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The Devil’s Castle in the Aubinger Lohe and the Hidden Treasure

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Said to be the location of a hidden treasure, the old nobles from the Devil’s Castle in the Bavarian hills are said to roam the forest, still searching for it. 

The Aubinger Lohe is a green and wooden area on the western edge of the city limits of Munich, bordering to the north by the Lochhausen district. Lohe means forest or wetland, and is a part of Munich’s green belt. 

Read More: Check out all ghostly legends from Germany

The Aubinger Lohe with the Teufelsberg is the only natural elevation in the Munich gravel plain. With its summit height of 541 meters, it rises about 25 meters above its surroundings and is Munich’s highest hill.. It is called Teufelsberg” (Devil’s Mountain), after the now vanished Teufelsburg” (Devil’s Castle).

München, Aubinger Lohe, der kleine Moorsee in der Nähe der Moosschwaige

The Ruins of Aubinger Lohe Castle

In the south and southeast of the Aubinger Lohe, traces of settlements from Bronze Age, Celtic and Roman times have been found, as well as two Celtic hillforts. A lot of old legends linger under the trees, but perhaps the most told one is the curse of the old Aubinger Lohe Castle and the treasure that was lost. 

Read also: The Lost Castle of Hollerwiese

Deep into the woods a three-meter-deep ditch around a tree-covered hill at the northeast side. Aubinger Burgstall castle stood here in the Middle Ages. A trained eye can recognize the motte and the moat at Teufelsberg, but nothing else remains.

Source

The castle, now dubbed Teufelburg, or the Devil’s Castle, was founded in 1158 by Henry the Lion, Duke of Munich, to guard the road to Augsburg. The Lords of Aubinger were likely in the service of the Welf dukes. Aubing was first mentioned in 1010.

Image: Gras-Ober – source
Image: Gras-Ober – Source

The popular name Teufelsburg (Devil’s Castle) is post-medieval and refers to various legends of treasures hidden in the castle hill that could only be retrieved with the help of the devil. Besides the obvious possibility of ” Teufel ” (devil), a derivation from “Tuifel” (depression, pool) is also conceivable, referring to the damp area of ​​the Dachau Moor below.

In 1422, the castle was destroyed during a campaign by Duke Ludwig the Bearded shortly before the Battle of Alling and abandoned to decay and disappear. Apparently, it was a wooden structure, which is why no ruins remain.

The Ghost of Aubinger Lohe and the Cursed Treasure

There are a couple of different versions of the legend of the castle that vanished into thin air, or the treasure that is supposedly hidden away somewhere inside of the forest. 

One version claims that when the lord of the manor was slain while hunting in the Loh forests, his widow cursed both the woods and the castle as revenge. The stately castle then collapsed in on itself, along with all its treasures, and sank into the Teufelsberg. According to legend, the lady of the castle has since wandered restlessly as a white figure through the woods of the Aubinger Lohe.

Source

Wayward Cross Haunting: On the way to the so-called Aubinger Burgstall, known locally as Teufelsberg, stands a wayside cross. It has only been in this location for 13 years, but it commemorates a cross that stood elsewhere and was destroyed during the construction of the motorway tunnel. According to superstition, fiery men used to lie in wait at the former Lochhausen wayside cross after the evening prayer bells rang, ambushing anyone leaving the village’s boundaries. Only a fervent prayer, the story goes, could put an end to this hellish haunting.

Another version, it was the lord of the castle who cursed it with his dying breath as well as his wife, who is suspected was involved in his death. The castle then collapsed and sank into the Teufelsberg, along with everything inside. Legend has it that the castle contained fabulous treasures, which his wife apparently coveted. 

In both cases, a lady in white is roaming the forest, and the treasure of the cursed castle is buried somewhere under the green trees. 

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References:

7 wahre urbane Legenden aus München

Burg Teufelsberg (Aubing) 

Burgstall Aubing – Wikipedia

Sagen und Mythen – Magischer Zauber – München – SZ.de

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The Devil’s Footprint in Frauenkirche in Munich

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Inside one of Munich’s landmark churches, something devilish is said to be stamped on the floor. In the middle of the room, a black footprint is clearly seen, named The Devil’s Footprint, as he was said to have left it there. 

The Frauenkirche  officially the Cathedral of Our Lady, also known as Munich Cathedral is a late Gothic church building in Munich’s Old Town and is one of the landmarks of the Bavarian capital , Munich. It is also said to be full of fantastical legends and ghosts. 

