Tracing the Song of the Nibelungs
The Nibelungenlied is the best-known German heroic epic. Many places that serve as settings in the story are still there to remind us of the 2,400 verses from the 13th century. Following in literary footsteps.
The Nibelungs on stage
Love, hate, murder and greed for power: The medieval Nibelungenlied, or Song of the Nibelungs, contains all the components of a thriller. It still inspires writers and directors. From the 18th to the 28th of July, the saga will be performed at the Nibelungen Festival in Worms. The open-air spectacle has taken place every summer since 2002, with Worms Cathedral as an imposing backdrop.
Worms – Home to Kriemhild and Gunther
The decision to stage the Nibelungen Festival in Worms makes perfect sense. This is where the saga begins, when Kriemhild, a member of the Burgundian royal house like her brothers Gunther, Gernot and Giselher, has a fateful dream. The royal court no longer exists, but the thousand-year-old Worms Cathedral does. The square in front of its north portal was used for jousting in the Nibelungenlied.
A hero from Xanten
Xanten is where Siegfried starts off for Worms to woo Kriemhild. No traces can be found of his royal castle, but that does not keep the town from marketing its hero and the saga. The Siegfried Museum takes you through the history of the Nibelungenlied and its reception over 600 years, and if you want to explore the town, you can take the Nibelungen Express to see Xanten's other sights.
A visit to the dragon Fafnir
When he travels to Worms, Siegfried already has many adventures behind him. On one of them he slew the dragon Fafnir. Siegfried bathed in its blood, which rendered him invulnerable – except for a spot on his back where a linden leaf had fallen. This story is linked to the Drachenfels, or Dragon's Rock, a hill near Königswinter. A 13-meter-long stone dragon near its summit is a reminder of it.
A memorial to Wagner's Nibelungen
A shady path that winds around Nibelung Hall leads to the dragon statue. This temple-like hall was opened in 1913 to mark the hundredth birthday of the famous composer Richard Wagner, who based the four operas of his Ring Cycle – Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung – on the Nibelungenlied. Twelve large murals commemorate his work.
A fairy-tale castle
And there is more to see on the Drachenfels in the Siebengebirge uplands. Schloss Drachenburg is a 19th century manor built like a fairy-tale castle with a Nibelung room. Ten impressive murals from the saga decorate the room, to which the men used to retire to smoke. The master of the house wanted the murals to express loyalty to the state, political convictions and manliness.
In Worms, the tragedy takes its course
In Worms, Siegfried is allowed to marry Kriemhild, but first has to help the Burgundians in their military campaigns and defeat the powerful queen Brunhild. She wants revenge on Siegfried. Hagen von Tronje, the king's advisor, promises to kill the hero. In Worms, besides the cathedral, many street names, monuments and buildings such as the Nibelung Tower (pictured) commemorate the epic.
Murder in Grasellenbach
Hagen could have murdered Siegfried at Siegfried's Fountain in Grasellenbach, stabbing him with a spear in his only vulnerable spot. Scheming yet fiercely true to his king, Hagen is one of the epic's most vivid characters. The term “Nibelung loyalty” was misused by the Nazis to mean unquestioning loyalty to the Third Reich. That makes it hard to erect visible monuments to the saga.
The Nibelungenlied meets Rhine romanticism
We often have to make do with looking at the scenery where the saga is set. That's not so bad, because it is often well worth a trip. The first part of the saga, until Siegfried's death, takes place mainly in the Rhineland. The Upper Middle Rhine Valley, with its many castles, vineyards and half-timbered houses, is especially beautiful. In 2002 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
A treasure in the Rhine?
After Siegfried's death, his widow Kriemhild receives the hoard, or treasure, which he had taken from the legendary King Nibelung. Hagen senses danger, steals the treasure and throws it into the Rhine. No one knows where, but many treasure-hunters have tried to find it — so far, to no avail. This bronze statue of Hagen on the banks of the Rhine in Worms recalls his deed.
A tragic ending along the Danube
But Hagen cannot avert calamity. Kriemhild plots revenge. She marries Etzel, king of the Huns, lures the Burgundians to his court and kills all of them. The area between Passau (pictured), Vienna and Gran, or Esztergom, in Hungary is depicted with great local knowledge in the second part of the saga, while the description of the Rhine is more vague.
Prunn Castle and the Nibelungenlied
That local knowledge suggests that the saga originated in the Danube area. There are only twelve complete manuscripts. One of them is what is called the “Prunner Codex”. It is now in the Bavarian State Library in Munich, but it was found in Prunn Castle near Regensburg. In the exhibition “Prunn Castle and the Nibelungenlied" visitors can immerse themselves in the world of the Nibelungs.