And such a one ne’er bade you into his house to go,
In any land whatever, as ye may meet with here
If ye, good thanes, are willing to visit Rüdeger.
He dwells hard by the highway: of hosts he is the best
That ever had a rooftree. His heart is aye possesst
Of kindness, as of flowers are meadows in sweet May;
If he can succour heroes, glad will he be the day.”
Of Rüdeger’s castle nothing now remains, but the town where that best of hosts could provide emergency entertainment for ten thousand visitors—as is recorded in one stanza of the “Lied”—may well be proud of its association with the great epic of the North. Planché, it may be said, gives a highly coloured account of Kriemhilda’s coming down the river by boat—a vision which is scarcely supported by the text of the “Nibelungenlied.”
Opposite to the famous Pöchlarn is a pleasant little village of the same name, known as Klein Pöchlarn, with further tall chimney shafts suggesting that this widened Danube valley is becoming a manufacturing centre. The right bank along here is low, but the hills approach close to the river on the left, and soon ahead of us is seen the ruined castle of Weitenegg, at which point we may perhaps best begin the story and description of the Wachau.
FOOTNOTES: