Tales and Legends of the Český Krumlov Region

Běleč u Malšína
Until nowadays people have been shown the place in a rock, where a devil used to live. He enjoyed disturbing the local mill. The miller and mill-hand laid in waiting for the Satan and then closed him into the hollowed out space in a block of wood. When the devil realised that they would like to saw him up with his wooden prison, he took all his energy to get out of the block. He set the mill's roof on fire as a revenge. Then he was gone and left the entire countryside in peace for ever.

Benešov nad Černou
Our Lady was seen at just the point, where the little river of Černá leaves the village. She stood up on a huge boulder rinsing the diapers. The traces of her feet and pleats of her cloak remained in the hard stone after her disappearance.

A stone's throw from Benešov, there is an immense treasure concealed in a cave hidden under the huge rocks. It opens on each Palm Sunday at the moment, when the songs of Easter Passions are performed in the nearest church. A poor widow with her little baby took a black hen, which was supposed to bring good luck, and went on the way to the treasury. The rock opened by itself and the woman put down her child and the hen. She left the cave with the arms full of money, jewels and precious stones. The rock closed down immediately and the unhappy mother had no other alternative than to go home. She became rich because the black hen brought her good luck. Nevertheless in the same time she was very sad by loosing her baby. The desperate woman returned to the cave in one year. Nevertheless she did not crave for wealth in that moment. When the rock opened, she took her baby and left for home very happily.

Boletice
At the time when two stubborn and cantankerous peasants of Boletice died, they were buried side by side in graves. People each night heard how both deceased persons still cursed and took each other to task with such volume that the neighbourhood's inhabitants could not sleep at all. The news about the quarrelsome dead farmers went from one place to another and the village became a laughing stock. The old priest kindly appealed to Rome for some advice. The Pope replied himself that the Crosses of both graves' heads should be turned back to each other. Silence and peace have governed at the Boletice cemetery since that time.

Černá v Pošumaví
Once in the course of a wonderful silent night, two men went through the forlorn and desolate forest from Černá to Plánička. The horse, at breakneck speed, started to run for no reason. A shrieking scream sounded close to their wagon and an enormous glare lit up the trees as if from a huge fire. A disgusting animal, similar to a lizard, soared up into the air while sending sparks out of its tail. Both people noticed the specter of the monster, which was called a cattle fright. It used to startle the livestock to such extent that some died from horror. It was also impossible to control their horse, which stopped no sooner than the inhabited village.

Český Krumlov
Two stone statues were standing not far of Krumlov on one field cross-roads. Both figures were so similar that they used to call them stone brothers. Pilgrims from a big distance went there to see it. The city-hall had removed the statues due to the fact that too many people used to gather there. In the place of the statues' excavation, there were two deep holes but no effort could fill them up. Both figures were stocked in one shed. A peculiar light and strange voices came out of there at night. The head of the farmstead became restless. He ordered the replacement of the statues, one to the chapel in the centre of the farm and the other one into the forest of Trojice. Then it happened again that the crowd united in front of them and the pilgrims decreased in the nearby Kájov. The decision to remove the statues was taken again. Two men took them away on a covered vehicle, upon the order of the České Budějovice Consistory. Everywhere that heavy load went the bells of small chapels and churches started to ring by themselves. All traces of that unusual team then disappeared in Budějovice.

When a rich Český Krumlov middle class person Gruntherer got old, he started to have restless sleep. He almost overnight became wealthy to such extent that he nearly did not know what to do with money. He confessed to his spouse that his soul is signed to the devil for money. His worried spouse ran to the prelate of Krumlov to ask the advice. That powerful man, who knew how to effectively and terribly invoke spirits and evils, just with one word called up the Satan and started to observe the document signed long time ago by the rich man's own blood. The prelate found out that the submitted bond by the devil had the name of another citizen of Krumlov. He used a stronger magic formula and the devil had to bring the proper document. The prelate burned up both bonds and saved that way the couple of citizens from the eternal fire.

