Lorelei

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For other uses, see Lorelei (disambiguation).

The Rock of Lorelei by the Rhine

Lorelei in 1900

Lorelei

Loreley sign on the bank of the Rhine

View of the Rhine as seen by Lorelei

The Lorelei (also written as Loreley) is a rock on the eastern bank of the Rhine near St. Goarshausen, Germany, which soars some 120 metres above the water line. It marks the narrowest part of the river between Switzerland and the North Sea. A very strong current and rocks below the waterline have caused many boat accidents there.

Lorelei is also the name of one of the beautiful Rhine Maidens who lured navigators of this river to their dooms with their alluring singing, much as the ancient Greek Sirens did.

In 1395 the Loreley showed up as vineyard of the Counts of Katzenelnbogen.

The name comes from the old German words "lureln" (Rhine dialect for "murmuring") and the Celtic term "ley" (rock). The translation of the name would therefore be: "murmur rock" or "murmuring rock". The heavy currents, and a small waterfall in the area (still visible in the early 19th century) created a murmuring sound, and this combined with the special echo the rock produces which acted as a sort of amplifier, then gave name to the rock itself.^[1] The murmuring is hard to hear today due to the urbanization of the area. Other theories attribute the name to the many accidents, by combining the word "luren" (lurk) with the same "ley" ending, with the translation "lurking rock".

[edit] In folklore and poetry

The rock is associated with several legendary tales originating in German folklore. It appears in many forms. The legend was first created by the German author Clemens Brentano in his novel "Godwi oder Das steinerne Bild der Mutter" (1801); Brentano was inspired by Ovid, especially by the Echo-Narcissus myth. The poem "Die Lorelei" by Heinrich Heine, which was labelled as "written by unknown writer" during the Third Reich because it was too popular to ban it completely, is still one of the most well known poems in German language.

One of the legends is that Lorelei, a beautiful young maiden, committed suicide because of an unfaithful lover. She jumped from the steep rock into the Rhine River, thus killing herself. She then became a siren, luring shipmen to their fates with her hypnotizing voice. The echoing heard today is said to be Lorelei.