~ House of Wolfsberg ~

At least one fairy tale has lived on for centuries about the Wolfensberger family. There’s a fascinating legend associated with the original Wolfensberger family castle, a long-vanished medieval stone structure known as the Altlandenberg that once lay atop Wolfs Mountain, the family’s ancestral home in Bauma, Switzerland.

Deep in the castle’s cellar, as the legend goes, a golden plow lay buried, guarded only by a poisonous snake. One day, a goat herder noticed a beautiful young maiden walking by the castle walls. Since he’d never seen the maiden before, the shepherd asks who she was. The maiden replied that she is the daughter of the Knight of Wolfensberg. She is condemned to live under a spell as a snake to guard the golden plow.

Only once in a century is she allowed to shed her skin and become a living figure, said the maiden. If the shepherd had the courage to kiss her three times, she would be released from her spell, never to return in the guise of a snake.

Smitten by the maiden’s beauty, the shepherd didn’t hesitate. As he kissed her, she turned suddenly into an ugly snake. In the beautiful maidens voice, the snake said sadly, “Now you must kiss me as I slide past you as a snake.” With that, the snake rose up to meet his lips for a second kiss. When the shepherd saw the head of the terrible reptile just inches from his lips, he was horrified. He pushed the snake away and raced down the mountain, leaving the maiden to sob and scream in disappointment.

The legend is included in the Swiss family history, 66 Familienamen seit 700 Jahren, written by Dr. Armin Sierszyn in 1996