Bock (Luxembourg)
Encyclopedia
The Bock is a promontory
in the north-eastern corner of Luxembourg City's old historical district. Offering a natural fortification, its rocky cliffs tower above the River Alzette
which surrounds it on three sides. It was here that Count Siegfried
built his Castle of Lucilinburhuc in 963, providing a basis for the development of the town which became Luxembourg. Over the centuries, the Bock and the surrounding defences were reinforced, attacked and rebuilt time and time again as the armies of the Burgundians
, Habsburgs, Spaniards, Prussia
ns and French vied for victory over one of Europe's most strategic strongholds. Warring did not stop until the Treaty of London was signed in 1867, calling for the demolition of the fortifications. Ruins of the old castle and the vast underground system of passages and galleries known as the casemate
s continue to be a major tourist attraction.
It was in 963 that Count Siegfried
, in search of a site from which he could defend his properties, obtained the Bock and its surroundings from St Maximin's Abbey
in Trier
in exchange for the land he owned at Feulen
in the Ardennes
to the north. The Romans
, then the Franks
, had probably already inhabited the Bock although there is only scant archeological evidence of their presence. There are however traces of a 4th-century Roman watchtower close to the point in the Fish Market
where two major Roman roads used to cross, one from Reims
to Trier
and the other from Metz
to Liège
.
The first historical mention of the Bock is indeed in connection with a watchtower or fortification on the Roman road from Reims
to Trier
which, in 723, was ceded by Charles Martel
, Duke of the Franks, to the Abbey of St Maximin in Trier. Two centurues later, Count Siegfried, who had properties "in Feulen
, Hosingen
and Monnerich
in the Pagus Wabrensis
, in Sarreburg
, Berncastel
and Roussy
in the Pagus Mosellanus", was looking for a location for a castle able to withstand any onslaught which would serve as a central point for his holdings. After failing to obtain a site near the Abbey of Stavelot
, now in the Belgian province of Liège
, he approached the Abbot of St Maximin's for the purchase of the property high up on the Bock cliff above the Alzette River, described as a "castle by name Lucinilburbuc" (castellum quod dicitur Lucinilburbuc). It therefore seems as if there was already a castle on the site before Siegfried became interested in it and that it was not Siegfried who called it Lucinilburbuc. After the consent of Emperor Otto I
had been obtained, the deed was signed by Viker, Abbot of St Maximin's, on 7 April 963. Siegfried acquired the site in exchange for some of his properties at Feulen.
Over the centuries, Siegfried's fortified castle on the Bock was considerably enlarged and protected with additional walls and defences. In 987, the castle chapel was built at the nearby Fish Market
. Today's St Michael's Church
stands on the same site. Under Conrad I
, the castle became the residence of the Counts of Luxembourg. It was damaged, destroyed, captured and rebuilt on several occasions as the Burgundians
(1473), the Habsburgs (1477), and the Spaniards (1555) attacked and took the fortress.
As time passed, the fortifications needed to be adapted to new methods of war based on increasingly strong fire power. During the 1640s under the Spaniards, the Swiss engineer Isaac von Treybach significantly reworked the defences. The Bock was also strengthened with three forts, the Large Bock, Middle Bock and Small Bock (from west to east), separated from each other by cuts in the rock and linked by bridges. As a result, little remained of the medieval castle.
A little later in 1684, on behalf of Louis XIV, Vauban succeeded in capturing the city of Luxembourg during a month-long siege under which the Bock fortifications were completely flattened. Thereafter Vauban, perhaps the most competent fortification engineer of his day, undertook major additions to the defences, realizing that underground passages and chambers were just as important as the surface installations. The Large Bock, connected to the old town by the Pont du Château, was further reinforced. Enclosed by a wall 12 m (39 ft) high, it was the major component of the new fortress.
In addition to these structures, the Bock also included a system of casemate
s which originated in the cellars of the medieval castle. In 1744, during the Austrian period, these underground passages were considerably enlarged by General Neipperg
. The main passage. which still remains, is 110 m long and up to 7 m wide. Branches leading off on either side were equipped with no less than 25 canon slots, 12 to the north and 13 to the south, offering considerable fire power. In the event of war, the Bock casemates, covering an area of 1,100 m2, could be used as barracks for several hundred soldiers. Water was supplied from a well 47 m deep.
