Staufen in the Black Forest region is a quaint town complete with little canals lining the streets, family owned hotels, a bakery that serves Black Forest Cake to die for and a castle ruin situated on top of a hill surrounded by a vineyard. Toss in an graveyard, an antique doll museum and an old legend and that makes Staufen a perfect place to visit.
I'll go into more detail about Stuafen in another post but for now I'll share the legend.
Take a leisurely stroll through the lovely little town and just before you reach the main square you'll see the Gasthaus Zum Lowen.
Of course this was the middle ages and the town folks were sure the devil was involved in this tragedy and a legend was born.
The legend captured the attention Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and he turned it into his famous tragic play Faust. In the play Faust makes a deal with the devil. The devil will serve Faust on earth and in turn Faust will serve the devil in Hell. All kinds of trouble ensues and the devil ends up breaking Faust's neck which is depicted in a mural on the front of the building.
A close up of the mural
You can stay in the Gasthaus zum Lowen and sleep in the very room where Faust lived almost 500 years ago.
Although with the devil and all I'm not sure I'd want to...Would you?
To see more of Staufen check out my other posts.
Gasthaus Zum Hirschner, Staufen, Germany
A Walk Through the Vineyard to Castle Staufen
A Walk Around Staufen, Germany
The Legend of Faust and the Pack With the Devil - Staufen, Germany
Take a leisurely stroll through the lovely little town and just before you reach the main square you'll see the Gasthaus Zum Lowen.
The building is now a guest house but in 1540 it was home to Johann Georg Faust. He was a sort of jack of all trades. Doctor, scientist, fortune teller and alchemist. You know one of those guys who claims to be able to turn ordinary metal into gold? Well the town thought he could do just that. Unfortunately the only thing Faust could do was to blow himself up while attempting this magical feat.
The legend captured the attention Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and he turned it into his famous tragic play Faust. In the play Faust makes a deal with the devil. The devil will serve Faust on earth and in turn Faust will serve the devil in Hell. All kinds of trouble ensues and the devil ends up breaking Faust's neck which is depicted in a mural on the front of the building.
A close up of the mural
You can stay in the Gasthaus zum Lowen and sleep in the very room where Faust lived almost 500 years ago.
Although with the devil and all I'm not sure I'd want to...Would you?
To see more of Staufen check out my other posts.
Gasthaus Zum Hirschner, Staufen, Germany
A Walk Through the Vineyard to Castle Staufen
A Walk Around Staufen, Germany
The Legend of Faust and the Pack With the Devil - Staufen, Germany
That's amazing you could still spend the night in the same room as Faust. Did you do that?
ReplyDeleteWe didn't stay there. No room in the inn. We originally were going to stay in Freiburg so we didn't have reservations in Staufen. We did stay just a couple of buildings down from here. Very interesting little town with lots of history. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteThat is a weird and wonderful tale. I love the look of the guest house and look forward to seeing more of the town. I am wondering if there are murals all over the place.
ReplyDeleteIt is a beautiful little town and many of the buildings do have murals. I hope to have a post up soon about Staufen. Thanks for visiting.
DeleteSuch a fun town. On the list to return.
ReplyDelete