The Dwarves of Wernigerode
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| Geographic Coordinates: 51° 50' 3.79" N, 10° 47' 3.03" E 51° 49' 6.52" N, 10° 47' 20.42" E 51° 49' 8.48" N, 10° 47' 8.44" E 51° 49' 37.45" N, 10° 48' 34.20" E 51° 48' 21.64" N, 10° 54' 51.25" E 51° 50' 3.33" N, 10° 51' 55.37" E 51° 49' 40.34" N, 10° 47' 39.87" E 51° 48' 17.61" N, 10° 48' 42.50" E 51° 48' 52.99" N, 10° 46' 39.61" E 51° 49' 54.34" N, 10° 47' 6.01" E |
1. The main abode of the dwarves was within the Heidemühle mill. Once, the son of the Count of Harburg Castle celebrated his wedding. The squires then fetched the silver crockery of the dwarves under a pretense (for the wedding didn’t really require it). The commander of the dwarves was named Trultram. A squire named Pruttam or Prutzam, who returned the crockery, filled it with feces instead of leftover food from the wedding.
A feud arose because of this. One evening, the squires went into the Heidemühle in order to ambush the dwarves. At 11 o’clock in the evening, all the dwarves arrived — including Trultram, who was a small, fat guy. Within the mill, they had a hole with a trapdoor through which they were able to escape. In this manner, the dwarves disappeared behind the hatch, but the squires kept Trultram within the chamber. Furthermore, they let water flow into the hole. When it rose, the dwarves came out of it. The dwarves — including Trutram — had to get into three wagons, and were driven to the dungeon within the Harburg.
2. According to legend, there used to be three ponds within the “Zwölfmorgen” meadow. The knights who lived in this region kept a large number of fish in these. Once, one of the knights lost a trial and had to pay 600 thalers. He borrowed this from the dwarves, in particular those who lived on the Heidemühle. Those now considered it to be their right to catch the fish in those lakes. Once, when they did so again, the squires let out the water. In this manner, a dwarf whose fog cap had been thrown off was captured.
3. There are two holes in front of the forester’s house in the Tiergarten (“animal park”) of Wernigerode. Allegedly, dwarves lived there — two of them, according to some. These pulled children into their dwarf hole, and took any human food from them if they carried some. However, they gave them other gifts instead, taught them spells if they were very smart, and let them go after a few hours.
4. Others say: Dwarves came from the direction of Michaelstein Abbey, traveled above Benzingerode, up near the Siebenbörnen (a meadow which still used to be a forest thirty years ago). Then they walked up the Kirchstieg road, which leads up to a mountaintop, and moved through the Tiergarten where the dwarf holes can still be found, and which served them well during their underground journeys during which they carried pit lamps. In this manner, they arrived in Nöschenrode at the Theobaldi Church. Here, they held mass.
5. There is a dwarf cave at the Voigtstiegsberg mountain. The locals borrowed crockery there. And if they did not bring it back, it suddenly vanished from their houses on its own.
6. There are dwarf holes beneath the Salzberg mountain, and they are filled with water. The dwarves pulled everything into there, including children. The Zwergklippe (“Dwarf Cliff”) is there as well.
7. The so-called “Teichdamm” (“pond dike”) lies within Wernigerode. A real lake used to be there, and a cave inhabited by the Nickels was within it. The dwarves stole whatever they needed to live, and they also stole women and kept them imprisoned. They had a rod, and when they hit the water with it, it parted and then closed again afterwards. A stolen girl had six children by a Nickel, who did not let her go out and fetched everything they needed all by himself. Every time she gave birth, a midwife was fetched whose eyes were bound. After the sixth child, the girl wanted to get blessed after six weeks had passed. She went to her family’s seats in church but there she appeared wholly gray.
8. The dwarves had caves full of silver and gold.