Grinköpfe (grinning heads)

De l'audiowalk Once upon a time... Exciting audio tour through the history of Cologne | Köln

Once upon a time... Exciting audio tour through the history of Cologne

34 Stations
90:04 min Audio
7.23 km directions_walk favorite 26

Grinköpfe (grinning heads)

It’s a little scary in Cologne’s old town when you see the so-called “grinheads” on some of the house facades.

According to legend, these stone faces are supposed to scare away all those who stray from the right path.

Archbishop Anno is said to have “blinded” merchants and jurors in the 11th century as punishment because they had collectively cheated a poor widow.

It is said that 13 fraudsters had these gruesome “grinheads” with their “dead” eyes put on their house entrances as a warning to everyone else.

This version seems more plausible: A pole was stuck between the teeth and the hole in the house wall, and a rope was placed over it. The rope was used as a pulley.

Today, you can hardly find any grinheads in Cologne. But I found them here at Markmannsgasse 13.

Podcast “Anno II. of Cologne: The eye-gouger who made Cologne flourish”

Here is the whole story

*The oldest town hall in Germany is in Cologne and we want to go there now. It is about 500 meters. You can also take the relatively new subway line 5 from Heumarkt 1 stop to the town hall. *

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Autres étapes de cette visite audio :

Brief outline of the history of Cologne (6:24 min) • Römerturm (Roman tower) (2:30 min) • Pfaffenpforte (Römisches Nordtor), Pfaffenpforte (Roman North Gate) (2:06 min) • Kölner Dom (Cologne cathedral) (2:34 min) • Dreikönigsschrein (Shrine of the Epiphany) (2:11 min) • Gerokreuz (1:31 min) • Heinzelmännchenbrunnen (Heinzelmännchen fountain) (1:29 min) • WDR (2:42 min) • Die Maus (The Mouse) (2:45 min) • 4711 (3:07 min) • EL-DE-Haus (2:32 min) • Willy Millowitsch (2:23 min) • Hahnentor (1:54 min) • Konrad Adenauer (4:44 min) • St. Aposteln (2:54 min) • Neumarkt (2:48 min) • Schildergasse/Antoniterkirche (3:23 min) • Farina Duftmuseum (Farina Fragrance Museum) (2:43 min) • Jüdisches Viertel (Jewish Quarter) (4:13 min) • Gürzenich (1:54 min) • Kölner Karneval (Cologne Carnival) (2:54 min) • Reiterdenkmal (equestrian monument) (2:12 min) • Heumarkt (2:04 min) • Hänneschen Theater (2:13 min) • Rathaus (City hall) (2:33 min) • Tünnes und Schäl (3:19 min) • Groß St. Martin (2:01 min) • Alter Markt (2:04 min) • Jan von Werth (2:28 min) • Stapelhaus (stacking house) (1:46 min) • Rheinschifffahrt (Rhine shipping) (2:44 min) • Hohenzollernbrücke (Hohenzollern Bridge) (2:35 min) • Hauptbahnhof/Alter Wartesaal (central station/old waiting room) (3:04 min)

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