According to a legend that has been told since the 16th century, Otto left his homeland because his older brother Henry (who did not actually exist) was the heir and he himself was destined to be a clergyman. He lived unrecognized as an archer at the count's court in
Kleve. There he fell in love with Count Dietrich's daughter Elisabeth (Elsbeth). Otto's brother Henry died young, however, and since Otto was thought missing, Hesse was in danger of falling to his brother-in-law
Duke Otto of Braunschweig, who was married to a daughter of Henry II. Otto was then recognized by a visiting Hessian knight, who greeted him with great respect. Count Dietrich now agreed to his daughter's marriage to Otto. Otto returned with his bride to his father's court. The material was often worked poetically and musically, in dramas, operas, a novel, short stories and lyrical-epic poems. The most famous arrangement is that of
Gottfried Kinkel,
Otto der Schütz. Eine rheinische Geschichte in zwölf Abenteuern (Otto the Archer: A Rhenish Story In Twelve Adventures), from 1846. In
Kleve a large fountain statue was erected for Otto, which first stood at the fish market and later at the end of the prince's court. In the old auditorium of the
University of Marburg there is a series of wall paintings called "Otto der Schütz" (Otto the Archer). The Kinkel monument in
Oberkassel, inaugurated in 1906, shows a scene from Kinkel's epic “Otto der Schütz” on one of its four relief panels. == Literature ==