The Mountain Rapture - Emperor Charlemagne
The belief of the people in a new, better world is closely tied to the notion that its heroes will reawaken again. These heroes have been enchanted (cursed, raptured) into hollow mountains where they slumber until the day where the fate of the world will be decided. But then they will wake up in order to fight the Final Battle.
In the Untersberg, the mountain of God’s Rest (the Rest Below), Emperor Charlemagne sleeps while surrounded by his court. Only He, the Great Emperor, whose famous deeds were so marvelous; He, who was the personal friend of Archbishop Arno and who was the great benefactor of the Archbishopric lives in the memory of the people, and not Frederick or Charles V. A few particularly devout people managed to get into the mountain and behold all the splendor which surrounds the grand, noble Emperor.
56. Among other noble and distinguished persons, Emperor Charlemagne also sits within the Untersberg. He wears a golden crown on his head, and holds the scepter in his hand. He was raptured on the wide Field of Wals, and still has the same form as he had it in the temporal world. His beard is gray and has grown long, and now covers the golden chest piece of his clothing in its entirety. On holy days and days of honor, the beard is divided into two parts. One part lies on the right side, and the other one on the left, and it is tied with a precious band of pearls. The Emperor has a piercing and wise countenance, and he acts friendly and with benevolence towards all subordinates who usually gather with him on a beautiful meadow. Nobody knows why he dwells there and what he does there, and this is among the secrets known to God alone.
57. Emperor Charlemagne sits in the Untersberg at a round table, and his beard has grown so large that it has circled this table more than twice. As soon as his beard has grown around it for the third time, this world will reach its final days. The Antichrist appears, the battle will occur on the Field of Wals, the trumpets of the angels will sound, and Judgment Day will be upon us.
58. Every hundred years, Emperor Charlemagne wakes up, and sends a reawakened noble squire from among his retinue up to the Geiereck in order to observe if the ravens still circle the mountain. Meanwhile, the Emperor’s beautiful daughter measures the length of the beard at the circumference of the table. And when she sees that it still hasn’t circled the table for the third time, tears pour down from her eyes and turn into pearls in the curls of her hair. When the returning squire reports that ravens still flock around the mountain, the head of the Emperor sinks back down to his chest, and with a shout of “Woe!” he and his shining retinue fall back into their old torpor. But when the time of the greatest woes arrives, then the prophecy of the rapture will be fulfilled. The ravens will then leave the mountain in order to peck the corpses of the most noble among the Germans apart, as they will have fallen through betrayal, through strife, or in fight against oppression, and the squire who has been sent out reports the departure of the ravens with great joy.
59. When twenty-four ravens fly around the mountain three times, the Emperor will awaken as well. But then he still must stay in the mountain until the famous Dwarf Stone is found. This stone is capable of transforming all the dwarves who dwell in and on the Untersberg into humans. After this has occurred, the Emperor returns to the living.
60. In the year 1713, a herder from Grödig drove his herd back home under the light of the stars. Then a little man stepped out of the Wonder Mountain and waved. Fearlessly, the herder followed him into the interior of the mountain. They arrived in a wide, illuminated chamber. There, Emperor Charlemagne as well as other lords and heroes sat around a marble table and slept. When the herder entered, the Emperor woke up and asked: “Do the ravens still fly around the mountain?” “Indeed, and in great numbers,” replied the herder. Sighing heavily, the Emperor said: “Then we must wait for another hundred years!” Immediately, everything vanished and dispersed, and the herder was suddenly removed from the mountain and found himself back on his way home.
61. If someone manages to take the golden scepter away which the Emperor holds in his hand and then makes three strikes against the mountain, then the Emperor will also be released. He would then emerge from the Untersberg with his army and begin the World War. Soon after, Judgment Day will begin.
62. On the tomb of Emperor Henry II in the Cathedral of Bamberg, the figure of Justice has been carved into the stone. He holds a set of scales in his hands whose pointer is not quite in the center. But when this pointer moves to the center one day, the End of the World begins, and Emperor Charlemagne comes out of the Untersberg with his men.
63. On each of the birthdays of the Emperor, a solemn procession of the dwarves takes place on the Untersberg. Woe to those who are on the mountain at this time, for they would be lost without hope of rescue, as the dwarves like to stay among themselves.
64. In the “Karlshöhle” (“Charlemagne’s Cave”) next to the “Fürstenbrunnen” (“Lords’ Well”) the wine cellar of Emperor Charlemagne can be found, and it is full of the most splendid wine. From there it is possible to walk through many gorges and on almost inaccessible paths which pass beneath the Field of Wals next to the roots of the pear tree and emerge at Salzburg Cathedral.
65. Georg Küblerbauer near Reichenhall narrated with confidence that once Emperor Charlemagne had won the battle on the Field of Wals, he would ride away on a three-legged pale horse with the flag of victory.