Das Peterskreuz

  • Kasel

Crossroads

At the road from Schöndorf to Bonerath, about 500 meters before the entrance to the village, there is a stone cross on the left side of the road. This, as we gather from the inscription, was erected in gratitude and in memory of the war of 1870/71 by the couple Nikolaus Mergens and Elisabeth, née May, from Bonerath, in the year 1872.
Before this, a wooden cross, known as the Peterscross, stood here for a long time, next to a house owned by Peter Peters. Hence it was named "Peterscross".

In fear and trepidation, as the old villagers still recount today, their ancestors, especially after nightfall, would pass by this cross, for it is said that the village spirit of Bonerath found no rest here and caused mischief.

If, at night, the priest had to be called for a visit, the doctor to a sick person, or the midwife to an expecting mother, it was always a costly endeavor. No one wanted to walk past this cross. Each time, the spirit would limp across the path in the form of a three-legged rabbit, scaring those who passed by.

Even today, there is a tale from the 1880s that is still told. A farmer from the village had a field of considerable size right by the cross. Thus, he set out early in the morning with his livestock to plow the field. As he was still drawing a furrow in the dawn, he heard a lamenting voice coming from the nearby little wood. It called: "Eich han gebauch on gebaach on en Mannshimm gemaach, on et es emmer noch nit Daag"! (gebauch = washed, gebaach = baked, Mannshimm = men's shirt). The farmer gathered his courage and said: "Da ka ma jo noch en Stieck Sießkochen krien!" (krien = get).

When he reached the end of the field, there actually lay, wrapped in a cloth, a piece of cake. He picked it up. However, the fright had struck him so deeply that he unhitched his team and went home. He never again worked the field at dawn.

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Bahnhofstraße 37a

54317 Kasel

DE


Phone: (0049) 651 1701818

Fax: (0049) 651 1709403

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Website: www.ruwer-hochwald.de

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