A gang of highway robbers used to have a base on the Krumlov rock a long time ago. There they ambushed and held up travellers and vehicles with their merchandise. The bandits made sure not leave any witnesses of their bad deeds. For that reason, all attacked persons were massacred without mercy. One day a messenger of lord Witigo went around, the bandits assaulted and captured him. The messenger warned them to notice that he was in service with the powerful Witigonen family. The blackguards ignored it. They hanged the messenger by his neck and cut off his arm. It was spasmodically holding a document. They threw the arm with the document into the gate of the lord Witigo's residency. Then the lord of the Rose sized the gang's den and burned it to the ground. That way it never could be a place of a band's shelter. He ordered to build up a strong castle there to guard its surrounding. A town grew around the castle. There was very soon a need to name its streets. The long street under the castle complex was called Latrán, due the tale in memory of that gang of highway robbers. The Latin word of "latro" is obvious in its name. It means a bandit or a blackguard.

A woman's figure in a white cloth used to appear at cradle the of Peter Wok von Rosenberg and all nannies were frightened to the death. She calmed down the crying baby. She silently left, just when he got to sleep. The white specter appeared as a premonition of the dynasty's extinction. One day after a long time Peter Wok came back to Krumlov. He asked the old lady, his former nanny, to describe to him the place, where the mysterious apparition of the White Lady disappeared that time. The news soon filtered out that lord Witigo uncovered an enormous treasury at the wall of one castle room. The rector of the Jesuits College became a witness of another apparition. The Lady in a white cloth looked out of the castle window. Seven unusual lights, following the valley of the river to Rožmberk, left the mansion after a while. Those phenomena were followed by the ring of a little bell above the gate.

Čertova Stěna Rock Formation (Devil's Wall)
Satan was annoyed by the establishment of the monastery in Vyšší Brod. For that reason, he wanted to build a dam in the gorge, to capture water for the flooding of the monastery. The infernal powers threw giant stones onto the Vltava riverbed. Nevertheless the work had to be performed before three cock's crows. The prince of the Hell with his wicked powers did not succeed. A cock crowed three times and the infernal power was over. A bell sounded at the tower of the monastery and Satan had to let the stone fall. The traces of his infernal claw are obvious on it up to nowadays.

The huge stone above the Vltava river is called the Pulpit of Satan. The Čertova Stěna (Devil's Wall) is located just under, there are many stones on the sheer rock. That rock used to be called the Scary Centre long ago. Upon one tale, it used to be a sacred place, where old Slavs adored their God of Goodness, called Svatoroh. They say that the Christianity exploited the old myth for the achievement of a new legend. According to that one, the wicked force meant the Satan and the good was represented by the monastery of Vyšší Brod.

Dívčí Kámen Castle
A young Rosenberg called Jošt hounded a hind deer. Suddenly it disappeared near a high rock above the Vltava river. Instead of it a beautiful pale maiden appeared on the rock and Jošt lost his heart to her. The girl did not trust his words of love unproved by any feat. To prove his given word he built the castle on the rock and named it Dívčí Kámen. Another legend says that the poor herds-woman did not reciprocate the lord of Rosenberg but he kept on loving her for all his life and the castle was named after her stony heart. The legend also says that Jošt built the castle for one of his five daughters to hide there before the secular demoralisation. The backbiters said that Jošt who was a passionate fellow took his lovers to the rock and pushed them down into the Vltava river when he got tired of them. The bones of many of them are still on the bottom of the river. But nobody was so courageous to call powerful Rosenberg before the court.

An elf watches over the huge treasure hidden in the ruins. Whoever will see the elf, will greet him politely and will not laugh at him they will find the treasure. A poor farmer wanted to take some stones from the ruins to build a new house. Somebody sneezed behind him. The farmer said "God bless you!" but he did not see anybody so he thought somebody from the village made fun of him. When he heard the sneezing for the third time he did not answered politely. At the same time it got dark and from the cracks of the stones around strange pejors with pipes and tambours jumped out and started to dance around the poor farmer. Then the whole procession changed into skunks, foxes, wild pigs and bears. The scared farmer fainted. So the treasure is still waiting for a polite man.

