Every place has its legend, a myth or just a story that parents tell their children when they do not behave very well. St. Marienthal story is about a ghost that walks in the woods near the nunnery.
The ghost’s name is Kunigunde of Hohenstaufen. You might ask yourself who she is or the better question would be “ who was she”? She was the third daughter of Philip and Irene. She was happy living a normal life with her family until one day… In 1208 she and her three sisters became orphans as her father was murdered, but unluckily for her that was just a beginning. Few months later, due to all the stress and hardship, her mother died following the birth of their fifth sister. The life was hard, really hard. And so she ended up living with her 3 sisters as an orphan.
Time passed… She got older and she decided to move to Prague. Going to Prague was one of the best decisions she had made, because there she met him, she met her fiancé, Wenceslaus. They were happy together and they lived a very good life. He was successful and in 1230 he succeeded his father as the King of Bohemia, which meant that Kunigunde became his queen then. She was really happy and she tried her best to earn his respect by coming into the possession of many properties and monasteries, but somehow that was not enough.
She had several kids, some of them died, some of them were not in a good relationship with her. She seemed to have been overwhelmed with sadness. She kept thinking about her life, about her deceased mother and father, about her sisters, about the happiness that faded away as if it’d never existed… And then she was all alone in Prague. Even her husband got indifferent and cold and forgot about her.She died on 13th September 1248 and was buried in Agnes nunnery, but neither her husband nor son attended her funeral.
The legends says that you can see her in the woods along the border with Poland. She can appear in three forms and the one you see depends on the deeds that you have done during your life. The first form is the form of a girl. You will see a little girl who is calling you, because she wants to show you the right way out of the woods. The second one is a woman in a wedding dress. She will appear if you have done something wrong and you don’t feel sorry about it. She will scare you, she will hunt you until you can feel your heartbeat thumping in your head. But she isn’t going to kill you. The third form is of a granny and if you see her, your life is over. This form means nothing but death. She will only appear in front of a person who committed the worst sins. When you see her, you will feel cold, numb and after some time you will feel something coming in through your throat and coming out through your mouth. You will see a little ball of light and then you are going to think :
“This is beautiful. What is this? How is it possible that is the first time I see something so beautiful?” and a silent voice will tell you: „You’ve always had it, but you’ve never seen it, it has always been inside you, but you’ve never appreciated it and now when you are losing it, you have the courage to be amazed. All the humans are the same, no one is aware of what they have until they lose it. Thank you for the meal, your soul is going to be a real treat, darling.“
After that you are just going to close your eyes and fall into eternal sleep. Your body? Don’t worry about it. Other ghosts are going to eat it up. Only the queen gets the soul, only Kunigunde gets the best.
-The End.-
