The legend of Wanda who didn’t want to marry a German

Legends about Wanda, the beautiful young ruler of Kraków, frequently thought to be the daughter of King Krak himself, are associated with the mound in Mogila. According to one of the versions of the legends, Wanda, famous for her fairness and wisdom, aroused love in the heart of the German prince, Rydygier (Rittiger). The haughty youth announced that unless Wanda takes his hand, he will attack Kraków. Unwilling to put the city in jeopardy, the princess chose death instead of marrying the Prince. (Another version claims that on Rydygier’s change of heart, Wanda had to make a thanksgiving offering to the gods of her own life.) All in all, she plunged into the waves of the Vistula, and her dead body was found nowhere else but in Mogiła. To honour the brave deed of their monarch, her people built a high kurghan to her memory. In 1890, a monument designed by Jan Matejko himself was placed on its summit.


Death of Wanda, painting by M. Piotrowski. Illustration from a book History of Poland from  1909 (collection of JM)