Dolní Vltavice
Once in course of the daily pasture of a parish priest's flock, an old woman, bent with old age, appeared in front of a heardswoman. Her snow white hair was dishevelled and sloppily falling down the old lady's face. Her hands, feet, neck and shoulders were covered by moss. The unusual old woman asked the heardswoman to comb her hair. The girl did not like the idea, however she started with her shaking hands to unravel and comb tangled up hair. At the moment when she touched the old woman's head, she noticed the entire body was cold as ice. The girl suddenly could not lift up her numbed hands. The old person poured small amount of dead leaves into the heardswoman's apron and was gone. At home the amazed young woman found a wonderful gold coin hiding inside her apron. After that, many people were looking for that strange woman covered by moss to get such a generous gift from her as well.

Frýdava u Frymburka
On the fields by a little stream, there is a small rock, called the Stone of Satan. It almost disappeared thanks to people taking out the stones for their building. At one time, a poor stripling signed his soul to a devil there to have a good luck in hazardous roles. The young man was doing very well, in comparison to previous times. However his time was soon counted. He was supposed to report at the Stone of Satan and to be taken away by the devil. On the way to that place, he confessed about his fishy connection to his God-fearing neighbour. The neighbour along with the priest of Frýdava tore the stripling with a big effort out off Satan's claws. The redeemed young man turned over a new lief.

Once two forestry boys rested until the morning at a hayloft in a forest thanks to the foul weather. They heard the racket of some hunt at night. One of them, who did not want to show his fear in front of the ghostly night hunter, shouted out to the hunt's noise. He wanted the wild hunters to hunt something for him as well. A great thump resonated in the air and there were decomposed remains of a roebuck laying at the doorway of their hayloft. However the youths tried to bury the remains, they did not succeed. Death-like pungent odour, for which everyone kept away from him, remained on a forester who tried to call out with recklessness the night hunter. Later on, upon an advice of an experienced old man from Frymburk, the young man got an altar veil. He wrapped the dead roebuck into it and bit the dead meat with the biggest stifle. Then he threw off the consequences of his thoughtlessness.

Frymburk
At the time when a farmer, working on the meadow close to Frymburk, did not return home for a long time, they went to look for him. His wooden shoes were only left. The mystery was, what could have happened to him. Thirty years later he suddenly appeared in the village. He came all the way in socks, because that day they took his clogs from the meadow. He told them that he had ended up in the other world. That there was a lot of huge candles and each of them represented one human life. He could explain to everyone how long they would be living since that moment and who was about to go to the eternal peace. People curious about their afterlife paid him for his stories until the local parish priest put him into a prison to avoid divulgence of the secrets about the afterlife to people.

Hodňov
Long time ago, a huge fir tree, the great-grandfather of the Šumava veterans, used to grow in the forest by the Upper-Austrian border. A similar giant grew up in the Bavarian forest that time. It was the great-grandmother. In a moment when the great-grandfather of trees fell down by the hatchets of lumberjacks, the robust trunk of the great-grandmother shacked and its top fell down as well.

The devils took care of turning the gamblers and blasphemers over for the better in the Hodňov area. At the time when one passionate gambler wanted to pick up a fallen card from the floor, he noticed that his unknown team-mate had a hoof. He went away with panic. In his pockets, there were found just horse-droppings instead of the money he won. The horrible blasphemer was taken by the devil's claws and thrown into mud. The devil, glowing by sparks, was nightmarishly grinning from a linden above a spring at the boy, who cursed. There is no doubt that all those sinners turned over a new leaf.

From the Hodňov pond, all fish disappeared in one moment and each new fry died. The unhappy pond-keeper was advised by a wandering pond-digger that a bad magic of dead water had to be broken by the sacrifice of an innocent baby. The pond-keeper set forth on a journey. He caught a little gypsy. He closed him into a cask and threw him to the pond, which came back to alive. There was such amount of fish as never before. The conscience of the pond's owner was just a bit oppressive, because he discontinued the devil curse by a bad turn and he abused a human life. He got old and ill thanks to his anguish. Once purely by chance he heard a story of one roaming gypsy. One foolish farmer caught him as a baby and closed into a barrel. Nevertheless its lid was purely hammered and that was why the little gypsy managed to escape. Since that time the old pond-keeper could peacefully sleep again.

