard with anger and left the church snorting. The devil's footstep can be seen at this point to this day, and the devil can still be heard today as the wind around the church.
Background of the saga
For the origin of this legend one has to know that after the baroque renovation of the church from 1620 the only window visible upon entry was covered by the Benno arch, a kind of baroque rood screen , and by the high altar . The motif of the high altar is the Assumption of Mary and is the work of Peter Candids . The Benno arch and high altar were only dismantled in the course of the re -gothicisation of the church, which had now become a cathedral. The high altar painting, the predella and the upper picture were placed in side chapels. Consequently, the saga of the devil's kick came into being at this time when no window could be seen from the place of this supposed evidence of the saga.
See also
Coordinates: 48 ° 8 ′ 19 ″ N , 11 ° 34 ′ 26 ″ E