As I have already walked this route in the opposite direction, I will go into more detail about the legends and stories of the region this time. In addition to the World Heritage Trail, the Way of St James also runs along this hiking trail. It’s no surprise that so many paths intersect here. After all, it is one of the most beautiful sections between Melk and Mautern.
Painting of Mary in Maria Langegg
Once upon a time, the forester Matthäus Häring was sent to the Dunkelsteinerwald forest by the Archbishopric of Salzburg to monitor their lands. The archbishopric, although far away, owned large parts of the forest at that time. The large estate was located in Langegg, at that time without the addition of Maria, and Matthäus and his family also settled there.
Soon after their arrival, his daughter fell seriously ill. He had doctors brought to the remote area, but they were unable to help. The illness got worse and worse. With each passing day, death came closer to the girl’s bedside.
The suffering forester and his family prayed fervently in front of a painting of the Virgin Mary for the daughter’s recovery. As if by a miracle, their prayers were answered. The girl recovered and was soon able to play with her siblings and the children of the village again.
In gratitude, Matthew had a chapel built in honour of Mary with that very same painting. Word of the miracle spread. More and more sick people made pilgrimages to the Dunkelsteinerwald to pray before the image for relief from their suffering. Just ten years later, the chapel had to make way for a church. And a few decades later, the Servites started to build a monastery for the pastoral care of the numerous pilgrims.
The Servites, with the Latin order name Ordo Servorum Mariae, are dedicated to the worship of the Virgin Mary. They enlarged the church again in the 18th century. This new building still exists today. In 1974, the Servites dissolved their monastery. Today, the Church of the Beatitudes is located in the monastery.
Robber barons on Aggstein
The dogs of Kuenring
In the 13th century, Aggstein Castle was under the control of the Kuenringer Hadmar III. The Kuenringers were an important ministerial family in medieval Austria. From the 11th century, they expanded villages and secured the land with castles for their feudal lords, the counts of Austria. For their loyalty, they were given the hereditary nickname Hund (dog in English), a title of honour for a knight.
However, not all Kuenringers upheld the honour of knighthood. Hadmar and his brother Heinrich used the excellent location of Aggstein Castle high above the Danube to their own advantage. They extorted high customs duties from passing merchants for safe passage. However, if they refused, the Kuenringers sent their henchmen to plunder the goods on the ships. Instead of protecting the merchants from robbers, the Kuenringers robbed them themselves. Dubious knights.
Their liege lord, the duke, was appalled by such behaviour. He sent a delegation to drive out the Kuenringers. But the castle withstood the attacks and seemed impregnable. Then a ruse came to his mind.
“They may be invulnerable in the castle, but on the Danube they are defenceless.” So he equipped a merchant ship with numerous knights disguised as sailors, plus valuable goods in the hold, the value of which he spread rumours about. The ship was said to contain the gold of the Nibelungs. The Kuenringers could certainly not pass up such a catch.
And so it happened. Attracted by the fabulous value of the cargo, the brothers went down to the ship. The disguised knights of the duke took up arms, defeated the Kuenringer’s henchmen and arrested the brothers. The reign of terror was over for the time being.
The little rose garden
After the end of the Kuenringers, the castle fell into a state of disrepair, which is why the duke looked for a new lord of the castle. Unfortunately, he did not have a lucky hand. His pick, the feudal lord Jörg Scheck von Wald, was soon given the unflattering name Schreck vom Wald by the local population.
Under threat of violence, he obliged the local peasants to perform labour at the castle. They were to rebuild it. Instead of harvesting grain in the fields, they had to labour in the quarry. In winter, they lacked bread and their families went hungry.
He also had a particularly cruel dungeon built, which he smugly called his little rose garden. You can still visit it today. It is a narrow rocky outcrop, only one metre wide, which can be accessed via a gap in the castle wall. On one side is the high castle wall, on the other a rocky cliff leading down to the Danube.
He refused to give food to his prisoners. They only had the choice between death by falling or starvation. From the castle wall, Scheck watched the cruel experiment with amusement and laughed.
But his laughter was soon to fade. Rumours reached the duke about the sadistic traits of his subordinate. He travelled to Aggstein with a small delegation on the pretext of wanting to inspect the progress of the building work. Unsuspecting, Scheck opened the gates for his feudal lord.
Scheck joyfully extended his hand in greeting, but handcuffs clinked in response. He was arrested, stripped of his fiefdom and thrown into prison. The rural population could once again live without fear.