The town of Ellwangen, belonging to the province of Badem-Würrtemberg in the south of Germany, is situated mostly on the eastern bank of the river Jagst, which in turn flows through the manifold forested hills of the broader ‚Schwäbisch-Fränkische Waldberge‘. Though in modern days, the Jagst‘s course has been straightened to the demands of civilization and the forests have receded out of the valleys, in the time of the foundation of the monastery of St. Vitus, the primaeval old-growth forest resembled a hostile wilderness. Situated just north of the old roman Limes, the area was just sparsely populated and according to the Vita Hariolfi, the then so-called ‚Virngrundwald‘ was even roamed by elks.