Thanks to its defences, in 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars
, the city held out against the French siege
for seven months. When the garrison finally surrendered, the walls were still unbreached. This led the French politician and engineer Lazare Carnot
to call the Luxembourg fortress "the best in the world, apart from Gibraltar
". As a result, it has often been called the Gibraltar of the North
.
The fortifications were finally demolished under the terms of the Treaty of London in 1867. The demolition took 16 years and cost the enormous sum of 1.5 million gold francs.
in 1684 but it was from 1737 to 1746 that the Austrians completed the extraordinary complex of underground passages and galleries known as the casemates. With a total length of 23 km (14.3 mi) and depths of up to 40 m (131 ft), they accommodated 50 canons and a garrison of 1,200 men. In addition, they had underground facilities for housing equipment and horses as well as workshops, kitchens, bakeries and slaughterhouses. When the surface fortifications were dismantled in 1875, most of the underground defences remained largely untouched, 17 km (10.6 mi) of passageways remaining. In 1994, the casemates were added to the list of UNESCO's world heritage site
s, attracting some 100,000 visitors a year.
In 1933, the Bock casemates were opened to the public. During the Second World War
, they were used as a bomb shelter able to accommodate up to 35,000 people. Renovation work and repairs were undertaken in 2008–2009 including the opening up of the mine galleries which contained explosives able to blow up part of the Bock in case of need.
Today the Bock casemates can be visited from March to October from the Rue Sigefroid. The stairs down from the entrance lead to the huge Archeological Crypt where wall plates give an overview of the history of the fortifications. More stairs lead down through the dungeons of Siegfried's old castle to the casemates themselves, a series of long tunnels down into the rock parallel to the road above. There are a number of lateral passages as well as chambers and balconies with openings to the north and south. Once emplacements for canons, today they offer views of the Alzette valley below. The tour includes a visit to the living quarters of Marshal von Bender, the Habsburg officer who, at the age of 82, coodinated resistance to the French siege in 1794–95 which lasted almost eight months. The exit is via the Pont du château onto Rue Sosthène Weiss, once the castle moat.
. The version told in Luxembourg is closely related to the Bock. The story goes that Melusina was the wife of Count Siegfried and lived with him in the Castle of Lucilinburhuc. She married him on condition that he would leave her undisturbed for one full day and night every month. All went very well for years. On the first Wednesday of the month, Melusina would retire into her chambers in the casemates, reappearing on the Thursday morning.
Siegfried became more and more curious about what she could be doing. One day he peered through the keyhole and was amazed to see Melusina in her bathtub with a fishtail hanging over the rim. Alerted by her sixth sense to Siegfried's presence, Melusina jumped out of the window into the River Alzette below, never to be seen again. But there are people who say they have seen a beautiful girl's head emerge from the waters and a fishtail rippling in the river.
Promontory
Promontory may refer to:*Promontory, a prominent mass of land which overlooks lower lying land or a body of water*Promontory, Utah, the location where the United States first Transcontinental Railroad was completed...
in the north-eastern corner of Luxembourg City's old historical district. Offering a natural fortification, its rocky cliffs tower above the River Alzette
Alzette
The Alzette is a river with a length of 73 kilometers in France and Luxembourg. It is a right tributary of the Sauer.It rises in Thil near the town Villerupt in the Meurthe-et-Moselle département, France. It crosses the border with Luxembourg after a few kilometres. In Lameschmillen it is joined...
which surrounds it on three sides. It was here that Count Siegfried
Siegfried of Luxembourg
Siegfried is considered the first count of Luxembourg. He was actually count in the Moselgau and the Ardennes. He was also the advocate of the abbeys of Saint-Maximin de Trêves and Saint-Willibrod d'Echternach. He is speculated to be the son of Wigeric of Lotharingia, Count Palatine and Cunigunda...
built his Castle of Lucilinburhuc in 963, providing a basis for the development of the town which became Luxembourg. Over the centuries, the Bock and the surrounding defences were reinforced, attacked and rebuilt time and time again as the armies of the Burgundians
Burgundians
The Burgundians were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr , and from there to mainland Europe...
, Habsburgs, Spaniards, Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
ns and French vied for victory over one of Europe's most strategic strongholds. Warring did not stop until the Treaty of London was signed in 1867, calling for the demolition of the fortifications. Ruins of the old castle and the vast underground system of passages and galleries known as the casemate
Casemate
A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...
s continue to be a major tourist attraction.
