Berlin is an incredibly fascinating modern city, yet one that cherishes its history. While wandering through the capital of Germany, we stumbled upon many places that we will tell you about. However, Berlin is not just about monuments, modern museums, or dazzling tourist attractions that draw travellers from around the world.
In this vast city, you will hear stories, myths, and legends that are difficult to resist. Below, I’ll tell you one of the legends that I heard while sitting in an old pub, from a person not much younger than it.
A legend about the dice of death and justice
Long ago, in Berlin lived an outstanding gunsmith who gained fame throughout Germany and many countries in Europe thanks to his craftsmanship. He was an extremely wealthy man, but his greatest treasure was his beautiful daughter, whom he raised as best as he could after his wife’s death.
As the girl grew into a woman, suitors began to gather beneath her window. Among the crowd of admirers stood out only two men: the calm Henry and the impulsive Rudolph. Though both had little to offer the beautiful girl coming from poor families, they persisted and tried to capture her attention by any means possible. Initially, she did not reciprocate their advances, but over time, her heart began to beat faster at the sight of the more composed Henry.
The young couple fell in love, and after some time, they began to meet secretly. They exchanged caresses in the moonlight, whispered sweet words into each other’s ears. It seemed that nothing could stand in their way to happiness. However, rejected, Rudolph refused to give up. Envy ate away at his soul, and his thoughts grew darker. One day, while hidden in the shadows, he watched the young lovers spend romantic moments together by the city well and decided to commit the worst possible deed: murder.
“Since she will not be mine, then no one shall have her,” he thought. So he waited for the moment when the lovers parted, and as soon as the girl was alone, he rushed towards her and plunged a cold blade into her chest without hesitation.
It didn’t take long for the dead girl to be found, and an investigation began. Suspicion fell, as one might expect, on both suitors. After all, everyone knew that these two men had fiercely competed for her hand.
“Which of them was capable of such a crime?” wondered the investigators. Against Henry spoke the fact that the girl was last seen with him. On the other hand, Rudolph’s fiery character pointed to his guilt. So both were arrested, and the interrogations began. Despite the tortures performed meticulously by the city’s executioner, neither of them confessed. Neither starvation nor days spent in isolation had any effect.
Finally, seeing no other option, the judge presiding over the case decided to leave the decision as to which of them would suffer the death penalty for this shameful act to blind fate. The prisoners were taken to the church, where a coffin containing the girl’s body lay on a bier.
On the coffin awaited a cup with bones that were supposed to indicate the murderer. Rudolph approached first, grabbed the cup in his right hand, and looked straight into Henry’s eyes. He shook the cup and confidently threw the bones; two sixes. The crowd observing the event murmured. “It’s over, we have the culprit!”
Sweat beaded on Henry’s forehead as he took the cup with the bones that would decide his fate.
“It’s impossible to beat Rudolph’s score,” he thought and looked at the altar one last time, closed his eyes, and asked God to testify to his innocence. At that moment, the bones lit up with fiery light, like coal burning.
He threw the bones, and they clattered onto the coffin, and something extraordinary happened. The first die stopped, showing a six, while the second, as soon as it touched the coffin, split in half and stopped in such a way that one half showed a six, while the other showed a one. It was impossible; the result was 13, one more than his competitor.
Rudolph confessed his guilt. For this cruel crime, he was sentenced to death by torture. As for what happened to Henry, it was not recorded in the chronicles. Perhaps he met another young girl who healed the pain of losing his beloved, or perhaps he lived consumed by sorrow for the rest of his life, reminiscing about the sweet kisses of his beloved. Today, no one knows.
You can find more legends and stories from around the world in our section dedicated to them.
You must be logged in to post a comment.