Countess Emma Of Lesum

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Countess Emma von Lesum was a woman of extraordinary piety. After the death of her husband Lüdger, she lived a very secluded life in which deeds of charity were her only pleasure. Emma was exceptionally generous to the Bremen church: after hearing Archbishop Libentius preach, she donated two crucifixes, an altarpiece and a chalice, all made of gold and decorated with precious stones. But her munificence was not limited to the church.

Duke Benno of Saxony once visited Lesum to call on Emma, the widow of his deceased brother Lüdger. Early one morning and accompanied by a great retinue, they rode past Bremen together to inspect the countess's lands (much of the present-day municipal area).

The benevolent countess was approached by a delegation of citizens complaining about the lack of pastureland for their livestock. Emma listened sympathetically and promised to help them in their plight.

She offered to grant them a plot of pastureland whose size would be determined by how far a man could walk in one hour. The duke was concerned that the kindhearted countess might go too far and give away too much of the precious inheritance that would fall to him or his children after her death. "You should extend it to one whole day", he said angrily.

But the countess ignored the reproach in his comment and replied gently: "The Lord has blessed me richly with earthly goods; may your word prevail." Emma's assent took the duke completely by surprise and he began to wonder how to salvage the situation. Suddenly he had a cunning idea. Concealing his anger behind a straight face, he said hypocritically to his sister-in-law: "Since you acquiesced to my counsel in this matter so quickly, perhaps you might allow me to take the task in hand."

Emma innocently agreed to his demand but the duke's malice now came to the fore: he hurried down the road to a beggar whom they had just ridden past and who had received generous alms from the countess. The duke had not failed to notice that the beggar was a poor cripple. The whole crowd followed him in amazement. Turning gloatingly to the countess, the duke said, "To ensure prompt execution of your command, I shall show you the man who will start on his way forthwith."

This drew loud lamentations from the citizens who could see that the duke's malicious ruse would thwart their benefactress's generous act. But Emma dismounted, laid her hand on the cripple's head as if to bless him and prayed quietly. The citizens looked on in despair, for they knew the man and knew that he could not move from the spot without assistance. He was brought to the road by kind people in the morning and taken home again at night.

The beggar himself was astonished at the noble lady's exhortation, as she gestured to him to get going; he looked to the heavens in disbelief. "Just try," said the countess, and the cripple started to move.

Of course he could not walk, having no use of his legs at all. So he crawled with his hands, followed by one of the countess's servants, who marked every hundred paces with a post in the ground.

To begin with, the citizens were full of sadness and most went home despondently; what could they expect from a cripple? Nevertheless the cripple crawled and crawled, advancing slowly but surely, without ever stopping to rest. Towards midday the citizens reappeared and were most pleasantly surprised: stretching out into the distance and in a wide sweeping curve was a long, long row of shiny posts. So it went on and, as dusk fell, the cripple could clearly be seen from the city, working, coming closer and closer,

arriving back at the town just as the sun was going down. When the fence was erected, the citizens saw an area of grazing land much larger than they had originally hoped for ? almost too big for their needs. That was in the year 1032.

Even today the citizens of Bremen may graze livestock on this land, now known as the Bürgerweide ('citizens' pasture'), for a small fee. The cripple was cherished for the rest of his life and is remembered with gratitude by posterity. His image is preserved in stone between Roland's feet.
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Every child in Bremen knows the legend of Countess Emma. She is a much beloved character in history, and today's Bürgerpark- where most of my pictures are taken- covers the ground she is said to have donated.

The monument for the countess and the duke can be found in the Emmastraße in Bremen. I don't know why the artist choose to put their horses on wheels.

Roland Of Bremen February 2011
Bremen City Skyline November 2010