Mouse Tower
The Mouse Tower (Mäuseturm) is a stone tower on a small island in the Rhine, outside Bingen am Rhein, Germany.
History
The
In 1298 the structure became an official customs collection tower. It was destroyed by a French army in 1689, then rebuilt in 1855 as a Prussian signal tower.
Legend
The story of how it came to be called the "Mouse Tower" comes from a
The peasants became angry and were planning to rebel, so Hatto devised a cruel trick. He promised to feed the hungry people and told them to go to an empty barn and wait for him to come with food. The peasants were overjoyed and praised Hatto heartily. They made their way to the barn to await his coming. When he arrived with his servants, he ordered the barn's doors shut and locked, then set the barn on fire and burned the peasants to death, derisively commenting on their death cries with the words "Hear the mice squeak!" (This quote exists in several slight variations.)
When Hatto returned to his castle, he was immediately besieged by an army of
- They have whetted their teeth against the stones,
- And now they pick the bishop’s bones;
- They gnawed the flesh from every limb,
- For they were sent to punish him![2]
The "Mouse Tower" story about a cruel overlord has been told about numerous rulers, this being the most famous version, although there is no historical evidence for it. The story's reference to Hatto's demand for tribute or a toll ("Maut" in German) of passing ships from the tower, as well as its later use as a customs collection tower, provide a suggested etymological origin for its name, with "Mautturm" (toll tower) eventually becoming "Mäuseturm". A previous Hatto was Hatto I Archbishop of Mainz, whose cruelty was also long remembered in Saxony.
In addition to being immortalized in the above poem by Robert Southey, an allusion to this tale can be found in "The Children's Hour" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
- They almost devour me with kisses,
- Their arms about me entwine,
- Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
- In his Mouse Tower on the Rhine![3]
See also
- Popiel, for a similar legend about a Polish medieval duke
References
- ^ Jones, William Basil (1875). New Testament Illustrations: Comprising Choice Selections, Anecdotes, Similes, Incidents Explanatory and Illustrative, Gathered from Many Sources in this and Other Countries, Together with Original Articles Prepared Expressly for this Work, by which More Than One Thousand Selected Passages from the New Testament are Illustrated. Hartford: J.B. Burr Publishing Company. p. 867.
- ^ "God's Judgment on a Wicked Bishop. Robert Southey (1774-1843). Poems of Tragedy: IV. Germany. Bliss Carman, et al., eds. 1904. The World's Best Poetry. IX. Tragedy: Humor". 9 September 2022.
- ^ https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Children%27s_Hour_(Longfellow)