The Bamberg Cathedral Toads - Bamberg, Germany
Posted by: Groundspeak Regular Member Bernd das Brot Team
N 49° 53.455 E 010° 52.986
32U E 635257 N 5528203
Two stone lions turned into toads by urban folklore
Waymark Code: WMTDRB
Location: Bayern, Germany
Date Posted: 11/07/2016
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member QuesterMark
Views: 6

The Bamberg Cathedral is over one thousand years old and home to a number of myths and legends. One of them concerns two almost unidentifiable creatures at the main gate, called the Cathedral Toads. Wikipedia tells their story, unfortunately only in German:

The main architect of the Cathedral was a master builder from Greece. One day, a young man asked him to become his apprentice. The master assigned the construction of one of the gates (The Gate of St. Peter) to the young man while he himself worked on the other gate (the Gate of St. George).

The construction of the master's gate progressed much faster than that of the apprentice's gate. In desperation, the young man sold his soul to the Devil, who sent two giant toads. Every night, the toads would destroy everything the master had built during daytime - hence the only progress made was at the apprentice's gate.

However, when St. Peter's Gate was finished, the Devil collected his price, tossing the young man from the top of the just finished steeple and taking his soul. At the same moment, the toads were petrified and are still standing at St. George's gate.

Additional Requirement?:


What's the Real Story?:
The story's roots are based in etymology and are somewhat hard to explain in English. Originally there were two lions guarding the stairs to the main gate. When the original Cathedral burned down in 1185, fire and water eroded the statues. In the 10th century, the stairs in front of the cathedral were the location of the King's court, which was called the Graden Court, derived from the Latin word Gradus for Stairs. German folklore turned Graden into Kroten, the German word for toads, and a legend was born.


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