Why the Tower of Wasserburg Church Remains Unfinished
Bavaria
The Wasserburg town hall was built more than 600 years ago. A legend is connected to the history of this building.
At Wasserburg they were building a church and a town hall at the same time. Thus they engaged many masons and construction workers, and instructed the masters to not delay.

Two diligent stonemasons, named Hans and Stephan, took charge of the work. The older one, Hans, supervised the construction of the church; the younger one, Stephen, the town hall. Both were experienced in the art of building, having participated together in the construction of many a marvelous structure, also in southern Europe. They proceeded once again together with the plans, extending to one another the hand of true friendship and swearing that they would help each other like good brothers, without hate and without envy.
Because every good work should be rewarded, if it is to advance and succeed, the man who finished his project first was promised a reward, provided that the work was worthy and without blemish.
Do you want to know what kind of reward it was to be? A very unusual reward, neither of gold and silver, nor a medal of honor: It was the mayor's beautiful daughter.
Both stonemasons had cast their eyes on the girl at the same time, and this was no secret to her father. Because both were skilled and upright people, the mayor did not care if his daughter would take the one or the other as a bridegroom. Thus he promised her to the one who would first complete his building. However, the bride-to-be was not consulted in this matter. In her heart she had already chosen Stephen, the younger man.
As luck would have it, Stephan completed his building first. The town hall was finished, but the church tower's steeple was still missing. The competition was over. Stephan was to take home the mayor's wealthy and beautiful daughter as his bride.
This was a difficult test of friendship. Hans accepted his fate without envy and complaint, devoting himself to his friend as before. But Stephan could not see it the same way. He did not feel right surrounded by good fortune while his friend was unhappy. Thus he walked about sadly and despondent, thinking to himself how he might be freed of his misery.
One day he disappeared. In his room, instead of himself, there was a stone statue of him and a written message, in which he extended his final greetings to his friend and to his bride-to-be. He revealed to them his decision to join a distant monastery.
The legend does not tell us if Hans took home the abandoned bride. However, the friend appears to have lost all joy in his work, because the church tower's steeple is missing even today.
The statue of loyal Stephen is still preserved in the town hall of Wasserburg.