Gelnhausen, magic City

Gelnhausen, magic city,
climbing up the hill,
with ancient houses pretty
and cobble-stone alleys still.

Up high a bulwark from times of power
downward directs the idlers´ eyes,
stopped by a thick-walled dungeon tower,
that choked the wretched witches cries.

The red-stone water-palace tower
matched emperor Barbarossas hair;
Legend claims his heart in the power
of a roving forest maiden fair.

Where once the river served as moat
and a busy port harboured many a boat,
gravestones now are piled up high -
whispering to the wanderer: why?

The Lion's Inn may have seen a joust
between the devil and Dr. Faust,
a spark of which over time and space,
perhaps set Philipp Reiss´ imagination ablaze.

And when the sunset-coloured spires,
the half-timbered houses in black and white,
were darkened by a war's atrocious fires
a poet bore record to the turn of your tide.

City with secret cellars and wells,
your manifold magic conveys
enchantments from outdated days,
and ties up the wanderer with spells.