The Bergmönch and Wilder Mann121
Bergmönch—mountain monk.
There are numerous traditions of the Bergmönch in the mining districts.
He is always seen in the dress of a master-miner, with a silver mine-lamp in his hand.
It is said he was a master-miner, and begged to be permitted to inspect the mines until the Judgment Day. The Monk’s valley—Mönchsthal—near Clausthal, was his favourite retreat.
In St. Andreasberg the tradition is, he was a monk who sought to open the mines there, but failed.
According to this tradition, he completed nearly the entire canal at the base of the Rehberg,3 called the Rehberger Graben, which conveys all the water to St. Andreasberg for the working of the Samson mine, but became bankrupt through the undertaking.
Many wild tales are told of his bringing aid to the miners, and to the poor and distressed, and of his severity toward the wrong-doer.
In the mining town Wildemann there is a tradition of a wild man who gave the place its name.
Once a robber from the Thuringian Forest lived here in a cave with a wild woman; they were clothed with moss and the branches of fir-trees.
The knight Claus, founder of Clausthal, once saw this wild man on the Wildmann’s Cliffs, with a fir-tree, torn up by the roots, in his hand, and a bear on his. back.
Notes
2 Wilder Mann—wild man.
3 Rehberg—stag mountain.