German Legends, no. 493
The Women of Weinsberg
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
When King Conrad III defeated the Duke of Welf (in the year 1140) and
placed Weinsberg under siege, the wives of the besieged castle negotiated
a surrender which granted them the right to leave with whatever they could
carry on their shoulders. The king allowed them that much. Leaving
everything else aside, each woman took her own husband on her shoulders
and carried him out. When the king's people saw what was happening, many
of them said that that was not what had been meant and wanted to put a
stop to it. But the king laughed and accepted the women's clever trick. "A
king," he said, "should always stand by his word."
- Source: "Die Weiber zu Weinsperg," Deutsche
Sagen, vol. 2 (Berlin: In der Nicolaischen Buchhandlung,1818), no.
481, p. 180. In later editions this legend is numbered 493.
- Translated by D. L.
Ashliman. © 2001.
- The Grimms' source: Cölner Chronik (1499).
- Weinsberg is a town near Heilbronn in southwest Germany. The castle
above Weinsberg is called "Burg Weibertreu," which translates roughly as
"Castle Women's Faithfulness." Legends about similar rescues of besieged
men by their courageous and clever wives are told about many other castles
and fortified cities in Europe. Such stories are classified as
Aarne-Thompson-Uther type 875* folktales.
Revised March 1, 2009.