The Bum­mel­hen­ker

This is one of 11 stops on the Weißenstadt digital town tour.

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The people of Weißen­stadt are known as the Bum­mel­hen­ker. The story behind the name goes like this: the church tower of Weißen­stadt had sev­er­al ledges. On the low­est one, which was par­tic­u­larly wide, grass grew in sum­mer. The same was true of the town wall that encircled the town. The may­or, being a thrifty man, did not want the grass to with­er away unused. After vari­ous oth­er sug­ges­tions had been rejec­ted, it was agreed to let the small com­munity bull graze on it. So a rope was let down from the wall and the anim­al was hauled up with it. When, throttled by the rope, it stuck out its tongue, every­one thought it could already taste the grass. But they could not get the bull’s head over the ledge, and in the end they let the anim­al back down. When they took a closer look, it was dead. The townspeople were glad that they had not hauled up the big com­munity bull. And that is how the people of Weißen­stadt came by their nick­name, the Bum­mel­hen­ker. (Extract from the Weißen­städter Heimat­buch, the loc­al his­tory book by Georg Kraus)

The story of the Bum­mel­hen­ker went like this:

The church tower of Weißen­stadt had sev­er­al ledges. On the low­est one, which was par­tic­u­larly wide, a patch of lawn turned green every sum­mer. The same was true of the town wall that encircled the town. The may­or, being a thrifty man, did not want the grass to with­er away unused. After vari­ous oth­er sug­ges­tions had been rejec­ted, it was agreed to let the small com­munity bull graze it. A rope was let down from the bel­fry open­ing and the anim­al was hauled up. When, throttled by the rope, it stuck out its tongue, every­one thought it could already taste the grass. But they could not get the bull’s head over the ledge, and in the end they let the anim­al back down. When they took a closer look, it was dead. The townspeople were glad that they had not hauled up the big com­munity bull. And that is how the people of Weißen­stadt came by their nick­name: ‘Bum­mel­hen­ker’.

Source: Weißen­städter Heimat­buch (loc­al his­tory book) by Georg Kraus

More legends and stor­ies from the Fichtel Moun­tains here

You can also come and see our Bum­mel. You will find it on the street ‘An der Stadtmauer’.

Location

Explore 10 more stops on Weißenstadt’s digital town tour.