Grein on the Danube - Strudengau

Castle Grein Hannelore Tik

Grein on the Danube is perhaps best remembered for its dominating castle overlooking the old
town and the river.
Being situated at the beginning of this very narrow passage of the Danube the towns wealth
in the past depended on
its many skilled boat men. They guided boats of all sizes through the narrow passage of the
Strudengau (the word derives
in German from the word Strudel which is not only for a sweet dessert like Apfelstrudel, but
also for whirlpools in a
river). The Strudengau = marks the area from Grein, Struden, St. Nikola to the mountain
Sarmingstein and the castle
Werfenstein.
The town had its peak time during the reign of the Babenbergs who gave reigning power to
the lords of Castle Werfenstein
in 1250. The parish church of Grein was first mentioned in 1147 in documents kept at the
nearby monastery in Waidhausen.
The castle Schloss Greinburg, which looks down from its elevated position on the high rock
by the river, was founded in
1491 with the permission of Emperor Friedrich III. Especially worth seeing are the arcades of
the inner court yard, of
the late Renaissance period, as well as the big knights' hall and the museum on the history of
the navigation of this
difficult part of the Danube.
If you can spare a little time, take a stroll through the narrow streets lined with beautifully
kept houses from the
Baroque and Rococo periods. The parish church is dedicated to Saint gidius who is depicted
in the painting on the high
altar. The old town hall dates back to 1563. The Alte Stadttheater is the oldest theatre in
Rococo style that is still
in use in its old form. The fountain in front of the new town hall near the Danube is said to be
from 1636. People say
if you drink from its water you will come back to Grein. Following are some legends told and
heard of in the Strudengau.

A-4360 Grein an der Donau, O =Obersterreich (Upper Austria) Getting there by car: A1 to
Melk, cross bridge,
turn left to go on the B3 Romantik Strae through the Nibelungengau and Strudengau past
Maria Taferl and Burg
Werfenstein to Grein; approx. 122 KM from Vienna.
The Cobblers Stone of Grein
A cobbler lived once in Grein who was a real drunkard. His wife pleaded desperately with
him to stop drinking.
He should spend more time in his workshop making and repairing shoes so that she could
feed the hungry children.
The cobbler, however, continued drinking at his local inn where he still had credit. The
innkeeper kept note of what
he had consumed. One day the innkeeper wanted his money and said to him that he would
give him no more wine until he
had paid his debts. Now the cobbler was really desperate as he had not earned anything for the
last few weeks and didnt
know from where to get any money. Next day however, he came again, paid his debts in cash
and got wine again. He
continued drinking and paying cash for his wine now. The innkeeper did not ask from where
he had the money all of a
sudden. He was only to glad to have a paying customer.
One day the people of Grein heard that the most valuable painting of the Holy Virgin had
been stolen from the churchs
altar. People were outraged by this sacrilege and the mayor promised a big reward for the one
who could name the thief
and bring him to justice.
At that time it was the custom for towns to have a night watchman who made his rounds at
night to see if everything was
all right. After the church theft he watched things especially carefully. Maybe the thief was
still in town and he could
catch him and thus earn the reward. One night he saw the cobbler leaving the inn just before
midnight. He hid behind a
bush and listened to what the cobbler was saying to himself in his drunken state. The cobbler
went past the church door,
raised his hand and said laughing: Today, you, Virgin Mary, paid for my drinks, tomorrow
it's you, St. Peters offertory
box. Hearing this, the night watchman jumped out of his hiding place, grabbed the cobbler
and locked him up for the night.
Next day the cobbler was brought before the judge and indeed admitted his crime. The judge
sentenced him to death, as
there was no lesser punishment for the theft of church objects. This put the cobblers wife into
total despair and she
pleaded with the count to spare her husbands life for the sake of their children. The count felt
pity for the poor woman
and changed the judges sentence. He said the cobbler would be free if he managed to make a
pair of shoes sitting on the
highest point of the cliff without plunging into the Danube, which would have been his death
anyway.
This was not an easy task, because the cliff was high and steep and very small at its top. They
gave the cobbler a piece
of leather and nails. He took his tools and climbed up the cliff. He sat down with his back to
the Danube and started
to work. He took no notice neither of the danger he was in, or the people who had gathered at
the bottom of the cliff
to watch him. Some were just curious, others sympathetic with his wife. The cobbler
concentrated on his work, cutting
and nailing the leather to form a pair of shoes. He did not show any fear or nervousness.
Secretly, however, he promised
himself that he would, in future, abstain from alcohol and work every day to feed his family
properly. Finally he finished
the shoes and when he had polished them to shine nicely; he took the pair, held it high above
his head and slid down the
cliff. Not looking at the crowd he ran towards his waiting wife and children thanking her for
her unchanged love and
devotion.
The steep high cliff, on which the cobbler had made that pair of shoes, is still called
Schusterstein (Cobblers Stone)
by the local people of Grein.

