After the exhumation of the graves of one of Zurich’s mayors who died under mysterious circumstances people started talking about seeing his ghost wandering around the church tower and wall of St. Peter. Could the ghost of Rudolf Brun, who ruled during volatile times in the city have returned?
Zurich, a city renowned for its stunning landscapes and rich culture, also harbors a darker side woven into its history. Tales of ghostly encounters and restless spirits have permeated its ancient streets, attracting those intrigued by the supernatural. St. Peter’s Church in Zurich is the only baroque church in the city. The clock on the tower is the largest in Europe and the dial has a diameter of 8.7 metres. St. Peter’s parish church is the oldest church in Zurich and dates to before the year 900.
Read More: Check out all ghost stories about Switzerland
Buried just below the clock tower is Rudolf Brun, the first independent city mayor in the 14th century and leader of the Zürich guilds’ revolution of 1336. He died a terrible and mysterious death, that some attributed to poisoning.
Rudolf Brun as Zurich’s first Independent Mayor
Rudolf was the son of Jakob Brun, a member of the city council, and of Mechthild. Brun overthrew the former city council with the help of the city’s craftsmen in June 1336 to balance the power between them and the aristocracy.
In 1349, Brun led a massacre of the Jewish community of Zurich, seizing many of the spoils for himself. The incident was caused by antisemitism in the city due to the alleged murder of the son of a Zurich man, and fueled by the subsequent accusations of well poisoning. The son of Zurich man Zur Wyden from a family of shoemakers, about four years old, was murdered, and the Jews were accused of the murder. The Zurich Jewish community numbered around 400, and most of them were killed.
Mayor Rudolf Brun for example took possession of the house of a certain Moses. This event took place in the frame of the widespread persecution of Jews during the Black Death, in which the Jews were accused of spreading the bubonic plague.
On 17 of September in 1360 he died and was buried in St. Peter’s Church together with his cook. It was believed that the cook had poisoned him, but it remained a mystery for years.
Exhuming his Bone to get to the Bottom of the Murder Mystery
In 1972, Brun’s remains were examined and tested positive for arsenic according to the ghost walk tours that used to be in the city. But as the substance was often used in earlier times for medicinal and recreational purposes, the result was inconclusive. The bone and hair analysis gave no other signs for poisoning.
So what really happened, and how did Bruno, who lived through a violent time in Zurich’s history, die?
None the wiser for the truth, Brun’s bones were reburied at the clock tower. If we are to believe the rumors, it was without his skull, which had mysteriously disappeared. Could this have been the incident that caused him to rise up as a ghost?
The Haunting of Rudolf Brun
Just a few weeks after the reburial of Rudolf Brun, two boys were playing football near the gravesite when they experienced something that would give the historic man a ghostly reputation. When the ball they were kicking stopped in front of the feet of a dark figure. According to the boys, this mysterious figure before them was wearing old-fashioned clothes.
One of the boys went to get the ball, not really taking too much notice of the strange man standing at a short distance. When approaching, the figure of the man turned around and walked towards the tower wall. When reaching the wall, the figure walked right through it and disappeared.
According to the rumors, more than one person had seen this figure around the tower.
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References:
Ghosts haunt Zurich streets – SWI swissinfo.ch
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