An impressive, archaic-looking stone cross, leaning to one side and visible from afar at a fork in the road: the Fraubillen cross. The first written mention of the mighty monument dates back to 1470. At that time, "la Grande Croix" marked the border between the territories of Nassau and Burgundy. Today, the district boundary between Nusbaum and Bollendorf runs along the old path here.

The Fraubillen cross may have once been a menhir. Menhirs are known in large numbers from Western Europe, especially Brittany, but also from many regions of Germany. The majority date from the Neolithic period, the time of the early farming cultures, between 3000 and 2000 BC. The large stones may have had a cultic-religious function. Even in early Christian times, the special veneration of such stones by the local population is often documented. Legend has it that it was St. Willibrord himself, an Anglo-Saxon missionary and founder of Echternach Abbey at the beginning of the 8th century, who took hammer and chisel to transform the pagan stone into a symbol of Christianity. Today, the cross is three and a half meters high and has shallow niches on both sides, which were obviously protected by bars and contained figures or images.

Sybille or Maria? In old documents, both the name "Fraubillenkreuz" and "Sybillenkreuz" have been recorded. The former could be a derivation of "Unserer lieben Frau Bild-Kreuz" (Our Lady's picture cross) and point to the Christian veneration of the Virgin Mary. Sybils, on the other hand, were pre-Christian seers, prophesying women - another plausible interpretation. It is fitting for this monument that its names unite the beliefs of thousands of years.

Tales and legends

There are even more legends surrounding the Fraubille Cross than that of St. Willibrord. Put your ear to the cross: can you hear anything? It is said that the woman Sybille is hiding inside the stone and that you can hear the whirring of her spinning wheel in absolute silence.