Legend of Barbarossa- The King under the Mountain

“The ancient Barbarossa,
Friedrich, the Kaiser great,
Within the castle-cavern
Sits in an enchanted state.”

“Der alte Barbarossa,

Der Kaiser Friedrich,

Im unterird′schen Schlosse

Hält er verzaubert sich.”

So begins the poem “The Great Barbarossa” by Friedrich Ruckert. Say those words out loud near Germans of a certain age, and they will recite the legend of the great king back at you. The history of Friedrich Barbarossa could (and does) fill books, but I wanted to look at the legend, the “King under the Mountain” who slumbers until the time is right to unify Germany once again.

Frederick I Barbarossa and his sons King Henry VI and Duke Frederick VI on a medieval illustration of the Chronicle of the Guelphs, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Who was Friedrich Barbarossa?

Friedrich Hohenstaufen took the name Fredrich I when he became Holy Roman Emperor in 1155. I just love this wonderful description of him from “Stories from German History” by Florence Aston, so I will share it in full: “Fredrick’s manner and appearance were such as to inspire confidence. He was of medium height but very strongly built, and his short fair hair waved over a broad forehead and steady, intelligent blue eyes. The mouth was beautifully curved and gave to his face an expression of cheerfulness and gentle kindness. The reddish tinge of his beard gained for him the surname of Barbarossa or red beard.”

(I swear, it sounds like Florence has a serious crush on the guy. And yes, she calls him Fredrick.)

As Holy Roman Emperor, Fredrich I Barbarossa, was one of the most powerful leaders in the Middle Ages. In the 12th century he worked with German Princes to balance power and strengthen imperial authority throughout Germany. Then he expanded the Holy Roman Empire eastward into Poland and Hungary, and fought to hold the Italian city-states that resisted his rule. (Remember, the Holy Roman Empire once extended over the Alps into Italy.) Barbarossa waged a long conflict with the papacy and returned to Italy (especially Milan) several times to assert his power.

Keeping peace while maintaining leadership over the Empire was a constant struggle. In German history, Barbarossa represents the idealized medieval ruler who sought unity and order within the empire. A “Golden Age.”

But then, tragedy.

Like other influential rulers, he joined the Third Crusade in 1190, but he drowned in the Saleph River of northwestern Syria before arriving in the Holy Land. There are different stories about his death. Did he have a heart attack while cooling off in the river? Did he get impatient waiting to cross the bridge and attempt to ford the river on horseback, only to get thrown off his horse or swept away? (Armor isn’t very buoyant.) The story goes on that his men discovered his body downstream, dead. His devastated son Friedrich IV, Duke of Swabia (not yet HRE) then preserved the body by pickling it and took it along to be buried in the Holy Land. But they didn’t do a great job with the preservation, so the great Barbarossa fell apart, and parts were buried in a few places across modern Turkey and Lebanon.

A Legend Is Born

But dying that way, by drowning and not in glorious battle, and then being buried without fanfare or monument (not to mention, in pieces) seems to have left room for the birth of a legend. That maybe, the King wasn’t really dead. (Almost like Elvis.)

By the Middle Ages, legends of Barbarossa’s return began to circulate. People believed he could come back to punish the corrupt Church officials. Then came Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. Some even believed Barbarossa made it possible for Luther to translate the Bible! But then, the Barbarossa legends died away for a while.

Until the Romantics and dreams of national unity in the early 1800s brought it all back.

The Brothers Grimm, collectors of the famous Fairy Tales, also collected Legends and Sagas. And they included the Legend of Frederick Barbarossa (Saga number 23)

The Legend goes something like this-

Deep under the Kyffhausen Mountain, Kaiser Barbarossa sleeps on his throne before a stone table, his beard growing longer and longer, wrapping itself around (or through) the table. He sleeps and waits.
Above the mountain, ravens circle. One day, an eagle will chase the ravens away, and Barbarossa will rise to bring back the Golden Age of Germany.

Other versions say that once his beard has circled the table three times, he will awake.

From The Project Gutenberg eBook of “Deutsche SagenFriedrich Rothbart auf dem Kyfhäuser“.

Von diesem Kaiser gehen viele Sagen im Schwange. Er soll noch nicht todt seyn, sondern bis zum jüngsten Tage leben, auch kein rechter Kaiser nach ihm mehr aufgekommen. Bis dahin sitzt er verholen in dem Berg Kyfhausen und wann er hervorkommt, wird er seinen Schild hängen an einen dürren Baum, davon wird der Baum grünen und eine beßre Zeit werden. Zuweilen redet er mit den Leuten, die in den Berg kommen, zuweilen läßt er sich auswärts sehen. Gewöhnlich sitzt er auf der Bank an dem runden steinernen Tisch, hält den Kopf in der Hand und schläft, mit dem Haupt nickt er stetig und zwinkert mit den Augen. Der Bart ist ihm groß gewachsen, nach einigen durch den steinernen Tisch, nach andern um den Tisch herum, dergestalt daß er dreimal um die Rundung reichen muß, bis zu seinem Aufwachen, jetzt aber geht er erst zweimal darum.

Ein Bauer, der 1669 aus dem Dorf Reblingen Korn nach Nordhausen fahren wollte, wurde von einem kleinen Männchen in den Berg geführt, mußte sein Korn ausschütten und sich dafür die Säcke mit Gold[S. 30] füllen. Dieser sah nun den Kaiser sitzen, aber ganz unbeweglich.

Auch einen Schäfer führte ein Zwerg hinein, da stand der Kaiser auf und fragte: fliegen die Raben noch um den Berg? Und auf die Bejahung des Schäfers rief er: nun muß ich noch hundert Jahre länger schlafen.

