Wolfbauernhof Schonach

Legend of the Wolfbauerhof farm

Families have come and gone, but the legends surrounding the Wolfsbauerhof farm in Schonach have remained. The Herrenkreuz is a boundary stone on the path to the Vogte, referring to the Wolfsbauern-Moos and the upland moor that spreads out in the immediate vicinity of the Wolfsbauernhof. If you turn back the clock, nature and local history enthusiasts can still tell of a moor landscape and areas of moss, of rare grasses and flowers, of moor inhabitants in the form of insects, rare birds and small animals. In 1920 and for years afterwards, peat trenches were dug and peat clods were cut for domestic fuel and stable bedding. With this intervention, the moorland water and the mossy areas dried up from the bottom up. However, the legends surrounding the Wolfsbauernhof area have not been filled in and dried up and are still told from generation to generation today. Regarding the name of the farm, it should be noted that there is stone evidence in the form of a sandstone tombstone which attests to the fact that this farm was once called Wolfsgarten. Local historians interpret this name to mean a wolf's den or a garden that existed there. The natural stone fence next to the farm storehouse, where the typical farm garden used to be, supports this assumption. It may have been one of the lordly whims of the head bailiffs to have used a wolf's garden or a kennel in their districts. 500 years ago, the wolf, which still occurred in packs, was caught in wolf pits and trained to breed in wolf gardens to become a wolfhound to guard and protect humans. The history of the farm is that the cross on the road to the Blindensee bailiff's house is the natural boundary stone of the land owned by the wolf farmers. The meaning of the cross stone standing at the side of the road can no longer be researched exactly. It seems plausible that the cross is a memorial stone commemorating the accidental death of a person: Blindehiesle-Fritz told the chronicler that an ancestor of the Wolfsbauern family died there while looking after his herd and the shepherd boys in the pasture. In the process, the man, who was worthy of a visit, was attacked by a wild bull from the herd and killed at the present-day site of the Herrenkreuz. There was never a name on the plaque, but a request for an "Our Father" and "Hail Mary". There is a small statue of the Mother of God beneath the wrought-iron cross on this stone. All in all, the Herrenkreuz invites passers-by to pray in silence.

"It was an icy, grimly cold night 500 years ago, when bears and wolves were still indigenous to the Black Forest. Snowstorms swept over the thatched roof of the largest farm in Schonach's Turntal valley. The pinewood was extinguished, farmers and servants rested from the toil and labour of the day. Only Zenta, a large wolfhound, was howling around the farmyard, looking for her cubs, which the farmer had taken from her.

Suddenly the barking of Zenta's teeth could be heard. Shrill warning sounds rang out in the icy stormy night. The cattle in the barn began to bellow and the clanking of the chains in the barn was unmistakable to the farmers and servants. The smell of blood from a torn cow hit the farmyard dog as he entered the stable, and two green wolf eyes glowed out of the darkness. The strong dog leapt at the wolf, which dug its predatory teeth deep into the bitch's chest. But the yard dog did not give in and defeated the wolf. When the men in the courtyard came to help, they found the bloodied farmyard dog in front of the dead opponent. The wolf was then pulled out of the stable and thrown into the meadow in front of the farmyard. Zenta lay down next to it and licked the bite wounds of the dead wolf, who had been suckling her puppies just hours before. Following her maternal instinct, the farm dog ran out into the night and found four hungry wolves under a bush, who smelled their mother's blood and drank greedily from the bitch. When the farmer entered the barn early the next morning, four little wolves were growling behind the back of Zenta, the faithful farm dog. The dog looked faithfully at his master to prevent him from taking the puppies away for the second time. However, when he swung the axe to kill the foreign intruders, the faithful pet was horrified by its cruel master. Zenta lay down protectively over the puppies. Before the farmer could strike, his own farmyard dog jumped at his throat until he fell, gasping, in front of the stable. The snow glistened like a shroud, stained with the farmer's blood, and the farmhands found him with the axe still in his rigid hand. No human eye ever saw a trace of the Zenta with her four wolf cubs again. The legendary Lord's Cross, also the boundary stone of the wolf farmer's estate, was renewed in 1901.