The American writer (1835-1910) published 1880 the experiences of his journeys through Germany, Switzerland and Italy. In " A tramp abroad " Twain describes also his visit in Dilsbergs:
“[…] Dilsberg is a quaint place. It is most quaintly and picturesquely situated, too. Imagine the beautiful river before you; then a few rods of brilliant green sward on its opposite shore; then a sudden hill […] – a comely, shapely hill, rising abruptly out of the dead level of the surrounding green plains, visible from a great distance down the bends of the river, and with just exactly room on the top of its head for its steepled and turreted and roof-clustered cap of architecture, which same is tightly jammed and compacted within the perfectly round hoop of the ancient village wall.“
Twain reports of the saga of the well gallery, which leads to a mysterious place in the valley far away:
“The children said that there was in truth a subterranean outlet down there, and they would prove it. So they set a great truss of straw on fire and threw it down the well, while we leaned on the curb and watched the glowing mass descend. It struck bottom and gradually burned out. No smoke came up. The children clapped their hands and said: «You see! Nothing makes so much smoke as burning straw—now where did the smoke go to, if there is no subterranean outlet?»“