The Golden Crown in the Bode Kessel.
"Seht ihr die alte Lauenberg
Hoch auf dem Harze schimmern?
Durch Wildniss geht der Weg hindurch
Zu ihren wüsten Trümmern."
The legend of the Gold-Krone in the Bode Kessel is connected with a Countess of the Lauenburg.
In the days of the Crusades there dwelt here a fair maiden, the daughter of the Earl von Lauenburg, whose lover, Conrad von Regenstein, was a Crusader.
Instead of his speedy return, came tidings of his fall in the bloody combat. The broken-hearted Braut refused all other lovers, and to secure peace and freedom declared she would bestow her hand only on the knight who could rescue Brunhilda's crown from the fearful gulf, the Bode Kessel.
The news spread through all the plains of Germany, from the North Sea to the Alps, and knights and princes flocked to the banks of the Bodethal to learn the extent of the danger in such an attempt, but no man was even able to approach the brink of the fearful chasm.[[1]]
[[1]] It must be remembered that the Bodethal was unapproachable, no path whatever existing, until von Bülow caused the path to be constructed in 1818, past the Rosstrappe to the Devil's Bridge overlooking the Bode Kessel.
The object of the maiden seemed gained, but, alas! she knew not what anguish destiny had assigned her.
Years had fled, and the Graf von Lauenburg held a fête in his castle.
Suddenly the notes of the warder's horn resound proclaiming the arrival of a guest.
The young Countess looks out of a Gothic window into the court, turns pale and trembles, as her straining eyes gaze upon the entering knight.
Yes! She is not deceived; that is the figure, the noble bearing of her lost Crusader!
"Conrad! my Conrad!" she cries, and rushes, frantic with joy, into the arms of her returned lover. "Thou dost yet live! Thou liest not in the cold arms of death!"
"I live, am in thy arms!"
No word more—a long embrace.
The aged Earl has followed his daughter, and amid their astonishment and joy, Conrad explains how he was severely wounded and taken prisoner, and had not for long years been able to escape.
The father leads the happy pair into the great hall, and announces to the assembled guests the betrothal of his daughter, and an early wedding-day.
Many crowd forward to offer their congratulations, but, in the background of the hall one sees a group of knights with frowning brows.
At last one of the group approaches the Earl in the centre of the hall, and cries: "You are in haste to announce the betrothal and wedding-day. Has the Regensteiner then brought up the Gold-Krone? or are you playing with so many nobles? You are surrounded by many who will demand that the bridegroom fulfil the conditions you yourself have named, or they will accuse you of treachery, and renounce your allegiance."
Applause followed this stern address. The Earl, surprised, glanced around the circle and met grim looks and frowning faces.
But Conrad raised high his proud form, struck his sword upon the floor, so that the hall rang with the clans;, and cried in a voice of thunder: "Who dares speak of treachery to Graf Lauenburg? Those conditions were not made in jest or scorn; his knightly word is irreproachable. I will undergo the test, and will not lead my beloved home until I have redeemed it."
Silence and astonishment filled the hall. But the maiden, pale with terror, exclaimed: "What! thou will'st face the Terrible? plunge thyself into certain destruction, and me into fresh despair?"
Conrad assures her the danger is not so great as it appears; that he is protected by an amulet, a cross made from the true cross of the Saviour, that has defended him from ocean perils, and rescued him from the swords and dungeons of the Saracens, and immediately prepares for the perilous rescue.
The day arrived, the Bode was bridged with ice, hundreds of anxious spectators lined the rocks above, the black flag floated from the Lauenburg and the Regenstein.
Extreme unction had been administered in Kloster Wenthusen, and armed with a dagger for the combat with the transformed Giant Bodo, and an iron chain to bind him, with a look toward heaven, Conrad plunged into the yawning gulf.
The waves closed over him and drew him down into their shimmering bosom.
A long and anxious stillness—then a horrible howl burst forth from the gulf, drowning the roar and hiss of the waterfall, growing every minute louder and more terrible, as if a thousand wolves were engaged in a death-grapple; and the waters rose in mighty billows, as if a storm-wind raged beneath.
Then a ray of sunshine bursts forth, making the colossal rocks glitter like silver towers, and the waterfall like dropping diamonds, and through the pearly foam appeared a hand holding the Golden Crown; the howlings became weaker, and the whisper went round, "He has conquered!" And a loud voice rose above the raging waves, "The Hell-dog lies in chains! The Crown and the Beloved are mine!"
Hark! What is that?
The terrible howlings begin afresh, the hand trembles and vanishes with the Gold-Krone, soon all grows fearfully still, drops of blood rise to the surface, then a whole stream—the brave Crusader never returns.
They found the amulet thrown up from the unfathomable deeps, and carried it to the unhappy maiden, who without a tear turned her steps to the holy retreat of Kloster Wenthusen, and was never seen again.