On the northern side of the Black Church in Brașov, near the “Golden Portal,” stands a statue of a journeyman, a kneeling figure placed on the first buttress. This figure holds its right hand extended downward, leaning on the left hand, suggesting the action of ensuring the wall’s verticality with a rope tied to a piece of lead. The designation of journeyman and its story come from a legend not confirmed by other contemporary sources.
According to the legend, this exceptionally hardworking journeyman was pushed off the scaffolding by his master, who was envious of the journeyman’s superior skills. The master feared that the young worker might take his place and cause him to be dismissed. The next day, the journeyman was found dead at the base of the buttress, and his colleagues, believing it to be a work accident, decided to erect a monument in his honor at the top of the buttress, depicting him in the position just before the fall.
After the journeyman’s death, the envious master could no longer find peace, overwhelmed by guilt. Eventually, he confessed his crime to the court. The legend states that he was probably executed in Council Square, under the watchful eyes of the journeyman’s statue, thus serving as a lesson in justice and morality for all who might try to hide their reprehensible deeds. This story gives a profound and tragic significance to the monument on the Black Church.