Source: Josef Pttinger: Donausagen. Kremayr & Scheriau, Wien 1973, pg. 72
The Ferryman and the Water Nymph
Once upon a time a young fisherman called Kilian lived with his old mother at the Hgang
side of the Danube
near Grein. Following his fathers death he had to earn a living for both of them. As there was
never enough money to
live off his fishing skills, he also worked as a ferryman.
One hot summer Sunday he had to row a few drunken young men over the river. They
behaved very irresponsibly, shaking
the boat so that he thought it would capsize. He told them to stop the nonsense but they only
laughed at him and called
him a coward. They even stood up in the small boat swinging it even more to the tunes of
their wicked songs. When they
passed the island of Wrth, Kilian saw a beautiful water nymph sitting on the rock. She
frowned at them and shook her fist
at the unruly party, warning them to stop behaving like this on a Sunday. The drunken young
men saw her too, but only
laughed and mocked her.
Kilian, however, got really angry with his customers and ordered them to stop immediately.
He said: I will put your
heads under the water until the wine pours out of your ears if you dont stop now! After that
they got a bit quieter
and Kilian could finally row the boat to the other side of the river.
At that time a large army of Turkish soldiers was besieging Vienna, some of them ventured
further along the Danube,
looting the villages and raping the women. People fled their villages and castles in fear of
them.
One night Kilian was woken by a loud knocking on his window. A woman and her two
children begged him to take them over
the river. She and her children were the only ones who had been able to escape from the Turks
who were burning down
her husbands castle.
At first Kilian did not want to go. He was concerned about his mothers safety. His mother,
however, told him to go
and help the woman. So he went with them down to the river, got in the boat and started
rowing. It was a very stormy
night and the turbulent waters with the rapids and the many dangerous whirlpools made it
difficult for him to keep his
direction in the darkness. His boat was sucked into whirlpools and turned round and round
several times. Just as he was
most desperate, he heard a high voice calling him from the river bank: Come here, come
here! He could not see who was
calling but followed the voice and was soon at the bank. He brought the woman and her
children to a little hut nearby
where they could stay for the night. As the weather was getting worse by the hour, he
wondered if he should stay as well
and return next morning. But then he thought of his mother and went back to the river to row
back. He started rowing in
the right direction but was soon lost in a whirlpool that turned his boat round and round.
When he thought that his end
was near, he heard the nymph's voice calling him. This time a glowing figure suddenly
appeared in his boat, taking the
oars and steering the boat round the rocks and past the whirlpools towards the bank. Within
minutes they reached the
quieter waters near the bank and the nymph disappeared silently.
Kilian was so surprised that he couldnt even thank her. He was sure that it was the same
nymph whom he had saved from
the mischievous drunken young men a few days earlier and now she had helped him in return.

