Jetta and the Wolfsbrunnen

The hill above Heidelberg, on which the castle stands, used to be called Jetten-Bühl, where an old woman named Jetta lived in a chapel, the remains of which were still visible when Count Palatine Frederick became Elector and built the castle known as the New Court in 1544.

Jetta was very famous for her fortune-telling, but rarely came out of her chapel and only answered those who questioned her out of a window without showing her face. She foretold the future to the people who visited her and was known to have announced that in distant times the hill would be inhabited by men of royal blood and that a city would be built in the Neckar valley below.

The story goes . . . “As Jetta walked down the hill one day, she came to the well above Schlierbach, an enchanted place overgrown with mighty, shady beech trees whose trunks rose straight and round like the pillars of a temple to the sky. A she-wolf was lying in front of the well, suckling her young, and when Jetta approached, the she-wolf pounced on Jetta, tore her to pieces and devoured her.”

This place is still called ‘Wolf’s Well’ (Wolfsbrunnen) and is a popular hiking destination. In the pond in front of the still bubbling fountain, the she-wolf stands on an island as a bronze figure and is a reminder of the legendary fortune teller Jetta, whose proclamation actually came true.