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The Devil’s Footprint in Frauenkirche in Munich

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Inside one of Munich’s landmark churches, something devilish is said to be stamped on the floor. In the middle of the room, a black footprint is clearly seen, named The Devil’s Footprint, as he was said to have left it there. 

The Frauenkirche  officially the Cathedral of Our Lady, also known as Munich Cathedral is a late Gothic church building in Munich’s Old Town and is one of the landmarks of the Bavarian capital , Munich. It is also said to be full of fantastical legends and ghosts. 

Read More: Check out all ghostly legends from Germany

Munich’s iconic cathedral is famous not only for its twin towers but also for the mysterious “Devil’s Footprint” near the entrance. According to legend, the Devil himself left the mark after being tricked during the church’s construction. 

Legend of the Church: Several legends explain the reason for the new church’s construction. In the packed old church, a false fire alarm sounded one day. The most beautiful girl in Munich was trampled to death in the panicked rush of people fleeing the church. Duke Sigismund, in his youth, had been in love with a girl of lower social standing. She refused marriage, however, fearing she would be treated like Agnes Bernauer, who was cruelly murdered by her father-in-law, Duke Ernst, because of her low social class. Because the girl who died in the church reminded Duke Sigismund of his unhappy love and he felt her death should not have been in vain, he founded the Frauenkirche in her memory.

The Devil’s Footprint

In 1468 architect Jorg von Halspach went looking for money to build a new cathedral in Munich and ended up making a bargain with the Devil. The cathedral’s master builder had promised him a church without windows. Also, In exchange for his help, the devil was to receive the soul of the first person to enter the church.

Jörg von Halspach: (*before 1441 probably in Halsbach near Altötting ; † 6 October 1488 in Munich), also called Halsbach, Ganghofer or ‘Jörg von Polling’, was a Munich master builder and architect of the Late Gothic period. His principal work is the Frauenkirche in Munich, which was built between 1468 and 1494. For its vaulting , he traveled to Ulm and Augsburg , where he studied St. Ulrich’s Church and the cathedral. Master Jörg is buried beneath the north tower.

On February 9, 1468, Duke Sigismund and Bishop Tulbeck laid the foundation stone for the new St. Mary’s Church, and the old church was demolished in 1472. Construction progressed relatively quickly.

But when the devil inspected the work and stood where the imprint was, he saw not a single ray of light. He laughed and stamped his foot in glee until he took another step – and suddenly discovered windows hidden behind the pillars. Enraged by the master builder’s deception, he unleashed a storm to destroy the building. The storm subsided, but the devil’s wrath remains – even today, a cold wind always blows around the cathedral.

The black footprint, or Der Teufelstritt, is still there in the middle of the entrance hall, although they cover it up during church masses. Visitors often pause at the footprint, but some claim the atmosphere changes dramatically around it, with sudden chills, feelings of unease, and an overwhelming sense of being watched. Whether folklore or something more sinister, the legend continues to draw curious believers.

Source

Although the columns are not blocking the windows in real life, a huge altar used to conceal it from 1620 to 1858. The footprint itself is a reconstructed one, after the rooftop collapsed in the second world war, and was first ended in 1994. But when the original footprint was set, no one really knows. 

The Haunted Cemetery

The story of the Devill’s Footprint is not the only story from this church though. Outside of it, it used to be an old cemetery, the “Frauenfreihof,” as the cemetery by the cathedral was still called at the beginning of the 19th century. 

Back then, the cemetery was considered extremely haunted by an  eerie figure in the nightcap who made Munich residents avoid the area after dark. 

The Cemetery: Numerous epitaphs are mounted along the lower outer walls on the north, east, and south sides. They commemorate the cemetery that once surrounded the church. For hygiene reasons, the cemetery was slated for relocation, but the townspeople successfully resisted this on several occasions. However, since 1773, burials were permitted only in family plots, and the area was paved in 1800.

But then there was this merchant with his shop on Weinstraße opposite the old police station. One night, after a visit to the tavern, he wandered through the cemetery, probably on a whim fueled by beer as he used to indulge in after closing his shop.

To impress his drinking friends, he would take the route through the haunted cemetery. And as fate would have it, a white figure wearing a pointed cap sat motionless on one of the gravestones. The merchant, with enough courage-boosting alcohol in his blood, gave the apparition a resounding slap. The stranger’s cap slipped off his head, revealing a grinning skull. 

Read Also: Similar stories exists in several stories, like with The Icelandic Ghost Story of The White Cap

Now it was time for the shopkeeper to make a run for it. Arriving at his house, he thought himself safe. The ghost couldn’t get in through it because, according to old pious custom, it was marked with three crosses and the names of the Three Wise Men, bearing the effective demon-banishing incantation “C+M+B.” But the ghost is quite clever: it climbs through the window into the merchant’s bedchamber, who, quick-wittedly, throws a picture of the Madonna, the Holy Mother of God of Altötting at it. 

When he awoke the next day, the picture was hanging on his wall. The apparition vanished and was said to never appear again, but the man is henceforth known by his nickname: Schlafhaubenkramer, or “Sleepcap Merchant”.

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References:

Tour in München – Schön schaurig – Landkreis München – SZ.de

 Sagen & Geschichten – Eintrag bearbeiten 

Der Teufelstritt (The Devil’s Footprint) in Munich

Teufelstritt – Wikipedia 

Jörg von Halspach – Wikipedia 

Frauenkirche (München) – Wikipedia

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