As the first hostess of the hotel in Voss, Norway, the ghost of Magdalene at the historic and majestic Fleischier’s Hotel is said to linger inside of Room 407.
Fleischer’s Hotel stands proudly beside the lake at Voss, a grand wooden hotel steeped in family history and tradition right by the train station. The hotel was built in the Swiss style. This style of building was popular in Norway from about 1850-1910 and is inspired by the architecture of the Alps.
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For generations, guests have spoken in hushed tones about one particular room. Room 407 with a grand view over the water Vossvangen is built around, is said to be occupied, even when no name is written in the ledger. According to long held legend, this is where the spirit of the hotel’s very first hostess still resides.
Magdalene Fleischer’s Unfinished Watch
The ghost is believed to be Magdalene Fleischer herself, the woman who helped shape Fleischer’s the hotel that is still running by her rules it seems.
Her full name was Magdalene Margrethe von Schlanbusch (1839-1915), married to Fredrik Lyth Ørum Fleischer (1834-1906) who founded the hotel after they sold the family owned church to Voss.
The two ran the hotel from 1864 to 1906. Magdalene was Fleischer’s savior when the husband thought all was lost when the new building burned down in 1888, only 13 days after it opened. Magdalene had single-handedly insured the existing hotel and the new building during construction, without her husband’s knowledge. The hotel was rebuilt the next year and is still standing.
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Witnesses describe seeing a female figure dressed in black, moving silently through Room 407 or standing near the bed. Why exactly this room, sources never claim to have an answer to. Others speak of sudden cold drafts that pass through the room without warning, and chandeliers that flicker and glow for no earthly reason.
Despite these unsettling signs, Magdalene is not considered a malevolent presence. Quite the opposite. Staff and guests alike describe her as protective and deeply concerned with the well being of those who stay at the hotel. It is said she refuses to leave because her sense of duty to the guests never truly ended.
A Touch in the Night
One of the most striking accounts comes from a guest who claimed to have awakened during the night to feel a gentle hand patting her cheek. When she opened her eyes, the room was empty, yet the sense of comfort lingered. There was no fear, only the impression of being cared for, as if checked on by a devoted hostess making her rounds.
Hotel staff have their own stories. An employee once claimed that flickering lights appeared when Magdalene seemed displeased, particularly if she felt the service provided to guests was lacking. In these moments, the lights were not threatening but insistent, a quiet reminder that standards must be upheld.
– Guests who have stayed here for several nights have on several occasions come down to the reception and said that they no longer want to stay in room 407. They have had the feeling that someone was watching them, said Butler, Michael Pedersen. He also claimed to have felt or heard someone walking in the hallways.
– I heard lots of women’s voices from inside the toilet, as if they were talking to each other. I got a little scared, and hurried on, but had to go back to take a look. Still, I didn’t dare open the door to look. I was completely in shock. I knew there couldn’t possibly be anyone there, because the door to the hallway was locked. I rushed out and locked it behind me! Source
Also the descendants of the alleged ghosts, comes with a few ghost stories of her own. Asta Maria Fleischer Tønjum, the great granddaughter, worked all her life at the hotel as well.
– Not so many years ago, a regular male guest stopped by the reception and reported an incident in room 407. This was passed on to me, and I called the man, who told me that a lady had appeared in the room. She had come over to his bed and stood there for a while before she dissolved and disappeared. The lady had a black, unbuttoned blouse and buttoned boots. The man had not been scared, because he felt that the lady was kind-hearted and was there to look after him. When he heard the story about Magdalene, he thought that the woman who appeared to him could well be her, says Asta Marie. Source
A Spirit Bound by Care
Unlike many haunted hotels where spirits are tied to tragedy or unrest, Fleischer’s tells a different kind of ghost story. As her descendants claim, she was a warm and kind lady in life as she seems to have been in her afterlife as well. Magdalene Fleischer is said to remain out of love and responsibility rather than sorrow.
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References:
Magic Magasin – Det spøker på Fleischers Hotel