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Legends of the Bielatal – legends
Legend
In days gone by, people in the Bielatal told one another many legends – no wonder in a narrow valley full of rocks, hammer mills and watermills, where at night the only sound was the rushing of the water. The best known is set right at the Hammergut: the legend of the Otternkönig (the Adder King). Then there are the French treasure in the Glasergrund, the Wild Huntsman over the Brausenstein field, the sorcerer of Rosenthal, the three abducted children of Rosenthal, the Kanzelstein of the hammer-mill folk and the Singbrunnen.
Legend The Wild Huntsman
The Wild Hunt is said to have swept through the Bielatal too. One man claimed to have seen it on a windless night above the Brausenstein field, and a carpenter from Rosenthal even heard its din in broad daylight. Near Hermsdorf a man once shouted into the hunting cries for fun one night – and afterwards found a piece of meat on his cart.
Legend The sorcerer of Rosenthal
Once upon a time there lived in Rosenthal a forester who was uncannily good at hunting: he would shoot from his window and know exactly where the animal lay – all you had to do was go and fetch it. After his death, part of his grave in the churchyard is said to have always stayed open. And to his funeral came a coach drawn by four horses, with no one sitting inside.
Legend The dragon in the mill
People in the area also told of the “dragon”, a household spirit that appeared in changing forms. In a mill near Rosenthal it is said to have shown itself to a maid as a little black hen – the farmer’s wife simply told her to leave it be, it would do her no harm.
Legend The three children of Rosenthal
One of the oldest legends from our valley has come down to us with a date attached: on 2 July 1527, the Feast of the Visitation, three children in Rosenthal are said to have been mysteriously carried off over hill and dale. For nine days the whole village searched. Two were found dead far away, but the third was still alive. The chronicler of the Festung Königstein recorded the story as a miracle in 1710.
Legend The Kanzelstein of the hammer-mill folk
As long as the hammer works were running in the Bielagrund, the hammer-mill workers are said to have had their own preacher – a young candidate of theology. Because the way to church was long, he would sometimes climb a rock in the valley floor and preach from up there, while the smiths and their families gathered below. Ever since, the rock has been called the Kanzelstein (Pulpit Rock).
Legend The Singbrunnen
In the upper Bielgrund, near the Lattenweg, a very strong spring bubbles up – the Singbrunnen (Singing Spring). Before the Reformation, the Rosenthal schoolmaster is said to have walked up there with the schoolchildren every Easter, singing as they went, to fetch holy water for the church – hence the name.
As of: 09/2026
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