History
It was in 963 that Count Siegfried
Siegfried of Luxembourg
Siegfried is considered the first count of Luxembourg. He was actually count in the Moselgau and the Ardennes. He was also the advocate of the abbeys of Saint-Maximin de Trêves and Saint-Willibrod d'Echternach. He is speculated to be the son of Wigeric of Lotharingia, Count Palatine and Cunigunda...
, in search of a site from which he could defend his properties, obtained the Bock and its surroundings from St Maximin's Abbey
St. Maximin's Abbey, Trier
St. Maximin's Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Trier in the Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.-History:The abbey, traditionally considered one of the oldest monasteries in western Europe, was held to have been founded by Saint Maximin of Trier in the 4th century. Maximin St. Maximin's Abbey was a...
in Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
in exchange for the land he owned at Feulen
Feulen
Feulen is a commune in central Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Diekirch, which is part of the district of Diekirch. The commune's administrative centre is Niederfeulen.Towns within the commune include Niederfeulen and Oberfeulen....
in the Ardennes
Ardennes
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...
to the north. The Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, then the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
, had probably already inhabited the Bock although there is only scant archeological evidence of their presence. There are however traces of a 4th-century Roman watchtower close to the point in the Fish Market
Fishmarket
Fishmarket , also spelt Fish Market, is a street in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg, that shares its name with the neighbourhood directly surrounding it. It lies in the eastern part of the Ville Haute quarter....
where two major Roman roads used to cross, one from Reims
Reims
Reims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire....
to Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
and the other from Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
to Liège
Liège
Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....
.
The first historical mention of the Bock is indeed in connection with a watchtower or fortification on the Roman road from Reims
Reims
Reims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire....
to Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
which, in 723, was ceded by Charles Martel
Charles Martel
Charles Martel , also known as Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum at the end of his life, using the title Duke and Prince of the Franks. In 739 he was offered the...
, Duke of the Franks, to the Abbey of St Maximin in Trier. Two centurues later, Count Siegfried, who had properties "in Feulen
Feulen
Feulen is a commune in central Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Diekirch, which is part of the district of Diekirch. The commune's administrative centre is Niederfeulen.Towns within the commune include Niederfeulen and Oberfeulen....
, Hosingen
Hosingen
Hosingen is a commune and small town in northern Luxembourg. Near Hosingen there is a transmitter for FM and TV of RTL., the town of Hosingen, which lies in the south of the commune, has a population of 761. Other towns within the commune include Bockholtz, Dorscheid, Neidhausen, Rodershausen,...
and Monnerich
Mondercange
Mondercange is a commune and town in south-western Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Esch-sur-Alzette, which is part of the district of Luxembourg., the town of Mondercange, which lies in the west of the commune, has a population of 3,179...
in the Pagus Wabrensis
Woëvre
The Woëvre is a natural region of Lorraine in northeastern France. It forms part of Lorraine plateau and lies largely in the department of Meuse....
, in Sarreburg
Saarburg
Saarburg is a city of the Trier-Saarburg district in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany, on the banks of the Saar River in the hilly country a few kilometers upstream from the Saar's junction with the Moselle....
, Berncastel
Bernkastel-Wittlich
Bernkastel-Wittlich is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Vulkaneifel, Cochem-Zell, Rhein-Hunsrück, Birkenfeld, Trier-Saarburg and Bitburg-Prüm.- History :...
and Roussy
Roussy-le-Village
Roussy-le-Village is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.-See also:*Communes of the Moselle department...
in the Pagus Mosellanus", was looking for a location for a castle able to withstand any onslaught which would serve as a central point for his holdings. After failing to obtain a site near the Abbey of Stavelot
Stavelot
Stavelot is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. On January 1, 2006, Stavelot had a total population of 6,671. The total area is 85.07 km² which gives a population density of 78 inhabitants per km².-History:...
, now in the Belgian province of Liège
Liège (province)
Liège is the easternmost province of Belgium and belongs to the Walloon Region. It is an area of French and German ethnicity. It borders on the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and in Belgium the provinces of Luxembourg, Namur, Walloon Brabant , and those of Flemish Brabant and Limburg . Its...
