Blick auf den Mäuseturm

A legend is entwined around the name of the old watchtower. Accordingly, archbishop Hatto II of Mainz refused to share his grain reserves with his starving subjects during a famine in the 10th century. Instead, he had some of the begging people locked up in a barn, which was then lit. The cries for help he commented only maliciously with the statement 'Do you hear how the little mice scream?'. At night, however, his property was hit by a massive mouse plague. With a few followers he fled with a boat to the mouse tower. He thought he was safe in the lonely watchtower, but when he closed the door, countless mice crawled out of the wall and ate him alive. Since then, the tower is called only mouse tower.

The 24,65 meter high toll tower built at the beginning of the 14th century was named after a legend.Ferdinand Luthmer speculates in 1907 that the name derives either from the toll tower (Old High German muta = toll), the Muserie (= gun) or the Middle High German mûsen (= peeking, lurking).It was destroyed during the Thirty Years' War and the Palatinate War of Succession in 1689. In 1845 it was provisionally repaired for use as a landmark by the Prussian government. The Prussian King Frederick William IV had him rebuild from 1855 to 1856 in the neo-Gothic style. From 1850 to 1974 he served as signal tower for the Rhine navigation. The Wahrschau in the mouse tower regulated the shipping traffic at the bottleneck called Binger Loch at the beginning of the Rhine valley. With the widening of the fairway (blasting of the rocks) this function was abandoned in 1973/74.More info: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binger_M%C3%A4useturm

First of all, the legend that I have from Wikipedia: "According to a legend, the archbishop of Mainz, Hatto II, had it built in the 10th century when the hard-hearted bishop, when there was a famine in the country, refused to help the poor from his filled granaries When they continued to beg, he is said to have locked them in a barn, which was then lighted by his henchmen, the mourning cries of the dying, he said scornfully with the words "Do you hear how the little mice whistle?" Commented.
At that moment, according to the legend, thousands of mice crawled from every corner and swarmed across the table and through the rooms of the bishop. The mass of rodents had routed the staff, and Hatto was said to have taken a ship down the Rhine to the island, where he thought he was safe. But when he had locked himself in there, he had been eaten alive by the mice.
This etiological narrative was widespread and should explain the name of the tower. Josef Virgil Grohmann assigns to all the legends a common pagan foundation. [7] In the time of Rhine Romanticism, the often-painted building inspired writers such as Clemens Brentano, Victor Hugo, and Ferdinand Freiligrath through its gruesome legend. Since the 19th century, the legend is increasingly attributed to Hatto I, an official predecessor Hattos II. A similar legend applies - albeit with reference to the city of Kruszwica - to the Polish Prince Popiel. "

At the current record low of the Rhine every binger should have wandered to the mouse tower. This opportunity should be used. Enjoy nature!

Visit quickly before the level rises. Then you need a boat again 😉

When you see the idyllic tower on the island, you can't even imagine what the Bingen mice did to the evil bishop Hatto here...

The mouse tower is the actual destination of the RheinBurgenWegs Gehrichtung from north to south. Unfortunately, the trail ends at the end of the snake trail and you have to find your own way to the mouse tower.
Not easy with a dog because the park on the Rhine is closed to dogs.

Due to the low water level in November 2018, the mouse tower was "walkable", so there was a lot going on here. Nice little place, charming view of the Rhine-Nahe valley.