Translation-

Many legends circulate about this Kaiser. It is said that he is not yet dead, but will live until Judgment Day, and that no true emperor has risen to power since him. Until then, he sits in hiding in Kyfhausen Mountain, and when he emerges, he will hang his shield on a withered tree, causing the tree to flourish and ushering in a better era. Sometimes he speaks with the people who come to the mountain; sometimes he allows himself to be seen from afar. Usually, he sits on the bench at the round stone table, holding his head in his hand and sleeping, his head nodding steadily and his eyes blinking. His beard has grown long—according to some, through the stone table; according to others, around the table—so that it must wrap around the curve three times before he wakes up, though now it only goes around twice.

A farmer who, in 1669, wanted to take grain from the village of Reblingen to Nordhausen was led into the mountain by a little man; he had to empty out his grain and fill the sacks with gold[p. 30] in its place. He then saw the emperor sitting there, but completely motionless.

A dwarf also led a shepherd inside,whereupon the emperor stood up and asked: “Are the ravens still circling the mountain?” And when the shepherd answered in the affirmative, he cried out: “Now I must sleep for another hundred years.”

King Under the Mountain

The story of a King under the Mountain isn’t new. In fact, famous American folklorist Stith Thompson put that very motif in his Index of Folklore: A 571- “Cultural Hero Asleep in Mountain”. (You’ll find King Arthur and Genghis Khan there, too.) What strikes me about this legend is how short it is. And that it is number 23 of over 350 legends in the book! I think I expected such an important story to be number 1, and take pages… But maybe that’s how it became so important. Such a short story left a lot of room for interpretation.

Hermann Wislicenus (1825-1899).James Steakley at de.wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Poem to Barbarossa

Two years later, in 1817, Friedrich Ruckert wrote the poem Barbarossa and cemented the images in German minds.

Barbarossa

Der alte Barbarossa,
Der Kaiser Friedrich,
Im unterird’schen Schlosse
Hält er verzaubert sich.

Er ist niemals gestorben,
Er lebt darin noch jetzt;
Er hat im Schloß verborgen
Zum Schlaf sich hingesetzt.

Er hat hinabgenommen
Des Reiches Herrlichkeit,
Und wird einst wiederkommen
Mit ihr, zu seiner Zeit.

Der Stuhl ist elfenbeinern,
Darauf der Kaiser sitzt;
Der Tisch ist marmelsteinern,
Worauf sein Haupt er stützt.

Sein Bart ist nicht von Flachse,
Er ist von Feuersglut,
Ist durch den Tisch gewachsen,
Worauf sein Kinn ausruht.

Er nickt als wie im Traume,
Sein Aug’ halb offen zwinkt;
Und je nach langem Raume
Er einem Knaben winkt.

Er spricht im Schlaf zum Knaben:
Geh hin vors Schloß, o Zwerg,
Und sieh, ob noch die Raben
Herfliegen um den Berg.

Und wenn die alten Raben
Noch fliegen immerdar,
So muß ich auch noch schlafen
Verzaubert hundert Jahr.

And, once again in English

The ancient Barbarossa,
Friedrich, the Kaiser great,
Within the castle-cavern
Sits in an enchanted state.He did not die, but ever
Waits in the chamber deep,
Where hidden under the castle
He sat himself to sleep.

The splendor of the Empire

He took with him away,
And back to earth will bring it
When dawns the promised day.

The chair is ivory purest
Whereof he makes his bed;
The table is of marble
Whereon he props his head.His beard, not flax, but burning
With fierce and fiery glow,
Right through the marble table
Beneath his chair does grow.

He nods in dreams and winketh
With dull, half-open eyes,
And once a page boy he beckons–
A page boy that standeth by.

He bids the boy in slumber
“O dwarf, go up this hour,
And see if still the ravens
Are flying round the tower;

And if the ancient ravens
Still wheel above us here,
Then must I sleep enchanted
For many a hundred year.”

Romantic Movement

These works were important to the Romantic Movement. Why? Shared stories give people a sense of community and a sense of belonging to something greater. When the Grimm Brothers published their volumes of myth in 1815, Germany was just emerging from the French Occupation. Many Germans were disappointed that Germany didn’t come together after the occupation. Instead of a unified Germany, they had a splintered group of 39 States with no clear center. Romantics hoped that instead of identifying as Bavarians or Prussians, German speaking people would see themselves as German first. Art and literature reflected the movement. The Grimm Brothers even published a comprehensive German dictionary. This MASSIVE undertaking that took years and is made up of 32 volumes, all to unify the language.

The Splendor of the Empire

After the unification of 1871, Rucker’s poem became part of the German school curriculum (ask your Opa, he may still remember all the words.)

Read this again-

“The Splendor of the Empire
He took with him away
And back to earth will bring it
when dawns the promised day”

That’s the stanza that everyone remembers.

Politicians even try to FORCE a fit so that everyone believes. In 1871, when Germany Unified, Kaiser Wilhelm 1 was given the nickname Barblanca (White Beard). Leaders saw the Hohenzollern King of Prussia’s rise to Kaiser of Germany as similar to Friedrich Barbarossa’s rule over the Holy Roman Empire. It didn’t stick.

The King Under the Mountain- Kyffhäusser Monument

Today, you can visit the Barbarossa Monument on the Kyffhäusser Mountain. It’s MASSIVE. And I’m sure they keep a few ravens on hand to keep things interesting. See it here- Kyffhäusser Monument

Near the monument is the Barbarossa Cave, where I understand you can SEE the king at his stone table, beard wound around its legs (you might have to squint and look from a certain angle). This show cave is open to the public. Find out more here- Barbarossa Cave

Or who knows, you could just be walking down a road, and come upon a statue of the King, like I did while hiking outside the walls of Rothenburg.