Mysterious world of legend

“Sagas from South Tyrol” is Familienhotels theme of the year in 2006. Here you can read a few sextracts from South Tyrol’s rich tradition of legends.

King Laurin and his Rose Garden (“ Rosengarten”)

Once-upon-a-time there was a magnificent garden of red roses high up in the Dolomites. The flowers were so bright that the craggy rock faces glowed rose-coloured as they reflected their radiance. The rose garden was owned by the dwarf king Laurin, who fell in love with the princess Similde from the castle opposite and kidnapped her secretly. The Goth king Dietrich of Bern came to her rescue and detected the whereabouts of Laurin’s palace by the resplendence of the rose garden. Laurin had Dietrich and his retinue captured, though Dietrich managed to escape with Similde and made Laurin his prisoner. As he was being led away, Laurin turned around and put a curse on his rose garden, which he said had betrayed him. Nobody should ever again behold its splendour, neither by day nor night. But he forgot the twilight, which is why the Rosengarten still glows crimson in the sunset.

The giant Ortler

Many, many years ago a race of giants terrorised the valleys of the Upper Vinschgau. The largest giant, called Ortler, was immoderately proud and conceited, for from his lofty position everything seemed so tiny and insignificant. His fellow giants soon became weary of him and kept themselves aloof from him. Ortler responded angrily by breaking off boulders from the rock faces and flinging them far and wide into the surrounding valleys where a race of dwarfs were living. In fear of their lives, they decided to retaliate. The dwarf Nudelhopf secretly climbed up onto Ortler’s head and began to dance and frolic around, laughing that he, the tiny midget, was now taller than the giant. Incensed, Ortler wanted to swipe the dwarf from his head but at that moment he froze and turned into rock and ice. The giant is still there, towering above all the other mountains in the upper Vinschgau valley.

Haselburg Castle and the bell of Bolzano/Bozen

Before setting off on the Crusades the lord of the Haselburg Castle had all his silver and gold, the valuables in his treasure chest, melted down and cast into two nondescript copper-coloured orbs to avoid having them stolen by robbers during his absence. One day two monks called by asking for a donation towards the a new bell for the Dominican church in Bolzano. The lady of the castle gave them the two metal spheres without realising their true value in the hope of God smiling on her generosity and protecting her husband. When the lord of the castle finally returned safe and sound and found out about the donation he flew into a rage. At that moment the new bell pealed out from the church tower, ringing as clear as gold or silver. He relented and asked his wife’s forgiveness for his outburst of fury, especially given that he had not told her the truth behind the two orbs.

The pale mountains

In the realm of the Dolomites there lived the son of a king with his consort, the Moon Princess who he loved intensely. However, the princess could not stand the sight of the grey rock faces and dark forests and returned to her bright lunar home. The prince would have been blinded by the dazzling light of the moon, so he roamed the forest sadly, yearning for his wife. One day he met the Dwarf King. The king promised the young prince that, if he and his people were granted the right to live in the forests, the king would have the mountains in the realm of the Dolomites bathed in bright light. The dwarfs captured the moonlight beam by beam and used it to cover the crags and pinnacles to attract the Moon Princess back. From then on the gleaming white towers and ridges have been known as the Pale Mountains.