Even dangers can be divine guides – (The Guide Bear)
Wegweiser
In the forested foothills of the Allgäu Alps, the missionary Saint Magnus of Füssen (c. 699–c. 750) became one of the formative figures of early Bavarian Christianity. Arriving in the region in the mid-8th century, Magnus lived as a monk, healer, and teacher among scattered settlements near the River Lech.
According to early monastic tradition, preserved in later ecclesiastical histories, Magnus once faced a bear while working in the dense Alpine forest. He drove the animal away — a necessary act of survival in a region still thick with wildlife.
The story continues with an unexpected turn: as Magnus later sought a suitable location to build a monastery, the same bear reappeared — this time no longer threatening. The clearing where the animal stood became the chosen site of the new foundation.
He also forced a bear to leave his apples alone — and, as the legend tells it, the bear even revealed an ore vein, which Magnus later had mined for the benefit of the people of Füssen.
On that spot rose St. Mang’s Abbey, which shaped the religious and cultural identity of Füssen for more than a millennium. Today, the abbey’s museum, local educational materials, and regional heritage guides still recount the bear episode as part of the city’s founding narrative. For visitors, the story endures as a moment when the wild became a signal — pointing to the place where Christian life would take root in the Allgäu.
Even dangers can be divine guides.
And for our story, we gave the bear a name in his native tongue — Wegweiser, “the one who shows the way,” honoring what he became famous for in the legend.
