The Enchanted Castle

Similar to Lake Schwellisee, Lake Schwarzsee and Lake Urdensee, Lake Hauensee is also the scene of an old legend, which can be read here in a wooden saga box. Once a distinguished gentleman rode through the Urdental and on the ridge at Hörnli. After a short rest he followed the rocks and soon reached a small lake in the middle of the rock. «Here I would like to build a castle,» he thought. Since he was a rich, powerful man, he was soon able to fulfill his wish. Foreign workers came and built a proud castle with battlements and terraces. One day he fetched his wife. It was a fine and quiet lady who was often seen walking with a dog in a white dress. Years passed, lonely and abandoned the castle lay there. The owner and his wife had died. One day the two sons - young knights - appeared and brought guests with them. Like a thunderstorm the exuberant crowd went down the mountain and through the middle of the meadows. They became the terror of the whole region. An old farmer lived in Ifang with his granddaughter, a beautiful girl with eyes as blue as Lake Schwellisee. When the Junkers rode past the house, the farmer locked the door and tore the girl away from the window. One day there was a big thunderstorm in her suit. «I have to get the cattle,» he thought. He left the hut with it. But the girl took a bucket to fetch water from the nearby well. Suddenly she turned around in horror, dropped the bucket and tried to get to the house. The two young men rode past the fountain. Astonished, they looked at the beautiful girl. They shouted, «Come with me,» and jumped off the horses. One stepped into her path, the other lifted her into the saddle and she went away over stick and stone. In the meantime the farmer came with his animals. He heard the girl›s cries for help. Powerless he stood there and clenched his fist. «Woe to you naughty boys. The lightning shall destroy your castle, so that no stone remains on the other, before you reach it. Frightened, they looked back, but the old man had disappeared. The horses wheezed uphill, lightning followed lightning, thunder rolled wildly along the mountain, it crashed and roared. Hail shot down, the smallest creek became a torrential stream. When the sun shone again the next day, the castle had disappeared. A large pile of stones marked the place where it had stood. No trace of the Junkers and the beautiful girl. They lay deeply buried under the stones. From then on, the stone tangle at Hauensee was called «Enchanted Castle».