The Felsefraechen between Machtum and Grevenmacher

In the high rocks that bound the vineyards between Machtum and Grevenmacher, there dwelt two hundred years ago a woman, according to some three women, known by the name of Felsefraechen.

By night she was mostly up on the hills; by day she was seldom seen, and then only at mealtimes, when she came to the labourers and the vine growers, though without speaking.

In the Felser rocks there are two clefts a short way apart, one of them so large that a person can walk almost upright through it into the rock. There the little woman is said always to have gone in by one and out by the other, without anyone daring to follow her and search out her underground dwelling.

Her chief occupation is said to have been spinning. The only sounds heard from her were, every night around the witching hour, a loud singing and crying.

She prepared all sorts of wholesome draughts for sick cattle and was more loved than feared by the people of the surrounding villages.

Once a woman sent her son to the Felsefraechen to ask for a draught for her sick cow. She lured the boy, who pleased her, into her underground dwelling and would not let him go again.

But the boy could not be content there. Twice he tried to escape while she was away, but in vain. At a third attempt the mysterious woman flew into a rage, fell upon the boy and killed him.

When the deed became known, the Felsefraechen was seized and burnt at a stake.

Afterwards she is said to have been seen often still, especially by women going early in the morning down to the Moselle to do their washing.