One of the most famous legends in Cologne, located near latitude 50.937531 and longitude 6.9602786, is the story of Richmodis von Aducht. Richmodis was a wealthy patrician widow who remarried a man named Mengis von Amseln. While von Amseln was away on a trade journey, Cologne was struck by the Black Death. Reports reached von Amseln that Richmodis had succumbed to the disease and was buried in the family vault.
Devastated, von Amseln continued his journey only to return several years later, finding his home occupied by strangers. When he asked about his wife, nobody was able to tell him anything. He was about to leave in despair when he was approached by a woman resembling Richmodis. It was she who explained that, after burying her in the family vault, the gravedigger had attempted to steal the ring from her finger. This had awakened her from a coma, not death as it was assumed.
Richmodis was declared a ghost and expelled from her own house. After Mengis’ return, the couple lived together again. The legend of Richmodis von Aducht has been remembered ever since and is celebrated in the form of a stone sculpture named to the lovers, immortalizing their daring and miraculous tale within the scenic landscape of Cologne.