Read More: Check out all ghostly legends from Germany

Munich’s iconic cathedral is famous not only for its twin towers but also for the mysterious “Devil’s Footprint” near the entrance. According to legend, the Devil himself left the mark after being tricked during the church’s construction. 

Legend of the Church: Several legends explain the reason for the new church’s construction. In the packed old church, a false fire alarm sounded one day. The most beautiful girl in Munich was trampled to death in the panicked rush of people fleeing the church. Duke Sigismund, in his youth, had been in love with a girl of lower social standing. She refused marriage, however, fearing she would be treated like Agnes Bernauer, who was cruelly murdered by her father-in-law, Duke Ernst, because of her low social class. Because the girl who died in the church reminded Duke Sigismund of his unhappy love and he felt her death should not have been in vain, he founded the Frauenkirche in her memory.

The Devil’s Footprint

In 1468 architect Jorg von Halspach went looking for money to build a new cathedral in Munich and ended up making a bargain with the Devil. The cathedral’s master builder had promised him a church without windows. Also, In exchange for his help, the devil was to receive the soul of the first person to enter the church.

Jörg von Halspach: (*before 1441 probably in Halsbach near Altötting ; † 6 October 1488 in Munich), also called Halsbach, Ganghofer or ‘Jörg von Polling’, was a Munich master builder and architect of the Late Gothic period. His principal work is the Frauenkirche in Munich, which was built between 1468 and 1494. For its vaulting , he traveled to Ulm and Augsburg , where he studied St. Ulrich’s Church and the cathedral. Master Jörg is buried beneath the north tower.

On February 9, 1468, Duke Sigismund and Bishop Tulbeck laid the foundation stone for the new St. Mary’s Church, and the old church was demolished in 1472. Construction progressed relatively quickly.

But when the devil inspected the work and stood where the imprint was, he saw not a single ray of light. He laughed and stamped his foot in glee until he took another step – and suddenly discovered windows hidden behind the pillars. Enraged by the master builder’s deception, he unleashed a storm to destroy the building. The storm subsided, but the devil’s wrath remains – even today, a cold wind always blows around the cathedral.

The black footprint, or Der Teufelstritt, is still there in the middle of the entrance hall, although they cover it up during church masses. Visitors often pause at the footprint, but some claim the atmosphere changes dramatically around it, with sudden chills, feelings of unease, and an overwhelming sense of being watched. Whether folklore or something more sinister, the legend continues to draw curious believers.

Source

Although the columns are not blocking the windows in real life, a huge altar used to conceal it from 1620 to 1858. The footprint itself is a reconstructed one, after the rooftop collapsed in the second world war, and was first ended in 1994. But when the original footprint was set, no one really knows. 

The Haunted Cemetery

The story of the Devill’s Footprint is not the only story from this church though. Outside of it, it used to be an old cemetery, the “Frauenfreihof,” as the cemetery by the cathedral was still called at the beginning of the 19th century. 

Back then, the cemetery was considered extremely haunted by an  eerie figure in the nightcap who made Munich residents avoid the area after dark. 

The Cemetery: Numerous epitaphs are mounted along the lower outer walls on the north, east, and south sides. They commemorate the cemetery that once surrounded the church. For hygiene reasons, the cemetery was slated for relocation, but the townspeople successfully resisted this on several occasions. However, since 1773, burials were permitted only in family plots, and the area was paved in 1800.

But then there was this merchant with his shop on Weinstraße opposite the old police station. One night, after a visit to the tavern, he wandered through the cemetery, probably on a whim fueled by beer as he used to indulge in after closing his shop.

To impress his drinking friends, he would take the route through the haunted cemetery. And as fate would have it, a white figure wearing a pointed cap sat motionless on one of the gravestones. The merchant, with enough courage-boosting alcohol in his blood, gave the apparition a resounding slap. The stranger’s cap slipped off his head, revealing a grinning skull. 

Read Also: Similar stories exists in several stories, like with The Icelandic Ghost Story of The White Cap

Now it was time for the shopkeeper to make a run for it. Arriving at his house, he thought himself safe. The ghost couldn’t get in through it because, according to old pious custom, it was marked with three crosses and the names of the Three Wise Men, bearing the effective demon-banishing incantation “C+M+B.” But the ghost is quite clever: it climbs through the window into the merchant’s bedchamber, who, quick-wittedly, throws a picture of the Madonna, the Holy Mother of God of Altötting at it. 

