Princess Ilse (german: Prinzess Ilse or ''Prinzeß Ilse'') is the name of a popular tourist destination in the Ilse valley near the town of

Ilsenburg Ilsenburg () is a town in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. It is situated under the north foot of the Harz Mountains, at the entrance to the Ilse valley with its little river, the Ilse, a tributary of the Oker, about six north ...

in the

Harz Mountains The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

of central

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The spot was named after the River Ilse, which rises on the highest mountain in the Harz, the legendary

Brocken The Brocken, also sometimes referred to as the Blocksberg, is the highest peak in the Harz mountain range and also the highest peak in Northern Germany; it is near Schierke in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt between the rivers Weser and Elbe. ...

, and flows through the romantic

Ilse valley The Ilse valley (german: Ilsetal) is the ravine of the Ilse stream in the northern boundary of the Harz mountain range in Germany. Part of the Harz National Park, it runs from the town of Ilsenburg at the foot of the mountain range up to the sour ...

to Ilsenburg.

History

As early as 1871 a hotel appeared in the Ilse valley by the name of Princess Ilse, which enjoyed great popularity. The timber-framed building burned down in 1887, but was rebuilt and extended several times. In 1978 it was completely torn down. Several hundred metres below the site of the old hotel there is still a spring, called Princess Ilse, from which a mineral spring flows. ''Prinzeß Ilse'' is also the title of a romantic play in five acts from the days of the old

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about 71,000. Celle is the southern gateway to the Lü ...

dukedom, which appeared in 1926 near Ströher in Celle and had been published by Karl Dassel and Karl Tolle.

Legend

''Prinzessin Ilse'' by contrast is the name of a fairy tale from the Harz by Marie Petersen, which first appeared in print in 1850. In this story, Princess Ilse loses her way whilst riding to the chase with her father, King Ilsing, and comes at nightfall to the gates of the fairy world, ruled by the fairy queen. The queen meets her kindly and invites her to the crystal palace. The legend was further reflected in

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...

's ''Die Ilse''.

References

*Toofie Lauder. '' Legends and Tales of the Harz Mountains'', 1881 German folklore German legends Fictional German people Medieval legends Ilse Ilsenburg Harz {{Europe-myth-stub