Two women meet by chance at the ruins of Sprengelburg, between Eßweiler and Oberweiler im Tal. They know each other, and one of them is from Eßweiler.
“Can you tell me what this ruin represents?”
“Well, that is the Sprengelburg, a robber baron’s castle from the Middle Ages. Robber knights from Mülenstein are said to have lived there, and they were somehow connected with the Count Palatine of Grumbach.”
“Robber knights? What was there to rob here?”
“There is said to have been an important connecting road between the Glan and the Lauter running through here,” the woman from Eßweiler explains and continues. “The robber knights repeatedly attacked and robbed merchants. The merchants from Strasbourg did not tolerate this any longer and, in a night-and-fog operation, destroyed the castle.”
“And how do you know all this?”
“About fifty years ago, an American university—I think it was the University of Maryland—carried out excavations. Some of the foundation walls were uncovered and restored.”
“And who takes care of the rebuilt parts now?”
“As far as I know, the municipalities of Eßweiler and Oberweiler im Tal, together with the heritage preservation authority. But there is also a legend that a woman is said to have lived here when the castle was destroyed. The Americans also found the skeleton of a woman there.”
“That is interesting. What happened to her then?”
“The people in the village missed her, and nothing was ever heard of her having settled anywhere else. For a while, people probably still talked about her, but eventually she was forgotten. Over time, however, a story developed around her. When fog formed on the opposite forest slope in late fall and during winter, children were told that the White Lady was roaming there and calling to them. Anyone who followed her would never return.”
“That is frightening. Didn’t that terrify the children?”
“In the past, there were many stories used to scare children and force them into obedience.”
The two women remained for a while at the historic site in front of the Sprengelburg, talking together, and then they went their separate ways.
