The lost secret passage
The symbol of Freiburg, the Black Forest metropolis, is undoubtedly the cathedral with its 116-meter-high tower, considered the most beautiful in Christendom. Numerous myths and legends surround this cathedral. One of them tells of an underground passageway into the cathedral, which the founder of Freiburg, Duke Konrad von Zähringen, had dug from his castle on the Schlossberg to the cathedral. This allowed him to reach the cathedral without getting his feet wet and only had to climb the Hahnentürme towers to take his seat in the choir. The secret passageway led not only to the cathedral, but also to the vault containing the precious cathedral treasures. Today, however, this tunnel is buried under the mountain and the entrance from the cathedral, which is said to be marked with a stone engraved with “a.b.c.”, has never been found. Many tried their luck, including an employee of the cathedral workshop, who searched for the lost entrance for years. He was so obsessed with it that his drilling almost caused the rooster towers to collapse. As a result, the clergy forbade him from continuing to search for the entrance to the secret passage. Beside himself with rage, he had to give up his search, and even on his deathbed, his last thoughts were of the stone he had almost found, which he claimed until his last breath. To this day, neither the treasure chamber nor the passageway are accessible or traceable, so the mystery will probably never be solved. But as we know, miracles always happen when we have long since given up hope.
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