Tyrol (Austria) -- Description and travel; Tyrol (Austria) -- History
There are, of course, numberless interesting buildings, and also
several other churches worthy of study and attention; but, perhaps,
amongst all the domestic buildings and palaces of Trent, including the
Palazzi Wolkenstein and Sizzo, and the Tabarelli, in which are
magnificent private collections of pictures and other _objets d'art_,
none exceeds in romantic and legendary interest the Teufelspalast,
which has been known by several other names at various times, and
latterly as the Palazzo Zambelli. This beautiful home (now a bank) was
built by George Fugger, a relative of the wealthy banker, Anthony
Fugger, of Augsburg. The legendary story is as follows:--
George Fugger having become acquainted with one Claudia Porticelli, a
beautiful young woman of Trent, fell desperately in love with her, and
although the fair Claudia does not appear to have discouraged his
suit, she was too proud to yield too readily to his proposals, and in
addition was very patriotic, and inclined to the view that a Tyrolese
maid should marry a Tyrolese man. It was in pursuance of this idea,
when at last her lover pressed her strongly for an answer, that she
told him she would never marry a man who lived so far away from her
beloved home, and that she wondered how any one who did not possess a
tiny _pied à terre_ in Trent, should for a moment think that he could
have any claim upon her affections. This reply to his suit might, one
would think, have discouraged most people, but George Fugger, who
possessed vast wealth, had no intention of yielding up his claim, or
his supposed claim, to the beautiful Claudia without a struggle; and,
moreover, Claudia Porticelli, although discouraging him so distinctly,
had (like a woman) put off the evil day of giving a final answer for a
period of a little more than twenty-four hours. In this delay, George
Fugger saw the solution which great wealth and determination of
character placed within his reach. He determined, therefore, within
the short space remaining before Claudia gave him his final answer, to
build a house "worthy of the human gem whose casket it was to be."
[Sidenote: A SATANIC COMPACT]
Twenty-four hours or so in which to build a palace was, however, such
an impossibly short time that no man could hope to accomplish the task
by human aid alone. Therefore (so the legend goes) he sought the help
from a source to which no good Christian would think of turning,
namely, that of the Devil. In legendary lore there are many stories of
the Devil assisting men and women to an accomplishment of their
desires, but almost invariably at the price of their souls.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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