The Legend of St. Mary's Church

St. Mary ‘s Church – There are many legends associated with St. Mary’s Church. One of them tells of the unhappy love of a young clockmaker installing the clock on the tower and the mayor’s daughter who fell in love with him, another one about the Stolem – a gentle giant who squatted on the huge church like a stool and out of friendship for Danzigers gave them carved animal figures, which can be found in various places in the city even today. There is also a legend about the devil and his expulsion from Gdansk. In a nutshell, it sounds like this: Once upon a time, a plague broke out in the city. Desperate Danzigers decided to seek help from a Venetian scholar, astrologer and exorcist – Master Damian. A ship was sent for him, which after some time brought the scholar to Gdansk. When Master Damian recognized the situation, he ruled that the devil, who had settled in the city and attracted misfortune with him, was responsible for the plague. Only the prayer of the bells of St. Mary’s Church could chase him away. There were six bells on the tower, but for effective prayer a seventh, small bell was still needed, which had to be brought from St. John’s Church and joined its sound to the prayers of the six large bells. This could only be done by a sinless person. A child named Christian was assigned to the task. When the boy had already removed the bell from the signature bell of St. John’s Church and was walking with it to St. Mary’s tower, the devil crossed his path and tried to obstruct his mission. Fortunately, the great bells on the tower had already begun to toll and the boy was able to join in the sonorous prayer with the bell he was carrying. At that moment a huge thunderstorm broke over Danzig, and one of the lightning bolts struck the tower. Thus the devil was chased away, and the plague receded. Unfortunately, Master Damian, who sacrificed his life in the fight against the devil, did not survive this event.