Isabella Mueller Baroness of Stainton le Vale
In the picturesque Hanseatic city of Stralsund, where the Baltic Sea gently laps against the shore and seagulls circle overhead, stands a building that makes the hearts of all history lovers beat faster: Stralsund Town Hall with its beautiful façade. This imposing building, which towers over the old town like a guardian, is not only an architectural masterpiece, but also a place full of secrets and anecdotes. Behind the walls of the town hall lie not only historical facts, but also many myths and legends. One of them tells of a Stralsund coachman who, with cunning and cleverness, won a bet in Austria’s capital Vienna and thus won the favor of the emperor. Once upon a time, a city coachman was commissioned to transport a councilman in his carriage to the German emperor in Vienna, which he mastered with flying colors. When he arrived in Vienna, he was amused to see artillerymen struggling in vain to pull a cannon up the hill with no fewer than 18 horses. He went up to them and bet that he could transport it up the hill within an hour with his four horses. The coachman actually managed to do so, as he had attached a smaller wheel to one side of the gun carriage and skillfully pulled the gun around the mountain in a winding motion. He won the bet, which spread to the emperor. The emperor wanted to poach the clever city coachman and appoint him as his imperial personal coachman. But the coachman politely declined, because a single boss could fire him more quickly than many employers. To this day, a horse’s head on the ceiling of the town hall passageway commemorates this city coachman. Another story surrounding the town hall is that of the haunting mayor. According to tradition, the mayor, who had once fallen out of favor, did not find peace after his death and still haunts the halls of the town hall to this day. Another fascinating legend is that of the treasure that is said to be hidden somewhere in the cellars of the town hall. Many adventurers have allegedly tried to find the treasure’s hiding place, but so far no one has succeeded in uncovering the secret.