Horní Planá
Höpfler, an owner of the Hamerský mill, was afraid neither of death, nor of the devil. One of the mill boys wanted to try the miller's courage. At night he dressed as a devil and with infernal mumbling entered the room. The miller approached peacefully the table and took a knife. He asked with threatening if the infernal visitor had his blood red or black. At the moment when he came near with his knife, the malicious striplings took their heels.

In one village nearby Horní Planá, there used to live two neighbours. One ran his farm poorly and used to sit in pubs. The other was industrious, diligent and moderate. His farm went from strength to strength. The good-for-nothing farmer ate the other's heart out over envy. He attributed the neighbour's success to sleight of hand and magic. In a huge malice, he set the prosperous farm alight. He asked his singed neighbour to forgive him, when he saw the outcome of his acting. He promised to give the wood from his forest for free to the construction of a new farmstead of his neighbour. At the time when the burned down neighbour with witnesses went to see the arsonist to get the confirmation upon their agreement, they found him lying down on his stomach with his face pushed into a vent in the ice of a shallow little brook. The Satan himself forced him to suicide. That way the devil did not lose the soul, which could be redeemed thanks to the neighbour's pardon.

There were two boys of the same age in service at the farm. One was skinny and crawly. He was disappearing day by day. The other just flourished with health and energy. The ill one confided the following to his strong friend. Each Saturday at midnight, the farmer's spouse changes him into a horse and rides him to the top of the Třístoličník hill to join the Sabbath of witches. The strong farm boy wanted to help him. One Saturday they exchanged their places in bed. The farmer's wife really changed the strong boy into a horse at midnight. They reached Třístoličník and she tight him up to a tree. The farm boy watched the odiousness performed in course of the witches' meeting. He succeeded to throw down the bridle. He switched to his human form, put the horses tackle over the neck of farmer's spouse and in that moment changed her into a horse. By beating and kicking, he rushed her in the air to Horní Planá. He woke up a smith and asked him to shoe the defending horse. Next day the farmer went to wake up his wife and he found her with nailed horse-shoes on her hands and feet. The farmer's spouse was, as a witch serving Satan, condemned and burned to death in the public.

The pious parish priest from Horní Planá made a firm resolution to crush witches, who spread that time and harmed people. Those, bringing the storm clouds and bludgeoned the harvest with a hailstorm, were the most feared. Those kinds of storms never came to Horní Planá. The priest consacred the church's bells with a special blessing and their resonation had a power to chase away any storm with the witches as well. One day the foul weather came suddenly and the sacristan running from the field did not reach the bellringer in time. The parish priest shot a consacred glass bowl into the clouds. The wind stopped and one extremely hideous old woman floated down in front of the church. People collected a huge heap of wood due to the fact that she was recognised as a witch and they wanted to burn her up to death. Her last wish to get a ball of wool, was fulfilled. She threw it to the sky and went up to the clouds. Although the infernal powers saved her servant but the harvest remained untouched.

Hořice na Šumavě
The Hořice inhabitants were afraid of one burgher, who knew how to use his unusual collected knowledge to his profit. Thanks to the consecrated chalk and magic, he froze a thief, who wanted to take away a pig from the pigpen, for the whole night. In the morning he let him go by a formula. Nevertheless that citizen accidentally killed a poor old lady stealing his clovers. He overslept and the transfixed thief was burned up to ash by the morning sun. Since that time the unhappy human being had done the atonement, i.e. twenty-five pilgrimages to Mariazell. An enormous fatigue fell on him during his last journey. Worn out with the feeling of despair he hanged himself on one tree nearby the road in the forest.

Fortified Settlement of Chlum
There is a legend about an underground passage connected the fortified settlement of Chlum. The passage was supposed to begin there and go an hour's journey away from the village.

