History


Staufen's most famous inhabitant was the legendary Doctor Johann Georg Faust, an alchemist, astrologer and necromancer.

Dr. Johann Georg Faustus is said to have been employed by the indebted lord of the castle Anton von Staufen to produce gold.

In 1539, Faust is said to have lost his life in his room at Gasthaus zum Löwen during an explosion, probably while trying to produce gold through alchemy. An inscription on the façade of the inn still gives testimony to this historic event today:
 
 
"In the year 1539, Doctor Faustus, a most wonderful Nigromanta (necromancer), stayed in the lion (inn) at Staufen where he died miserably and the legend goes that Mephistopheles, one of the leading devils, whom he had merely called his brother-in-law as long as he lived, had broken his neck and had given over his poor soul to eternal perdition, after the pact of 24 years had expired.”