Poland

The Trumpeter of Krakow

An excerpt from Krakow Encounter. 

Every hour on the hour, a bugler plays a haunting melody from the Mariacka steeple. The hejnal\/ is a simple five-note tune that dates back as far as the church. It is played four times, once in each direction, and was perhaps a signal of the opening and closing of the city gates. Some sources claim that bugle calls were also used to warn of fires and sound other alarms. The tune ends oddly and abruptly, its final note cut off without conclusion. Nobody knows why, but it has given rise to an intriguing legend. 

The story goes that the bugler played the hejnal\/ to warn of an attack by marauding Mongols back in the 13th century. As he sounded the alarm, he was shot, his heart pierced with an arrow and his warning cut short.

Alas, it is only a legend. Indeed, some claim the source of this story was an American writer, Eric Kelly, who described the tale in his 1929 children's book The Trumpeter of Krakow.

Never mind, Krakovians have embraced this tradition with much gusto. Nowadays, a team of seven trumpeters are responsible for playing the hejnal every hour on the hour, around the clock.