On the trail of Postmichel through Esslingen (GC74HWR)

You've never heard the legend of the Postmichel? Well, neither do we... Before we came across the letterbox "Michel Banhard on the run" (GC74HWR) in Esslingen.

Who is Michel Banhard? But a letterbox is always great and "on the run" also sounds exciting.

We had passed the starting point of the letterbox in Esslingen several times anyway through other caches. A look at the listing reveals that this letterbox might not be that easy. Maybe that's a reason for the relatively low percentage of favos. Currently at 55% - based on our experience and our gaming fun, the letterbox deserves significantly more here.

The story starts at the Michaelsbrunnen at the "end" of the pedestrian zone. The various stations from the story are shown here in the base, which can also be found in the listing.

Briefly about the story:

Michel Banhard was a postman about 500 years ago. He brought mail from Stuttgart to Esslingen. One day, on his way, he discovered a signet ring on the ground. He took him with him. In the evening he showed the ring in the tavern and the ring was recognized by those present there. It had once belonged to a wealthy citizen of Esslingen who had been murdered two years earlier. Clearly Michel must have had something to do with the murder if he owns the ring...

Michel was locked in the dungeon and tortured for a long time until he confessed to the murder under torture.

On the way to the execution he fulfilled his last wish and rode on horseback to the place of execution. He blew his post horn and threatened to appear every year on Michaelisnacht (September 29) and take revenge. And so it happened year after year - in front of the house of the executioner, the judge and in the streets of Esslingen, a headless horseman appeared every year on the night of death and blew his horn.

Many years later, the murdered man's nephew confessed that he actually killed his uncle. With that, Michel was released from the debt and never appeared again.

The letterbox starts in the evening in the tavern and tells the story of the escape from the Postmichel. Very true to a letterbox, you will find directions in each case. However, something in the description does not match the legend. You always have to find the mistake and tell a number or a letter.

And that's not easy at all!

Station 1 was already a challenge for us foreigners. But you have to get into the game first... Here you look for the names of characters on a house wall. The task is clear, but Aunt Google was pretty bitchy that day. So what else can you do? Ask someone, of course. Well, those from the shop must know what is attached to the wall of their house... Enter the shop in a friendly manner and ask the unusual question. The answer was that you don't know, but surely the internet... I must have looked very desperately, the owner started looking directly on her cell phone - and couldn't find anything either. In the meantime I found a small booklet on the saga for EUR 1.50 on the counter. Looked nice, fits the story, I'll take it with me - that's what I thought. And the saleswoman came back with a note from the documents, where the house decoration was described. So our first suspicion was correct. Kindly enough, I even got the booklet of the saga as a gift. Now, this isn't a request that everyone playing the cache has to run to the store. Was only a good possibility for us - but our assumption was even correct. Now we had it confirmed and also understood the game. The owner tells us a little mistake, we figure out what's wrong and how it would be right. So on to the second station.

The path leads perfectly through the wonderful old town of Esslingen, past some sights. And at any time you feel like a postman looking for his secret way out of town to avoid the executioner.

The path is about 2 km long. You need some time. On the one hand, the tasks are not super easy (but not unsolvable either!), we had to keep thinking about what is reality and what is fiction and how it should be done. If you are not sure, write down two values, there will be a checksum later.

All in all, we found it to be a beautifully told letterbox with a wonderful route and a very coherent story. In the final, which we reached when darkness fell, there is also a very decent stamp – that is no longer a matter of course for every letterbox these days.

We decorated our stamp book with it and rode off successfully - oh no, we're back to the car....

So, if you're near Esslingen and fancy a nice story, then we can only recommend the GC74HWR letterbox.