Source: Josef Pttginger: Donausagen. Kremayr & Scheriau, Wien 1973, pg.74
The Sad Count on the Island of Wrth
A little downstream from Grein, the river Danube is divided into two arms by an island called
Wrth.
The waters run quietly in the side arm that is called the Hgang, but the main riverbed is a
very dangerous part
of the Danube. Here the river runs with a strong current and has many whirlpools which suck
everything to the bottom
of the river. Because of these difficulties, Grein has always provided trained helmsmen to
pilot the big ships of
merchants and pilgrims through the passage. Most captains were glad to have an experienced
helmsman on board to steer
them safely past the whirlpools and rocks. It sometimes happened that the ship owners wanted
to save money and thought
they could get through the passage without taking a pilot with them. This sometimes ended in
disaster. This must have
been the case in 1540, when a big ship full of travellers came downstream towards Grein and
did not stop to take a pilot
on board. Although they got past the whirlpools, the ship crashed at full speed against the
rocks and broke apart shortly
beyond the island of Wrth. The ship sank immediately, taking most of its passengers with it.
Among the few that survived
was a Tyrolean count with his servant. They were able to swim to the island. His wife,
however, was separated from him
in the chaos. The count and his servant searched the bank and the water for her but couldn't
find anybody from the ship.
Realizing that she must have drowned made the count very sad. He decided to spend the rest
of his life as a hermit on the
island mourning his wife. His servant stayed with him to take care of their daily needs. He
found the ruins of an old
castle and made one of the rooms habitable for his master and himself. He gathered fruit and
fished to keep them both
alive. The count himself almost went mad with sadness and did nothing but stare over the
water.
Days, months and even years went by. Many ships went through the rough whirlpools; some
of them sank just like their own
had done. The news of the two men living on the island slowly spread downstream, from
village to village. One day the
news even got as far as Vienna where the countess lived with some kind relatives who looked
after her. Hearing that two
men had been seen alive on an island in the Danube, she thought that this must be her husband
and his servant and nothing
could hold her any longer in Vienna. She travelled back to the village St. Nicola where the
ship had sunk. A ferryman
took her over to the island where she discovered that very old and sad looking man, who
really was her husband. At
first neither of them could believe that they had finally found each other again, but then they
were extremely happy
and returned to their castle in the Tyrol.
The count later ordered a stone cross to be made and put up on the island of Wrth in
gratitude for their survival
and re-union. The stone cross with the date 1552 is still on the island.

Source: Josef Pttinger: Donausagen. Kremayr & Scheriau, Wien 1973, pg. 77
The Waterman in the Strudengau
When people wander along the Danube in the Strudengau they sometimes hear the wail of the
water nymphs who moan
the loss of their master, the Danube waterman.
Many years ago an old fisherman lived alone with his daughter in their hut near the river.
Everyday he went fishing for
many hours, while his daughter looked after the house and cooked supper for him. One
evening he saw a huge crowd
gathering outside his hut and he asked anxiously what had happened. They told him that the
waterman had come and lured
his daughter to the river promising her whatever she wished for. This was his usual way to
capture his victims. All his
treasures were in his palace on the bottom of the river so they all had to follow him down
there to get it.
From that day on, the fisherman was terribly sad and did not leave his hut any more. He only
thought of revenge. Suddenly,
he remembered people saying that the waterman showed himself to people on stormy, dark
nights when they carried nothing
holy on their body. So he waited for such a night to row his boat out into the middle of the
river. There he sat waiting
and staring gloomily in the water. He had almost given up hope when suddenly a ghastly
looking male figure rose from the
water. He was clad in a wide green cloak and wearing a crown made of shells and glittering
diamonds. His unkempt hair and
beard looked like seaweed growing on him. While talking to the fisherman and promising him
the treasures of his palace,
he kept coming closer and closer towards the boat. When he was close enough to touch it, the
fisherman lifted his oar
high up in the air and, with all his strength, brought it down on the watermans head. The
crown crashed down and four
diamonds broke off. They flew everywhere, not only in the water but also on the bank. The
waterman let go of the boat
with a terrible curse and immediately started looking for his diamonds.
He is still searching for them as he is not allowed to go back to his palace as long as he hasnt
found them.
The fisherman had escaped the watermans punishment by protecting his oar with a rosary
wound around it. So the holy
rosary was not on his body but still protected him from the watermans curse.

Source: Josef Pttinger: Donausagen. Verlag Kremayr & Scheriau, Wien 1973 pg. 79

Werfenstein Hannelore Tik