Have you ever heard of Mount Untersberg, on the border between Austria and Germany, not far from Salzburg? Thanks to her, countless folk tales, myths, and legends were born. The mysterious mountain is a constant source of historical and natural mysteries
The most famous legend of Untersberg formed the basis for the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. It says that Charlemagne has been sleeping at a huge stone table for the third century under the mountain. He will wake up when his beard is wrapped around the table three times and crows stop flying over the mountain. When this happens, the final battle between good and evil will break out, leading to a golden age on Earth.
According to legend, not only Karl found his refuge in the mountain. His princes, knights and servants sleep with him. And gnomes also live there, who keep the secrets and treasures of the mountain, and go hunting at night.
Inhabitants of the underworld
Today the Untersberg mountain range is full of tourists. This is their favorite hiking and lift travel destination. The panorama of Salzburg, which is located a few kilometers from the border with Germany, on fine days simply mesmerizes the visitors of the cable car and the plateau. The mountain range consists of several peaks: Berchtesgaden Hochtron (1972 meters), Reicheck (1892), Gamzal-kopf (1888), Gajereck (1801) and Salzburg Hochtron (1853). From the Austrian side of Untersberg you can get to the famous Kolovrat caves, as well as to the huge ice Shelenberg caves. There are about 500 caves in the mountain, of which 110 have not yet been explored.
The variety of natural landscapes amazes travelers. Forests and ravines, labyrinths of caves, rivers, a swamp at the foot of the mountain, a magnificent horizontal plateau at the top - all this allows you to fantasize about the existence of mythical inhabitants of this natural park: druids, witches, forest demons, ugly dwarfs and elves.
The Lost Wedding
Inhabitants of the villages lying near the mountain will tell you their legend, connected with their settlement. Collectors of folklore have recorded many stories here. It is customary to tell them in secluded places in a quiet voice, so as not to disturb or offend mountain spirits and other heroes of legends. It is said that in 1858 a whole wedding procession disappeared here. After the wedding, the young couple and guests went to the house of the bride's parents to celebrate the event.
To the sound of a small orchestra, merry and carefree, they walked past Mount Untersberg. And then one of the guests began to talk about the disappearance of one Kaiser with his entire court in this area, and that supposedly since then his spirit has appeared from the mountain, which generously presents the passers-by. The groom, as soon as he heard about this, began to call the spirit of the Kaiser and ask him to make a gift to the bride.
Suddenly a passage opened in the mountain, and a gray-haired old man emerged from there. He cordially invited the whole society to visit the underground cave. The merry company agreed. The enfilade of the richest halls opened to the admiring gaze of the people, in one of which a table was laid. Tired of the journey, the newlyweds and their guests sat down at the table, drank, ate and soon fell asleep. Waking up, they got out of the cave and walked on. But what was their amazement when people realized that they did not recognize the surrounding area at all, and those who met them on the way spoke an unfamiliar language.
People went in search of their village, and when they found it, they did not recognize it either. Then they returned to the church, where the wedding was taking place, and told the priest about the incident, who, by the way, did not at all resemble the one who combined them by marriage. He opened old tomes and found a record that once a wedding disappeared in this area, but that was 500 years ago.
Undeciphered inscription
One of the very first events associated with Untersberg was described by the clerk Lazarus Gitschner. In 1529, this young man magically got inside the enchanted mountain and stayed there for seven whole days. In one of the caves he met a monk who showed him underground corridors, halls and churches. Lazarus not only wrote down his adventures, but also copied the rock inscription he found. She looked like this:
SURG E. T. S. A. T. U. M.
S. O. RG E. IS A. T. O. M.
Many cryptographers today are trying to unravel the mysterious meaning of the rock message, but so far to no avail.
In 1794, a similar story happened to another local resident. At night, on the road that bends around the magic mountain, he met a dwarf who invited him to visit. The man got scared, but still accepted the invitation. The hospitable dwarf revealed his future to the belated traveler, and in addition, he presented 180 gold ducats, which did not end, no matter how much they spent.
A touching story happened to a couple in love. Parents did not allow young people to get married, and then they went up the mountain, where they lived happily for 200 years. When two centuries passed, the lovers, holding hands, left the mountain depths as young as they got there. But after a few moments, their faces were covered with wrinkles, their hair turned gray, and the guy and the girl fell down dead, without opening their hands.
Will the gate open?
And today, Mount Untersberg continues to live its mysterious life. Several years ago, a whole group of tourists disappeared here. It took several weeks to find them, rescuers combed hiking trails, caves, mountain peaks … And then suddenly it became known that a group of missing persons had appeared in the Middle East.
In August 1987, a young married couple from Munich and their girlfriend went for a walk in the mountains. Later, in the parking lot, from which tourists usually go to the peaks, their white car was found, and the young people disappeared. Esotericists and mystics announced that tourists were trapped in time through a portal that opens only once a year - August 15, the day of the Ascension of the Lord. And these gates are in one of the Untersberg caves.
After that, people began to gather at the foot of the mountain. They all expected the disappeared to appear. And the young people showed up. But where? Three months after their disappearance, they called relatives from a cruise ship in the Red Sea. To questions about how they got there, the "lost" had no answers.
On October 19, 2001, Max Brandl disappeared from Siegsdorf. The 39-year-old man parked his car and headed for the mountains. They were looking for him for several months. Search teams from Austria and Germany were involved, the latest technical means were used. Friends, acquaintances and relatives of Max, meter by meter, explored all the paths of Untersberg. Local police chief Peter Ottmann called this search operation the largest in history. But so far there is not the slightest hint of the whereabouts of Max Brandl.
The legends of the Torah Untersberg are of interest to historians and ethnographers, biologists and geologists, as well as esotericists and parapsychologists. Everyone who has ever encountered this phenomenon is fighting over the mystery of time anomalies in the caves of Untersberg. However, the mystery remains unsolved.
Nina KONEVA
"Secrets of the 20th century" February 2013