Kájov
A monk, who believed that only Saint Holy Virgin of Kájov could grant mercy and dispensation for him, was killed on his pilgrimage and his killers cut his head off. The monk's head rolled away, sighed and screamed that it wanted the priest and confess its sins. The poor head, covered with blood and mud did not stop screaming and crying before it came to the pilgrimage church and the priest heard its wish and gave it an absolution. Then the blooded shouting mouth silenced and eyes closed. The monk's head and body that the pilgrims brought, were buried on the cemetery in Kájov.

A miserly farmer was dying in an outlying village not far from Kájov. His heirs promised to put a pillow, on which he was lying, under his head in the coffin. When they began to look for their inheritance and could not find it they thought the dead man took it with him. They dug up the coffin and opened it. The dead man laid on his tummy in it hugging the pillow full of money so tightly that the relatives had to close the coffin and bury the miserly man with his money again.

A coach used to be seen pulled by horses bellowing fire at nights by the ruins of Kájov. A lady dressed in black with a gold key in her hand was sitting in the coach. From time to time a vine cellar full of barrels of vine was opened under the ruins. But the entrance was watched by a mad black dog. Once a poor woman happily took a full apron of ducats from that place, but she noticed a grey little man shouting after her that she carried only chicken's droppings. Indeed! She did not have anything else in her apron. She threw everything away but at home she found one gold ducat hidden behind the ribbon. Another day a little boy brought four yellow rings that he found under the ruins and when he showed them at home they were gold ducats. A very unpleasant thing happened to a young farm servant who sang a song on that place - an invisible hand smacked him heavily and he had to run away from a dog with blazing eyes.

The church was heavily damaged during the fire of the Kájov vicarage and school. The new church began to be built on the same place where the Corpus Christi chapel is until today. The work went on quickly but at night a strange noise could be heard. In the morning they found the construction in ruins. The stones were moved to another place. It happened for three nights so at the end they decided to build the church on the same place where the stones were moved. Other legend says about a roofer who fell down from the roof before the church was finished. People around were horrified with what happened but the workman got up unharmed, took his tools and went on in his work again.

Miraculous water was in the stone well near the church. Many people came to the well to drink that water. One of them was the mayor from near-by village Záhorkov. He was paralysed in both legs and suffered very much as he had to stay in bed all day. One night he had a life-like dream - he saw a sculpture of the merciful Holy Virgin of Kájov who talked to him and called him to wash himself in the miraculous water from the Kájov well. The man did as she said because he admired her very much. She was said to shine with the light of heaven surrounded by singing angels. A farm servant brought water from the well and the mayor washed himself. He fell asleep and when he woke up he found out that he was healthy and could walk again.

Fortified Settlement of Kladenské Rovné
Once upon a time an old maid fell into a pond that was later dried out and changed into meadows. Because she did not want to get drowned she asked the local green-coated manikin for help. The water sprite took her to his house, sat her to a spinning-wheel and told her to spin flax for his new suit. The poor woman spun for three years but there was still too much flax left. Once she had a dream to turn the skein about. She did so and suddenly she was finished with her work. At that moment she appeared at home again and had a bag full of ducats with her.

Once the Holy Virgin saved a young woman from the village from an evil spirit. The woman was cutting grass and suddenly the earth under her started to shake and a young strangely laughing devil of a fellow appeared in front of her. Half-dead she unwittingly clasped a nearby stone. When she got over the shock, the devil disappeared inside the stone, she was leaning against and she saw bare foot prints on the ground. In a distance she saw a woman dressed in a long coat and carrying a baby.

Kleť
On the highest mountain of the Blanský les (forest), there was a strong castle, where the ruler Hrozen governed. He had an only daughter, a kind-hearted and lovely one. They used to call her Krasava. There was a lot of suitors courting her favour, particularly a well-built young man with sun-tanned cheeks and a sparkling look. There was a rumour going about that he was the Beelzebub himself. At the moment when the infernal ruler noticed that his transformation was given away, he swore to retaliate for getting the cold shoulder from Krasava. One day, when everybody went away to hunt, the Beelzebub raised hell storm above Kleť. He was breaking the strong castle walls and throwing stones to all cardinal points. A wandering monk going around by coincidence lifted up the Cross and chased the Beelzebub to Hell. The boulders, lying down until nowadays on the top of Kleť, are the fragments of the powerful seat scattered by Satan.