When he awoke the next day, the picture was hanging on his wall. The apparition vanished and was said to never appear again, but the man is henceforth known by his nickname: Schlafhaubenkramer, or “Sleepcap Merchant”.

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References:

Tour in München – Schön schaurig – Landkreis München – SZ.de

 Sagen & Geschichten – Eintrag bearbeiten 

Der Teufelstritt (The Devil’s Footprint) in Munich

Teufelstritt – Wikipedia 

Jörg von Halspach – Wikipedia 

Frauenkirche (München) – Wikipedia

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The Cursed Black Cat at Promenadeplatz in Munich

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Once the house of a greedy grain speculator, the haunted house at Promenadeplatz in Munich is said to be haunted by the man in the form of a cat, as penance after a curse drove him to ruin. 

Promenadeplatz is an iconic square located in the heart of Munich. From the 15th century onwards, the city’s salt warehouses stood on the site of today’s square until they were demolished in 1778. The resulting square was initially used and named as a parade ground and was transformed into a park in 1804.

Read More: Check out all ghostly legends from Germany

Now, luxurious buildings stand in their place, but some say that they still carry an old haunting. On some winter nights, you can still hear the eerie cat call that frightened people hundreds of years ago.

Promenadeplatz, Munich, Germany. Date: c 1880 – c 1910.

The Cursed Ghost of Number 7

In front of number 7, now a Commerzbank, there used to be a cursed ghost haunting. A long time ago, a rich man with a cold heart used to live and after being cursed, has been haunting the square in the form of a black cat.

The story dates back to a time of famine in Munich, although just how long is debatable. He was a typical speculator, buying grain cheaply and then drastically increasing prices during times of hardship without considering anything else but himself and his riches. 

The Michael Jackson Memorial: Since 2009, the Di Lasso statue at the square has also become a pilgrimage site for Michael Jackson fans, as he used to stay in the hotel when he was visiting Munich. // Image Source: Wikimedia

As well as hoarding grain, he rented out apartments at a high price. He heartlessly evicted a day-laborer family with seven children who owed him rent, leaving them to stand on the doorstep in the winter cold. 

But in doing so, he brought a curse upon himself that would seal the fate of the “Troadkipperer,” the grain shoveler or the man who weighs the grain. The wife of the evicted cursed him and his grain when she said: “May rats, mice, and vermin destroy everything!”

Later, when he went up to the attic, he discovered masses of mice in his grain storage. So he bought himself some cats to rid himself of the problem. But for every dead mouse, ten more appeared and nothing seemed to work. The miser lost his mind as well as his fortune. In the end, he was bankrupt and had to auction off his house.

Rats and mice infested his granary, driving him first to bankruptcy, then to suicide and he hanged himself in the attic. Since then, he has haunted the area in the form of a giant black cat. 

Some say that they tried an exorcism on the ghost of the cat once. The neighbors called in an exorcist whose plan was to entice the cat into an earthen jug which he then intended to seal with wax and then sink it in the swampland of Erdinger Moos. However, before he could recite his spell, the cat jumped him from behind, causing him to fall down the stairs and break his neck.

Even today noises can sometimes be heard and a glimmer of light seen in the attic of house number 7 where it is said he used to have his house and storage. 

The Ghost Cat Prowling the Promenadeplatz

Now, how much of the story is true though? The building standing today is listed as being built in 1906, and most versions of the story tell the ghost stories from hundreds of years ago. Was the story from the time the salt warehouses stood on this square, or was it the history of the bank building, the very image of money and greed the basis of the story?

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References:

Tour in München – Schön schaurig – Landkreis München – SZ.de 

Datei:Promenadeplatz7 Muenchen-01.jpg – Wikipedia 

Schauriges München: Grusel-Tour durch die Altstadt

Dresdner Bank in München – Promenadeplatz 7 (erbaut 1907) | Baudenkmal & Architektur

What is the most haunted building in Munich? – Quora 

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The Kuntilanak and the Pontianak: Vampiric Ghosts of the Banana Tree

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At the cusp of a vengeful ghost and a vampiric entity, the Kuntilanak of Indonesia, or the Pontianak as she is called in Malaysia, is after both vengeance and to devour her victims. 

