Rittersturz Rock Formation

Legends surround the Rittersturz, a striking rocky outcrop above Veldenz, according to which a robber baron once made a pact with the devil there. Those who dare can climb up to the summit cross and enjoy the view from there.

“𝗥𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗿𝘇” The first noble castles, like those on the Rittersturz rock, were built in the late Carolingian period in the 9th century AD, mostly as residential and defensive buildings. They were built on spurs as hilltop castles or on artificially constructed hills - usually surrounded by a moat - as lowland castles. In cities, castles often had the character of residential or defensive towers. Locations were often chosen that had already been used for the construction of fortifications in Celtic or late Roman times. Source: Text information board 𝕯𝖎𝖊 𝕾𝖆𝖌𝖊 𝖛𝖔𝖒 𝕽𝖎𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖘𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖟
(freely adapted from Paul Wiehr) A long time ago, long before the Counts of Veldenz built their ancestral castle, there was a castle on the rock that was inhabited by a cruel knight. He treated his subjects badly and robbed and plundered on the streets. His wife, on the other hand, was selflessly kind and tried to make up for the knight's injustice. One day the devil visited the castle in the form of a noble and wealthy knight. The jewels that the knight wore immediately aroused the cruel lord of the castle's desire. At night he crept into the "noble knight's" room and split his skull with his battle axe. Horrified, the lord of the castle heard the devil laughing behind him. "You have often called for me, worm, now you belong to me." With these words the devil grabbed the cruel knight and threw him into the depths, where they disappeared into a crack in the rock, never to be seen again. The noble lady of the castle gave the stolen goods to the poor and lived for a long time in the solitude of the Veldenz forest. The castle fell into disrepair - not a single stone remains. The name of the cruel lord of the castle has been erased from people's memories forever.

The premium trail "Graf Georg Johannes Weg" leads here to the Rittersturz, a rocky outcrop where, according to legend, the devil is said to have thrown himself down with a knight... 🤓🤳
veldenz-mosel.de/uploads/graf_georg_johannes_weg.pdf