Castle and Monastery of Kuklov
When the Swedish soldiers came to the Kuklov castle they killed a number of monks and the rest of friars who did not have enough time to escape using an underground passage were captured and hanged up on a big lime tree in front of the monastery. One of the rescued monks, a devoted monk Erazim, settled in the deep forest called Blanský les (Blanský forest) after this tragedy. He built himself a hermitage on a glade and lived there only with the company of a domesticated hind deer. Very soon he became in demand as a spiritual adviser for many people from surrounding villages. But in winter he was killed by wild animals. People buried the pieces of his body beside his hermitage. Since then this place has been called The Black Man's to remember the devoted hermit who was called black because of the colour of his order's habits.

Little Castle of Louzek
On a sheer rock above the Malše river are the ruins of the little castle of Louzek the owner of which was a cruel and bad knight. Once a pilgrim from Jerusalem came to the castle and warned the cruel castle Master of rightful punishment. But the knight did not care and put the poor pilgrim into the castle cellar where he suffered from snakes, scorpions, bats, salamanders, toads and rats. When the prisoner died all of those horrible animals spread all over the castle. Scared inhabitants escaped and the repulsive varmint ate the cruel Master alive. Since then the castle has not been settled and nobody can help the last owner who walks at night in the ruins crying and screaming.

Once on Christmas Eve the pigs ran from a farm yard under the castle, ran away and a young herdsman ran after them to catch them. He could not find the lost herd it was only at the next Christmas Eve that the pigs and the herdsman appeared again in the yard. The boy told that he ran after the pigs in the underground cellars of the little castle of Louzek but he did not know that it took all year.

Fearsome robbers settled down in the ruins of the castle. There was a passage underground leading to an old lime tree. Every night the robbers stretched out a wire with a bell on the end. When the bell began to ring they ran out of their hidden places and robbed the poor traveller, killed him and buried him under the roots of the lime tree. When the robber band broke up the treasure was left in the underground passages. Whoever would find the remains of that lime tree and also the underground passages could take this treasure with them but they have to give a half of it for the benefit of the church.

Pernek
Peculiar, however effective fire prevention precautions were taken by one chimney sweep. After a bolt of lightening, a wooden house in the middle of the village started to go on fire. The chimney sweep shortly said a prayer and started to run, as fast as he could, around the already burning buildings. He made sure that the part of a house, which was still untouched by fire, had to be always on his one side. The blaze seemed to bar him from finishing the cycle around the village. Nevertheless the entire fire, when the chimney sweep passed by, commenced to go out and diminish. It happened that only four buildings were burned down and the rest were saved.

Little Castle of Pořešín
A huge stone above the Malše river has on its top a pit where the robbers living in the Pořešín castle washed away the blood to enter the castle with clean hands. The stone was called the bloody bowl. A master of Pořešín together with his robber band attacked merchant couches on the trading path to Austria. The legend says that when the Pořešín castle was captured by force the robbing knight was hanged up on a wild pear tree, but it also was said that his head was cut off beside that bloody stone and it was thrown away to feed crows. The knight of Pořešín has to walk around the ruins of the castle every night because of what he did. Once a young herdsman came to the castle ruins to find a treasure. A frightful monster of a woman appeared in front of him and she advised how to free the spellbound knight and get the treasure. When the herdsman did nearly everything that he was told to do he suddenly heard a voice behind him telling him that his cattle is in a wheat field. Because the young boy cared about his work, he forgot his mission and turned back. It was all up at the same time and the knight was not freed and the treasure remained in the same place as before. The curse could be cancelled only by children who were dandled in a cradle made of a wood of three lime trees growing in the village. Some farmer planted three lime trees but he made wash-tubs of them so the knight of Pořešín still waits for his freedom.

Rožmberk nad Vltavou Castle
As with the other castles and chateaux owned by the Rosenbergs, the White Lady appears in Rožmberk castle and walks around the castle every night and announces coming events by the colour of her dress. The black clothing means something tragic, on the other hand the white colour brings good news. According to the legend she was seen last at the time of World War II when with her presence, she expressed her disagreement with the Nazi flag hanging on the tower. The inspiration for the White Lady is Perchta von Rosenberg (1429 - 1476), a daughter of Ulrich II. von Rosenberg who worried herself to death during her unhappy marriage.

