Petrification (when organic matter is turned to stone) is a common theme in folklore. Stories concerning petrification date back to ancient times and can be found in many different cultures. In some tales, petrification is caused by otherworldly or mythological beings, or can be a result of a consequence or punishment. Other times, the stories are meant to explain the physical presence of arranged stones.

The Austrian tale of “The Petrified Lovers of Kramsach” utilizes the concept of petrification. It can be found in the collection of Austrian folklore and stories gathered and arranged by Madame La Comtesse A. Von Günther entitled, Tales and Legends of the Tyrol, published in 1874. Kramsach is located in the Tyrol and is southwest of Salzburg.

The story is a tale of doomed lovers who turn to stone in a lake. It is a dark and harsh tale, but I find hope in the lovers’ continued endurance as permanent stone monuments in a beautiful setting.

“The Petrified Lovers of Kramsach” (summarized):

In the mountains above Kramsach, there once lived a Baron whose stronghold stood near a beautiful lake. His daughter loved a local forester, but the Baron disapproved of their relationship and ordered that the forester be chased out by hounds one night. In his rush to escape, the forester fell into the lake and drowned.

The daughter of the Baron never recovered from the death of her lover and would wander without engaging with her normal life. One day she went with her maid down to the lake. She could see her lover in the depths, and wishing to join him, she plunged into the lake.

The maid ran to tell the Baron, but when he and his men reached the water’s edge, the bodies of his daughter and her lover were gone. They had been changed into two rocks emerging from the water: one covered “with ferns and water weeds,” the other smooth as polished stone.

Art credit: Rock Above a Lake by Friedrich Carl von Scheidlin via rawpixel, licensed under CC0