, he approached the Abbot of St Maximin's for the purchase of the property high up on the Bock cliff above the Alzette River, described as a "castle by name Lucinilburbuc" (castellum quod dicitur Lucinilburbuc). It therefore seems as if there was already a castle on the site before Siegfried became interested in it and that it was not Siegfried who called it Lucinilburbuc. After the consent of Emperor Otto I
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I the Great , son of Henry I the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim, was Duke of Saxony, King of Germany, King of Italy, and "the first of the Germans to be called the emperor of Italy" according to Arnulf of Milan...
had been obtained, the deed was signed by Viker, Abbot of St Maximin's, on 7 April 963. Siegfried acquired the site in exchange for some of his properties at Feulen.
Over the centuries, Siegfried's fortified castle on the Bock was considerably enlarged and protected with additional walls and defences. In 987, the castle chapel was built at the nearby Fish Market
Fishmarket
Fishmarket , also spelt Fish Market, is a street in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg, that shares its name with the neighbourhood directly surrounding it. It lies in the eastern part of the Ville Haute quarter....
. Today's St Michael's Church
Saint Michael's Church, Luxembourg
Saint Michael's Church is a Roman Catholic church in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. It is located in Fishmarket, in the central Ville Haute quarter....
stands on the same site. Under Conrad I
Conrad I, Count of Luxembourg
Conrad I, Count of Luxembourg was count of Luxembourg , succeeding his father Giselbert of Luxembourg.He was embroiled in an argument with the archbishop of Trier as to the abbaye Saint-Maximin in Trier which he had avowed. The archbishop excommunicated him Conrad had to make honourable amends and...
, the castle became the residence of the Counts of Luxembourg. It was damaged, destroyed, captured and rebuilt on several occasions as the Burgundians
Burgundians
The Burgundians were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr , and from there to mainland Europe...
(1473), the Habsburgs (1477), and the Spaniards (1555) attacked and took the fortress.
As time passed, the fortifications needed to be adapted to new methods of war based on increasingly strong fire power. During the 1640s under the Spaniards, the Swiss engineer Isaac von Treybach significantly reworked the defences. The Bock was also strengthened with three forts, the Large Bock, Middle Bock and Small Bock (from west to east), separated from each other by cuts in the rock and linked by bridges. As a result, little remained of the medieval castle.
A little later in 1684, on behalf of Louis XIV, Vauban succeeded in capturing the city of Luxembourg during a month-long siege under which the Bock fortifications were completely flattened. Thereafter Vauban, perhaps the most competent fortification engineer of his day, undertook major additions to the defences, realizing that underground passages and chambers were just as important as the surface installations. The Large Bock, connected to the old town by the Pont du Château, was further reinforced. Enclosed by a wall 12 m (39 ft) high, it was the major component of the new fortress.
In addition to these structures, the Bock also included a system of casemate
Casemate
A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...
s which originated in the cellars of the medieval castle. In 1744, during the Austrian period, these underground passages were considerably enlarged by General Neipperg
Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg
Count Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg was an Austrian general.Born in Schwaigern, he descended from an ancient comital family from Swabia, his father Count Eberhard Friedrich von Neipperg having been an Imperial field marshal. He spent his boyhood in Vienna and in 1702 joined the Imperial service...
. The main passage. which still remains, is 110 m long and up to 7 m wide. Branches leading off on either side were equipped with no less than 25 canon slots, 12 to the north and 13 to the south, offering considerable fire power. In the event of war, the Bock casemates, covering an area of 1,100 m2, could be used as barracks for several hundred soldiers. Water was supplied from a well 47 m deep.
Thanks to its defences, in 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
, the city held out against the French siege
Siege of Luxembourg (1794-1795)
The siege of Luxembourg was a siege by France of the Habsburg-held fortress of Luxembourg City that lasted from 1794 until 7 June 1795, during the French Revolutionary Wars...
for seven months. When the garrison finally surrendered, the walls were still unbreached. This led the French politician and engineer Lazare Carnot
Lazare Carnot
Lazare Nicolas Marguerite, Comte Carnot , the Organizer of Victory in the French Revolutionary Wars, was a French politician, engineer, and mathematician.-Education and early life:...
to call the Luxembourg fortress "the best in the world, apart from Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
". As a result, it has often been called the Gibraltar of the North
Gibraltar of the North
The 'Gibraltar of the North' is an historical nickname for Luxembourg City, the capital of Luxembourg. It refers to the city's coveted former fortifications, and the fortress' importance to the control of the Left Bank of the Rhine and the approaches between France and Germany...