Rožmitál na Šumavě
Sometime in the past, while in a meadow a miller saw a snake with the little gold crown on its head. He unfolded his scarf on the land, the snake crawled closer and put its little crown there. The miller ran fast home with his scarf. He firmly closed the door and all windows. In that moment thousands of snakes rushed against the closed door and windows of his house, against the man, who robbed their queen's crown. However it was in vain. Since that time all has been very well at the mill.

Rychnov nad Malší
The story of one merchant, who shared his piece of bread with a mouse running around, is chiselled out into a stone at the church of Holy Trinity. The mouse brought him in return small pieces of gold from her shelter. The merchant uncovered the earth with the help of a stick and found a gold treasury. He portioned out its half to poor people in Rychnov and he ordered to build a church for the other half.

At the time when Our Lady walked around the village, she went up on a giant stone to look around. The stone split in two parts and a rift was created. It has been becoming wider since that time. The end of the World will come, when the crack has such dimension that a fully loaded vehicle goes through.

Svatý Kámen Pilgrimage Church
In 1634 a bricklayer from Rychnov nad Malší called Šimon Stepinger chopped down a tree growing near the Holy stone to have some wood for fuel. But when he made a fire of that tree at home his three years old daughter came to the fire so close that her dress inflamed. Despairing father of the heavily burnt child reproached himself that he chopped the tree on the holy place and he was very sorry for that. He ardently implored Panna Maria Těšitelka (Holy Virgin the Comforter) of grieved people to save his child. His prayer was heard and the daughter got well very soon. The news about that spread very quickly and people started to visit this holy stone and they pray the Holy Virgin for help.

Velešín
The will-o'-the-wisp's lights appeared at night around Velešín. They were souls of people, who in course of their life reset the borderlines marking their field. After the death, the souls of those thieves changed into erratic lights appearing just in the places, where they stole parts of a field or meadow from their neighbours.

The other will-o'-the-wisps are souls of suicides buried outside the consacred land of the cemetery. The souls will not find piece until their bodies are properly buried.

One night a carman went up to the Netřebice hill from Velešín. He had so many erratic lights on his vehicle that he could not continue. He started to pray as he was afraid a lot. The more he prayed the more the will-o'-the-wisps came. Then the carman started to curse. The will-o'-the-wisps immediately disappeared and he could continue his journey.

The erratic lights were seen nearby Velešín for the last time in February 1882.

Little Castle "Vítkův Hrádek"
A story, telling about a family tendency to suicide and about a human anger, is from the secluded place called Pink Hill. A poor woodland worker and his many children used to live there. One day his wife died and they found him hanged in the forest. His brother thought in the morgue, what a shame on the whole family. He slapped the face of the dead person. Since that moment he had been constantly thinking about his dead brother. He was sorry about doing that and that he did not take care of brother's children. After certain time he hanged himself in his house. The youngest brother, lead probably with the family tradition, to show the curious people how much better he is than his dead family members, slapped twice the face of the dead person. The malevolent people put him down and called him names, laughed at his suffering in such extent that he hung himself on a linden behind the village. None of those dead persons was allowed to have a grave in consacred land. All of them were buried without a priest in a lonely place.

In a forest that surrounded the ruins of the little castle of Vítkův Hrádek and from the Saint Thomas church people could hear cries and lamentations. A forester who wanted find out what was going on, stayed hidden not far from the church and at midnight he saw a phantom without a head sitting on a stone, wearing priest's habits and saying the words of a mass. When the priest finished his prayer he already had his head with sad face on his shoulders. He saw the forester and he blamed him for interrupting his a hundred years lasting atonement. He atones for he desecrated his mission of a priest because of a woman and he committed suicide. Now as the punishment he has to celebrate a mass in the forest for a thousand nights. On an advice of a parish people from surrounding villages became to pray every day for this lost priest and from that time cries and call from the forest was not heard.

