We already know Hell as the destination of those the Devil takes with him. But even the living and (relatively) blameless can catch a glimpse of it, if they are at the wrong place at the wrong time.
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The Cart Drivers Witness a Mirage
Once, several cart drivers drove their carts filled with wine along the royal highway from Gotha to Frankfurt that leads past the base of the Hörselberg mountain.[1] Dusk had broken just before they had reached the village of Schönau[2] (where they usually rested for the night) when they beheld a strange apparition. For at a spot where there had never been an opening before, the mountain[3] opened up. Curious, they stepped closer to see what was burning inside, as a fiery blaze seemed to be shining as brightly as that of an iron foundry. But they were frightened greatly when they now beheld a multitude of both living and dead people in a sea of flames. Some of these people were familiar to them, and these included many of the rich wine traders who had frequently given them cargo. They were now punished with fire for mixing wine with water, or even sweetened the wine with poisons.[4] The cart drivers were overcome with dread, and one of them screamed at the top of his lungs: “Oh, may God deliver us!” Then everything disappeared at once, and the cart drivers made the sign of the cross and blessed themselves, and drove their horses to hurry so that they would get away from this uncanny location as quickly as possible.
Source: Bechstein, L. Der Sagenschatz und die Sagenkreise des Thüringerlandes. Erster Theil. 1836, p. 149f.
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[1] The Hörselberge are a small mountain group located within Thuringia, to the east of Eisenach. The cart drivers had likely traveled from the west, from the direction of Eisenach. According to Anna Schieck of the Hörselbergmuseum, they must have traveled along the Via Regia, an important trade and pilgrimage route leading through the Holy Roman Empire from west to east. While the modern-day pilgrimage route goes over the Hörselberge themselves, the old road went through the valley.
[2] Schönau is now part of Wutha-Farnroda. From which we conclude that their frightening encounter occurred somewhere between Wutha proper and Schönau.
[3] It is unclear whether this mountain refers to one of the peaks of the Hörselberge, or a hill on the southern side of the valley such as the Generalsberg.
[4] This possibly refers to lead(II) acetate, which has been used as a wine sweetener since Roman times.
Translation note: The original title was “Es äfft die Fuhrleute”. “Äffen” (“to ape”) means to mock someone, so a literal translation would be “The cart drivers are being mocked”. However, illusions - especially from infernal sources, like here - tend to have strongly negative associations in German folklore, as in “Blendwerk” (“An act of blinding someone [to the truth]”). Hence, “mirage” seemed to be a more appropriate term here.
Commentary: This narrative pays homage to the idea that Hell is somewhere “below” - in the “bowels of the earth”. But not too far below, since the cart drivers were able to see it from the surface.
From a Doylist perspective, it is not surprising that the cart drivers saw people in Hell that personally offended them, since they (or their peers) were presumably the ones who originally told this tale. From a Watsonian perspective, showing them these souls must have been intentional on the part of whatever entity caused this vision - for there would have been no moral lesson to convey if they had seen unknown sinners suffering in the flames…
Finally, it is interesting to note that the cart drivers saw people “both living and dead” - how did they distinguish the former from the latter. We know from the tale “The Smith of Mitterbach” that the Devil sometimes takes living people to Hell - are all those people who made a deal with him?
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The Fire Mountain
(Oral tale from Werningerode)[1]
There is a mountain called the “Feuersberg” (“Fire Mountain”) a few hours away from Halberstadt.[2] This mountain used to be bare, but is now covered with tall fir and oak trees. In its depths, the Devil is said to ply his trade, and everything there is burning in bright flames.
In old times, there used to be a count living in the Halberstadt area who was evil-minded and greedy, and who oppressed the inhabitants of the surrounding lands whenever he could. For many years, he owed a lot of money to a shepherd, but every time the shepherd visited him and reminded him of this, he only gave him disdainful rejections. Suddenly the count vanished, and people said that he had died in far-off lands. The shepherd meandered sadly through the meadows and bemoaned his loss, for the count’s heirs did not want to hear about his claim and drove him away from the castle when he showed up there. Once, when he was in the forest at a certain time, a figure approached him and said: “If you want to see your old debtor, follow me.” The shepherd followed and was led through the forest to a tall, bare mountain, which soon opened up in front of the two with great noise, allowed them passage inside, and closed again. Inside, everything was a great fire. The trembling shepherd beheld the count, who was sitting on a chair and who was surrounded by a thousand flames emerging from the glowing walls and floor. The sinner screamed: “If you want to have your money, shepherd, so take this shawl,[3] and bring it to my kin. Tell them how you have seen me sitting in hellfire, in which I have to suffer for all eternity.” Now he ripped a shawl from his head and gave it to the shepherd, and sparks flew out of his eyes and hands.
The shepherd, led by his guide, hurried back outside with swaying feet, and the mountain granted him passage and closed again behind him. He went to the count’s castle with the shawl, showed it, and told what he had witnessed. Afterwards, the heirs were gladly willing to give him his money.
Source: Grimm, J. and L. Deutsche Sagen. Erster Theil. 1816, p.371ff.
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[1] Werningerode is now part of the Sonnenstein municipality.
[2] I was sadly unable to identify this mountain, but since the tale is from Wernigerode, it is presumably located within the nearby Harz mountain range.
[3] The German term “Tuch” used in the original is a fairly generic term, which might refer to a piece of cloth, a rag, a kerchief, or a scarf in addition to “shawl”. Since his kin recognized the item in question, it presumably had some recognizable embroidery.
Commentary: So who was the shepherd’s guide, and what was their motivation? Why bring the shepherd all the way to Hell so that he could collect on his debt? Scare the living relatives of the count into behaving? Whoever the guide was, they didn’t seem to be interested in increasing the amount of sin in this world…
It is initially assumed by the people of the region that the count “died in far-off lands” - but given his abrupt disappearance, he, too, might have been taken to Hell while still alive. And, indeed, the shawl in his possession seems to confirm this - if he was only present as a soul, then why would his physical belongings be with him?