At the Stinking Worm

Wien · Østrig · Historic building

A dragon-like beast was found in the cellar, and its stench was so sharp and foul that it gave the whole house its name.

The house 'Zum schmeckenden Wurm' on the Wollzeile took its name from something that, according to old Viennese tradition, was once found in its cellar: a dragon-like monster, crouched in the dark beneath the building. For a long time a picture of the beast hung as the shop sign of the trading house there, so that everyone passing could see what was supposed to have lain below. The strangest thing in the legend is not its shape but its smell. The creature is said to have given off a stench so sharp and revolting that it was the smell, not the jaws or the scales, that named the house — in old Viennese dialect 'schmecken' meant to smell, not to taste. The Wollzeile runs east from Stephansplatz, and the quarter's house names still recall a time when every doorway had its own legend.

FAQ

Hvor ligger At the Stinking Worm?

At the Stinking Worm ligger i Wien, Østrig.