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Elisabeth de Kleer

84 discoveries

The Rock of Death Relief

*Skála smrti* (Rock of Death), a 15-meter sandstone cliff face hidden in Northern Bohemia’s Lusatian Mountains. Carved in 1910 by local hobbyist artists—schoolteacher Karl Beckert and gendarme Karl Bundesmann. The reliefs depict a dark, dramatic regional folklore tale of predatory pursuit. **The Legend:** Upper figure: Knight Kuno on a rearing horse. Lower figure: a local miller's daughter falling through the air. Fleeing the knight's sexual pursuit through the forest, she was cornered at the precipice and chose a potentially fatal leap over violation. Folklore claims she survived unharmed because her voluminous skirts acted as a makeshift parachute, landing her softly on forest moss. The pursuing knight couldn't stop his horse in time, careening over the edge to a fatal plunge. **Surrounding Context:** The nearby network of hand-carved sandstone caves and cellars are remnants of historical industrial mining. Local artisans excavated them to harvest high-quality abrasive sand, a crucial component used for grinding and polishing world-famous Bohemian glass and mirrors in nearby Lindava.