.
The fortifications were finally demolished under the terms of the Treaty of London in 1867. The demolition took 16 years and cost the enormous sum of 1.5 million gold francs.
Casemates
The first tunnels for the underground defences below the old castle were dug out during the Spanish period in 1644. Extensions were made by the French engineer Vauban under Louis XIVLouis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
in 1684 but it was from 1737 to 1746 that the Austrians completed the extraordinary complex of underground passages and galleries known as the casemates. With a total length of 23 km (14.3 mi) and depths of up to 40 m (131 ft), they accommodated 50 canons and a garrison of 1,200 men. In addition, they had underground facilities for housing equipment and horses as well as workshops, kitchens, bakeries and slaughterhouses. When the surface fortifications were dismantled in 1875, most of the underground defences remained largely untouched, 17 km (10.6 mi) of passageways remaining. In 1994, the casemates were added to the list of UNESCO's world heritage site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
s, attracting some 100,000 visitors a year.
In 1933, the Bock casemates were opened to the public. During the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, they were used as a bomb shelter able to accommodate up to 35,000 people. Renovation work and repairs were undertaken in 2008–2009 including the opening up of the mine galleries which contained explosives able to blow up part of the Bock in case of need.
Today the Bock casemates can be visited from March to October from the Rue Sigefroid. The stairs down from the entrance lead to the huge Archeological Crypt where wall plates give an overview of the history of the fortifications. More stairs lead down through the dungeons of Siegfried's old castle to the casemates themselves, a series of long tunnels down into the rock parallel to the road above. There are a number of lateral passages as well as chambers and balconies with openings to the north and south. Once emplacements for canons, today they offer views of the Alzette valley below. The tour includes a visit to the living quarters of Marshal von Bender, the Habsburg officer who, at the age of 82, coodinated resistance to the French siege in 1794–95 which lasted almost eight months. The exit is via the Pont du château onto Rue Sosthène Weiss, once the castle moat.
Pont du château
The two-storey bridge connecting the Bock to the old town was an important component of the fortifications. Technically, it is a rather curious structure. Built in 1735 by the Austrians, it provides no less than four ways of crossing between the cliffs: the road over the top, a passage by way of the four upper arches, a spiral staircase up through the main arch and a tunnel under the road at the bottom.Famous visitors
Over the years, the Bock casemates have received several famous visitors. These include:- Emperor Joseph II of AustriaJoseph II, Holy Roman EmperorJoseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
(1781); - Napoleon BonaparteNapoleon INapoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
(1804); - Prince Henry of the Netherlands (1868);
- Grand Duchess Charlotte of LuxembourgCharlotte, Grand Duchess of LuxembourgCharlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg was the reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg from 1919 to 1964.-Early life and life as Grand Duchess:...
(1936); - Grand Duke Henri of LuxembourgHenri, Grand Duke of LuxembourgHenri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg OIH is the head of state of Luxembourg. He is the eldest son of Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium. His maternal grandparents were King Leopold III of Belgium and Astrid of Sweden...
and his wife Grand Duchess Maria TeresaMaria Teresa, Grand Duchess of LuxembourgMaria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg is the spouse and Grand Duchess of Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg.-Early life and education:...
(2000).
The legend of Melusina
In many parts of northern Europe there are legends about MelusinaMelusine
Melusine is a figure of European legends and folklore, a feminine spirit of fresh waters in sacred springs and rivers.She is usually depicted as a woman who is a serpent or fish from the waist down...
. The version told in Luxembourg is closely related to the Bock. The story goes that Melusina was the wife of Count Siegfried and lived with him in the Castle of Lucilinburhuc. She married him on condition that he would leave her undisturbed for one full day and night every month. All went very well for years. On the first Wednesday of the month, Melusina would retire into her chambers in the casemates, reappearing on the Thursday morning.
Siegfried became more and more curious about what she could be doing. One day he peered through the keyhole and was amazed to see Melusina in her bathtub with a fishtail hanging over the rim. Alerted by her sixth sense to Siegfried's presence, Melusina jumped out of the window into the River Alzette below, never to be seen again. But there are people who say they have seen a beautiful girl's head emerge from the waters and a fishtail rippling in the river.