Visites · Klagenfurt · statue
Woerthersee Mandl
A tiny bronze man clutching a barrel beside a trickling fountain in the Kramergasse, this beloved figure is the mythical little man who, according to Carinthian legend, flooded a sinful town and created Lake Woerthersee.
À propos de ce lieu
Barely knee high and easy to walk straight past, the Woerthersee Mandl is one of Klagenfurt's most cherished little landmarks. The bronze figure was created in 1962 by Carinthian sculptor Heinz Goll and stands over a small fountain in the Kramergasse, water flowing endlessly around him just as it does in the tale he embodies. That tale is the legend of how Lake Woerthersee came to be. A wealthy old town, so the story goes, grew arrogant and careless with its faith, and on the eve of a holy feast its people threw a roaring party. A small grey man appeared to warn them, and when they mocked him he returned at midnight carrying the very barrel you can still see under his arm. He opened its tap, and an unstoppable torrent buried the town beneath the waters of the Woerthersee. Locals recount that on quiet summer days the drowned church bells can still be heard ringing far below the surface. Today the little man is as familiar to Klagenfurters as the great Lindwurm dragon himself, and passers by keep an old custom alive by tossing coins into his basin and making a silent wish.
À retenir
- 1962 year — Carinthian sculptor Heinz Goll cast the little bronze figure
- 16.5 km — Length of Lake Woerthersee, the lake his barrel legendarily created
- 85 meters — Maximum depth of the lake said to hide drowned churches and villages
📍 Dr.-Arthur-Lemisch-Platz, 9020, Klagenfurt am Wörthersee