Who can be haunting the old Hald Pensjonat in Mandal? Playing soft piano music in the afterlife, and rumours about the footsteps of a Norwegian pirate seems to linger.
In the coastal town of Mandal, where summer light lingers long into the evening, Hald Pensjonat appears by the shore, unassuming. But legend has it that it is haunted, although the details of it are scarce.
Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Norway
In the left wing there is a carved and decorated ceiling in the Renaissance style with 42 carved heads. The heads are all different and symbolize, among other things, sorrow, joy, despondency and despair. Perhaps they are the only ones who can sway what’s really going on inside of these walls.
The Assembling of Hald Pensjonat
The property is a building complex consisting of one central building and two wings. The building in the middle was originally built around 1795 in Eikvåg outside Farsund , and was called “Krohn’s House”. Around 1897, Jens Bugge moved this building to Mandal.
The two wings have also been moved to their current location from other locations. The west wing was originally an older house in the Malmö district of Mandal . The east wing was an older house in Kleven in Mandal, built around 1750. In all, the history of this house comes from multiple parts of the country.
Today, the Hald International Center has premises here. In the summer, the site is used as a guesthouse. The building absorbed the presence of countless visitors, their routines, their conversations, their quiet moments. But not everyone who stayed here is believed to have left.
The Piano Playing Alone
But who is the one behind the haunted rumors? Some say it had to be John Jahnse, a pirate and hijacker of ships who used to live in one of the rooms in the 1700s. This particular room was one of those that were moved from Farsund to Hald. Footsteps were apparently heard around the house and during the second world war, it was said to scare the German soldiers who took over the house. The footsteps frightened them so much that they shot at the ceiling in the fireplace room. Stories say you can still see the bullet hole.
The most well known phenomenon at Hald Pensjonat centers around the piano music seemingly coming from the fireplace room. More than once, music has reportedly been heard drifting through the rooms without a visible player.
Sources tell that in the fall of 2000, when a group heard the piano music, they went to check it out. When investigated, the piano is found untouched. The lid closed and the room was empty.
The Figure in the Corridors
Equally unsettling is the figure some claim to have seen in the hallways. The figure appears briefly, then disappears around a corner or into a shadow where no doorway exists.
But who could this figure be? The building is from a time after the reformation, so no monks lived there. Some speculate a former caretaker. Others suggest a deeply religious guest who once sought solitude within these walls. There are no records to confirm any theory.
A Place that Remembers
Unlike many haunted hotels that have been leaning into its house spirits, the manager for the bed and breakfast used to say that the Bible didn’t want the living to contact the dead and didn’t want people to come seeking ghosts.
When the summer season ends and the house grows still, some believe the music returns. Soft notes echoing through empty rooms. At Hald Pensjonat, something remains awake long after the guests have gone.
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La spøkelsene leve i fred – NRK Sørlandet