The Basilisk of Vienna

The story is about the Basilisk, a mythical creature that is said to live in the sewers of Vienna. The Basilisk is a hybrid of a rooster and a lizard, with a deadly gaze that can kill anyone who looks into its eyes. The legend is that the Basilisk was born from an egg laid by a rooster and hatched by a toad. It was first sighted in the 13th century, when it terrorized the city and caused many deaths.

One of the most famous incidents involving the Basilisk happened in 1212, when a baker named Hans Resel discovered the creature in his well. He tried to kill it with a spear, but the Basilisk's gaze turned him into stone. The people of Vienna were afraid and did not know how to get rid of the monster. They consulted a wise man, who told them that the only way to defeat the Basilisk was to make it see its own reflection.

A young apprentice named Johann Rettensteiner volunteered to carry out the plan. He took a mirror and descended into the well, where he faced the Basilisk. He held up the mirror and made the Basilisk look into it. The Basilisk saw its own eyes and was instantly petrified. Johann emerged from the well as a hero and was rewarded by the city council. He later became a famous painter and sculptor.

The story of the Basilisk is still remembered today in Vienna. There is a fountain on Schönlaterngasse that depicts the scene of Johann and the Basilisk. There is also a house on Domgasse that has a relief of a rooster's head on its facade, which is said to mark the spot where the Basilisk's egg was found.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Oida!

Image
Today's word is as great as the English “ isn`t it ”. Something that you can easily append to every sentence. However, as we are taking Austrian, so the word must be better, mustn’t it? You can use Oida for everything and this repeatedly! A construct like “ Oida, wos wüst Oida ” is perfectly fine. Originally, Oida would translate to something like old man. However, in no way the person addressed needs to be old (I would even say the opposite is true) or male - remember we Austrians are politically very correct, especially colloquially. So words that imply that they are only male can be applied to females as well. A fine piece of art was produced by the guys from Trackshittaz who made a great song with the mind enriching title “Oida Taunz!” Please have a look at it yourself here:   By the way, the Trackshittaz were Austria’s nomination for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song " Woki mit deim Popo " (the title of the Song would translate to “Shake your
Read more

Rumkugeln

Image
As it is Christmas, todays entry will be a little bit christmassy: We are talking about Rumkugeln it seams some people like my pictures, I did a Google image search for rumkugeln , and look at these two pictures, it came up with on the first page: and: and on the second page, the search engine came up with: OK, I admit, these pictures don't seam to have something in common (a sweet, a cat and a drunk) but by the end of the day we are talking about Austrian, don't we? :) So, lets start with the Wortstamm again: Rum is rum and the best in the world is still made by the Angostura distillery located on the Caribbean island of Trinidad. And a Kugel is a ball or a sphere. So far, so clear, everybody expected that we have some Christmas-Cookies for this time. But now to the cat: what does it do? It is rolling around on the ground and happy, that life is so nice. And there is the point: rum is not only rum, no it is as well the short form of herum or in English around. Furthermore,
Read more

Servus

Image
As you know, Austrians are very friendly people. Part of being friendly is to have manners. Having manners includes that you greet. You also know, that Austrians are super-efficient. As such, they have multi-purpose words: You can use the same word in multiple situations. One of these words is Servus. The word comes from the Latin servant of slave. According to Wikipedia "The phrase is an ellipsis of a Latin expression servus humillimus, domine spectabilis , meaning "[your] most humble servant, [my] noble lord." No subservience is implied in its modern use, which has the force of "at your service." Servus is the origin of the word serf ." - But that sounds very complicated. Servus is great, because you can use it to say Hi when you meet somebody. You can use it when you cheers with somebody. You can use it to say Good Bye. Or to put it with the words of the late and great Peter Alexander:  Every city has their own  parting words; in Paris you
Read more