Page 5 - GC-Mar-Apr-2026

The Legend of the Devil’s Thumb

By Daniel Schwarz him through the front doors of the
n the Imperial City of Aachen, Cathedral to run into the church.
Germany, there is a very histor- Within the blink of an eye, they
Iical Cathedral with a very heard a horrible wailing from the
strange legend. This Cathedral is a wolf, as the devil took his soul. Im-
Catholic Church and Cathedral of mediately thereafter the devil real-
the Diocese of Aachen. It was con- ized that the town’s people fooled
structed as the Royal Chapel of the him, and he became outraged. The
Palace of Aachen of Emperor Char- devil dashed out of the Cathedral
lemagne, and as his chosen burial with such anger and speed that as he
site. At the direction of Charle- flung open the large heavy bronze-
magne, construction began in the cast exterior Cathedral doors, he
790’s AD, and after resolving some severed his thumb in the mouth of
financial insufficiency, was com- one of the lion head decorative door
pleted and consecrated in 805 AD. handles.
The legend of this Cathedral deals Yes, the devil’s thumb on the
with the financial problem and how door legend (Teufelsdaumen an der
the town’s people handled it. Wolfstür – Devil’s thumb on the
As with many very large con- wolf door) has become an amusing
struction projects, money is often a tourist attraction. As a reminder of
problem. As the construction of the this legend, there are two statues in
Cathedral was getting closer to the entryway, a large pinecone rep-
completion the money that the resenting the forest animal that lost
Town’s people contributed ran out. its soul, and a wolf sitting with a
After much discussion of options, hole in his chest mourning this loss.
an opportunity suddenly arose. The It is said that you can put your finger
devil appeared to them with an offer into the lion’s mouth and still feel
to guarantee the money to complete the devil’s thumb there. But, after
the Cathedral. But why, and what more than a thousand years of peo-
were the terms to meet for this gen- demand with a secret plan to avoid pose. This purpose came when the Just before the town’s people ple poking their fingers into that
erous offer. this horrible demand of sacrificing a Cathedral Day of Consecration was and the emperor entered the Cathe- mouth, would you want to do that?
The devil simply wanted the town’s person’s soul. to take place. dral, they took the wolf and released Maybe.
first soul that would enter the cathe- When the Cathedral was just
dral upon completion! The Town’s about completed and the consecra-
people looked at each other with tion was scheduled, they sent a
disbelief. How could we ever meet hunting party deep into the neigh-
this demand? Then they started to boring dense forest to capture a
come up with a scheme to outwit the wolf. They captured it alive and
devil. They agreed to the devil’s brought it back for a special pur-

Promote your Business Here!

Call Steve or Michelle,

716-835-9454.

March - April 2026 • THE GERMAN CITIZEN • 5