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June 26, 2005
The Mouse Tower
Popular legend says that the local Archbishop (a very unpopular one, evidently!) took refuge here from a plague of mice in the castle on the hill above. According to the legend, the mice followed him, swimming out to the tower where they consumed all the food and then ate him. (They must be BIG mice in Germany!)
The "Mäuseturm" built on a shingle bank and rock upthrust in the Rhine.
On shore the castle is also still standing, now a residence in private hands. The river runs swiftly here, and the navigable channel is quite narrow, something that makes me think that this tower was probably the outpost of the local tax collector - hence the unpopularity of the coffers to which the taxes flowed. I doubt the "mice" or "rats" could have swum the swift flowing channel between the tower and the bank - so perhaps they had help from angry boatmen!
Posted by The Gray Monk at June 26, 2005 10:46 AM