Zur Startseite

Explore the castle

Legends and stories

The legend of the kissing niche

Once upon a time a young knight in the entourage of the Rhenish Count Palatine was travelling from Mainz to Trier with a message for the archbishop.  After riding along the Rhine valley to Boppard, he then began the steep climb up through the forest of the Hunsrück. Instead of taking the usual high route, on a whim he ordered his page to follow him closely up a narrow side track in order to cut off a section of the forest on his direct route to the Moselle Valley.  The sun was already low in the sky when the travellers approached a rocky promontory on the steep edge of a deep gorge which the Moselle had carved out of the slate hills many, many years ago. The two didn’t yet know that the path ended here when suddenly a white stag leapt out from the trees in front of them. The noble animal was being hotly pursued by three people on horseback, one of them obviously a knight in his hunting finery, the second a graceful figure on a side saddle and, trailing slightly behind, a mounted soldier or squire. Although both wielded their hunting bows with great skill, the stag escaped and a little further on the riders dismounted. Acquaintances were made and the travellers discovered that the hunter was the lord of a fortified manor on the Maifeld and the lady was his sister. As the day was drawing to a close, they decided to set up camp in a small wild garden on the aforementioned steep promontory where a cave in the rock provided them with a simple shelter. And it is here that the young knight and the beautiful maiden formed their bond of love. Under the wild ivy close to the fire they kissed and promised one another their undying loyalty. The young knight then decided to build a new castle at this very place. When the knight later had the site cleared for his new home, an ancient stone pillar was unearthed from the thicket of the wilderness, the inscription upon which greatly moved the happy couple. It appeared that a soothsayer from time immemorial had somehow foreseen the unexpected joy of the young hunters and the building of the castle.  Legend has it that lovers who promise each other eternal loyalty here will stay together for the rest of their lives.