The Devil's Footprint in Munich

The Legend

Two similar legends have been making the rounds in Munich over the ages, and both are connected to the creation of the cathedral.

Myth #1

This myth tells the tale of the devil helping with the construction of the cathedral.

The builder, Jörg von Halspach, is said to have made a pact with the devil and the deal was a finished, perfect cathedral in exchange for the first soul entering the cathedral.

The devil came to collect his reward on the opening day, but the builder pointed out that the devil's work was bad, as he had forgotten the windows.

So, while the devil stood at the entrance, he looked up, and he couldn't see the windows, which enraged him, and with all his force, he stomped into the ground, leaving the now visible black step.

Myth #2

One fine day, as the Frauenkirche cathedral was completed, but not consecrated, and the devil wanted to destroy it, he sneaked into the cathedral to destroy the church.

As he looked up from the entrance, he couldn't see the windows, so he assumed the cathedral wasn't done yet. In joy, he stomped into the floor, and that's the devil's footprint.

Later on, the devil learned that he was tricked and that the church did indeed have windows. Angered by that, he has since turned into a whirlwind, blowing cold winds around the towers of the cathedral.

What's with the cathedral windows?

After I read these old tales, I had to see why the cathedral windows seemed to have confused the devil, and, of course, I wanted to check out this legendary footprint.

When you enter the cathedral from the main entrance, you soon see the devil's footprint appearing with the imprint of a heel spur.

Standing over the footprint, you observe that the cathedral windows are not visible, which is an illusion created by the architecture of the building.

It is therefore believed that this legend might have been a joke propagated by the ones who worked on the religious structure.