Introduction

In the first half of the 1800s, tales as a story form was deeply revered among the Germans. German Romantics had a deep sympathy for the genre and produced tales too.

The Grimm brothers collected, edited, and published their Hausmärchen - or Household Tales - in the early half of the 1800s. The Grimms also published German Legends (Deutsche Sagen), first in 1816 and 1818, in two volumes.

Ludwig Bechstein's Deutsches Märchenbuch (German [Fairy] Tale Book, is from 1845.

And still earlier, in century after century, German legends and lays were produced around famous persons and places, such as emperors and kings and noblemen of the Holy Roman Empire - a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. This "feudal forerunner of EU" had lasted over 840 years when it was dissolved in 1806.

Many folklore motifs and wide-spread interests are found in stories about famous persons and places. I also consider that cherished tales indicate deep issues in a folk.

The following stories have been selected and edited by me. I have used up to several versions to form a story. Translations I have had recourse to, are listed below.

Enjoy the reading.

In English:

Frary, Marie Harriette, and Charles Maurice Stebbins. The Sunken City and Other Stories. Springfield, Mass.: Milton Bradley, 1919.

Grattan, Thomas Colley. Legends of the Rhine and of the Low Countries Vol 1. London: H. Colburn and R . Bentley, 1832.

Grattan, Thomas Colley. Legends of the Rhine and of the Low Countries. Vol 2. London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1832.

Guerber, Helene A. Legends of the Rhine. 3rd ed. New York: Barnes and Co, 1899.

Günther, Marie Alker, coll. Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. London: Chapman and Hall, 1874.

Kiefer, F. J. The Legends on the Rhine from Basle to Rotterdam. 2nd ed. Mayence: David Kapp, 1869.

Lauder, Maria Elise. Legends and Tales of the Harz Mountains, North Germany. 4th ed. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1885.

Lear, H. L. Rhineland and Its Legends, and Other Tales. Translated from the German by William J. E. Bennett. London: Swift and Co, 1868.

Ruland, Wilhelm. Legends of the Rhine. 8th ed. Köln am Rhein: Verlag von Hoursch & Bechstedt /Gutenberg E-book, 2007.

Snowe, Joseph. The Rhine, Legends, Traditions, History, from Cologne to Mainz. Vol 1. London: F. C. Westley, 1839.

Snowe, Joseph. The Rhine, legends, traditions, history, from Cologne to Mainz. Vol 2. London: F. C. Westley, 1839.

Spence, Lewis. Hero Tales and Legends of the Rhine. London: George C. Harrap, 1915.

Sylva, Carmen, and Alma Strettell. Legends from River and Mountain. London: George Allen, 1896.

Thoms, William John. Lays and Legends of Germany. London: G. Cowie, 1834.

Thorpe, Benjamin. Northern Mythology: Comprising the Principal Popular Traditions and Superstitions of Scandinavia, North Germany, and the Netherlands. London: E. Lumley, 1851.

Tibbits, Charles John. Folk-lore and Legends. Germany. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1892.

Trautmann, Franz. Legends and Tales of Old Munich. München: Lentner, 1912.

Vernaleken, Theodor. In the Land of Marvels: Folk-tales from Austria and Bohemia. London: S. Sonnenschein and Co., 1889.

Westall, William. Tales and legends of Saxony and Lusatia. London: Griffith and Farran, 1877.

Auf Deutsch

Bechstein, Ludwig, ed: Deutsches Sagenbuch. Leipzig: Georg Wigand, 1853.

Zingerle, Ignaz und Joseph. Kinder- und Hausmärchen aus Süddeutschland. Regensburg: F. Pustet, 1854.