It’s a little scary in Cologne’s old town when you see the so-called “grinheads” on some of the house facades.
According to legend, these stone faces are supposed to scare away all those who stray from the right path.
Archbishop Anno is said to have “blinded” merchants and jurors in the 11th century as punishment because they had collectively cheated a poor widow.
It is said that 13 fraudsters had these gruesome “grinheads” with their “dead” eyes put on their house entrances as a warning to everyone else.
This version seems more plausible: A pole was stuck between the teeth and the hole in the house wall, and a rope was placed over it. The rope was used as a pulley.
Today, you can hardly find any grinheads in Cologne. But I found them here at Markmannsgasse 13.
Podcast “Anno II. of Cologne: The eye-gouger who made Cologne flourish”
*The oldest town hall in Germany is in Cologne and we want to go there now. It is about 500 meters. You can also take the relatively new subway line 5 from Heumarkt 1 stop to the town hall. *