Vyšší Brod Monastery
The little wooden pilgrims chapel of Saint Anna, where the nobleman Wok used to come once in a while, was located on the place that would become the monastery in Vyšší Brod. The level of the river went up after much rain. The ford was high and the rider with his horse was carried away by a wild current. Wok made a promise in anxiety. If he gets save from the danger, then he will build a monastery with a church by the side of the little chapel. The other legend says that lord Wok von Rosenberg established the Monastery as thanks for his happy return from the military in Bavaria.

Strange things happened in a small wood nearby Vyšší Brod. Two women collecting wood suddenly noticed a hunter, who stood at the entrance gate of an admirable beautiful town with palaces and towers. He welcomed both women. They were scared and lost each other in fear. Just when one of them took off her jacket and turned over the right hand sleeve, the phantom was gone and she recognised the way out of the forest. Both persons wandered around in that grove for one whole day.

A cruel and greedy farmer from one village close to Vyšší Brod was dying. When the priest, who came to give him the last confession, opened the case with the prepared Host, he found out that it was not there. He hurried back to the church for another one, but the farmer died in the meantime. The new owner of the farm in course of constructional work found a snow-white untouched consacred wafer under the threshold. He brought it to the church. One woman confessed to the priest that she suggested it to that mean farmer. She told him to insert the consecrate wafer under the threshold of his cowshed for the livestock to do well. That explained, why the unbeliever could not obtain the last rites.

A woman with a baby in her arms sat on a high stone not far from Vyšší Brod. Herdsmen disturbed her at her rest by hullabaloos and crackling of their whips. At the moment when they reached the place where the woman and her baby were seen, they were silent immediately. After the Virgin Mary, the traces of her naked feet and a stool were impressed onto the stone.

Zlatá Koruna Monastery
Přemysl Otakar II, the iron and golden king, as thanks for the triumph over the Hungarians in the battle at Kressenbrunn, fulfilled his promises to establish a famous monastery. The monastery received the name Holy Crown or Crown of Thorns, like a saintly relic, a thorn from the crown of thorns carried by Christ on his head during the crucifixion. The sovereign Přemysl gave it to the monastery as a gift. The relic was inserted into gold and that is why the original name did not catch on. People soon started to call the monastery of Zlatá Koruna (Golden Crown) and that name remains until now.

An abbot of Zlatá Koruna was told that Wilhelm von Rosenberg, for whom the monastery built on his family's estates was like a thorn in his flash, made an emperor believe that the monastery was almost abandoned and nobody used it. An imperial officer was already on his way to the monastery to work out the situation. Before he came to the place, the abbot called all monks from neighbourhood, also his serfs from the villages together and clothed all of them in the priest's habits. He sat them to read the big Latin books and told them that nobody was allowed to speak not to reveal their lack of knowledge. The imperial officer saw everywhere the groups of monks reading the Latin books but he did not have any courage to ask anybody a question to hide his own ignorance. The reports he gave to the emperor were probably positive because the monastery of Zlatá Koruna remained safe and the Rosenberg´s struggles came to nothing.

One big lime tree at the monastery courtyard was connected to a legend explaining the teardrop-shape of some its leaves. It is in remembrance of the monks who were hanged and killed there by the Hussites in the 15th century. The teardrop-shaped leaves are often on the lime trees and the reason for this is a kind of illness of that tree - a virus, that causes the concretion of the top parts of the leaves and forms a so-called scoop. Even the age of that lime tree does not correspond with those events because it was planted about 200 years ago.

Zvonková
The Swedish troops went there on a waterlogged road during the Thirty Years' War. Their wagons sank into mud. There was no other chance than throw away part of their loot. A couple of years later, a bell was detected in the earth in the course of repair of the damaged road. The settlement was one of the possesions of Johann Christian I. von Eggenberg. One day during his visit to his property, he admired wonderful bunch of little blue bells, which he received as a present from his subjects. Then he looked around and noticed that even the forests surrounding that place have the shape of a bell. That gave him the idea to call the new settlement such a lovely name.

More tales and legends :
Tales and Legends of Český Krumlov Castle
Tales and Legends of Český Krumlov

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