Legends speak of giants and dwarfs, dragons and heroes, and of course fairies and nymphs.

The Rhine has yielded a rich treasure of sagas, stories and legends. The German fairy story genre was particularly popular during the Rhine Romantic period in the early 19th century.

At that time, stories often revolved around Hatto’s Mäuseturm, the legend of the „Hostile Brothers“ and the Roland and Drachenfels saga in the northern Middle Rhine region. Since then, the Rhine and the Loreley legend have been inseparable.

The best-known version of the golden-haired beauty is the one in Heinrich Heines’ famous poem, which became part of the German national heritage in the piece by Friedrich Silcher.