In Indonesia, particularly on the islands of Java and Kalimantan, there exists one of Southeast Asia’s most haunting and widely feared spirits known as the Kuntilanak. She is said to be the restless ghost of a woman who died during childbirth or in a violent circumstance, forever trapped between life and death. In Malayan folklore where the story is also told, she is called the Pontianak. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Indonesia and Malaysia

Her domain is said to be in hollow banana trees and if you smell the sweet scent of Jasmine or the frangipani flower, it might just be the ghost of a woman who died in childbirth. And she might be after your blood. 

The Woman in White of Southeast Asian

The Kuntilanak is believed to originate in the spirit of a woman who died while pregnant or during childbirth. There are different variations of the legend throughout Asia, as we will get more into later. In traditional belief, dying in such a vulnerable state without completing the life cycle left the soul restless and unanchored.

The Kuntilanak is often depicted as a long-haired woman dressed in white as an astral female spirit. In modern media, she is often portrayed as a Woman in White. Often, her dress is depicted as blood-smeared. It is also often a traditional kebaya or funeral shroud.

She lures in unsuspecting men to devour and sometimes also for some sort of revenge. Some say that the phantom is an invention of Malay wives who wanted to discourage their husbands from random sexual encounters with women that they met on the road at night. Or perhaps it acts as some sort of subconscious warning to men to leave women alone at night. 

Signs that a Kuntilanak is nearby include the sound of an infant crying and the smell of plumeria flower followed by the smell of decay.

The Vampiric Creature of the Night

Another thing the Kuntilanak spirit is depicted as, is a monstrous transformation when she has lured her prey, more like a beast or type of vampire than a ghost. 

The Kuntilanak suddenly turns and reveals that her back is hollow, much like the Sundel bolong the prostitute ghost with her large gaping hole on her back.

Another version of this figure depicts her as a woman with long, sharp fangs and fingernails that she is said to use to feed on her victims, digging them into their stomachs and devouring their organs and blood. In some versions, she is also said to have wings she can fly away with making a ke-ke-ke sound as it flies.

The Ghost in the Tree

Banana trees are by nature hollow at the center. In Javanese and Malay belief these hollows are places where spirits can dwell. The Kuntilanak is said to hide in the hollows of banana trees, emerging at night or when someone passes too close. This is why it’s advised to ask permission from the spirits and guardians before entering a jungle. Kuntilanak are also said to favor certain trees as their “dwelling places,” such as the hibiscus tree, which grows leaning to the side (popularly called “waru doyong”).

When she appears, her wail is a long, high-pitched cry that carries over fields and villages, chilling listeners with its sorrow and fury. Those who hear the cry are believed to be marked by her presence.

The legend holds that the Kuntilanak may call out a person’s name, drawing them nearer with a voice that sounds familiar, kind, or beckoning. They usually announce their presence through baby cries. It’s said that if the cry is loud, she is far away, but if it is soft, then she is nearby. It is also said that if you hear a dog/wolf howl she is far away, but if it’s whimpering, she is nearby.

According to Javanese beliefs and traditions , a kuntilanak will not harm a pregnant woman if she always carries nails, knives, and scissors with her whenever she travels. This is why scissors, needles , and knives are often placed near a baby’s crib. According to Malay beliefs as well, sharp objects like nails can ward off attacks by the Pontianak.

Kuntilanak can be subdued by plunging a sharp nail into the top of her head. Sometimes the story goes that she doesn’t die from this, but once again becomes a normal woman. Sometimes even a good wife. Although, be careful to never remove the nail ever again as she will go back to her old ways. 

The Malayan Pontianak

As mentioned, the Kuntilanak of Indonesia is also called Pontianak in Malaysia. But what exactly is the difference? There are many Malay ghost myths, remnants of old animist beliefs that have been shaped by Hindu-Buddhist cosmology and later Muslim influences. Some ghost concepts such as the female vampires pontianak and penanggal are shared throughout the region. Often these two names are conflated to one being, just in different languages. 

There are some things that are more quintessential Malayan lore though than you would find in Indonesia. The Pontianak is similar to another entity found in Malayan folklore, the Langsuir. This is a vampiric ghost of a woman who died in childbirth in Malaysia is often connected with the stories of the Pontianak where the Langsuir is the ghost of the mother who died in childbirth, and the Pontianak is the child who died in stillbirth. Modern popular culture often confuses the pontianak with its mother the lang suir. However, traditional myth is clear that the pontianak is the ghost of a dead baby and not a pregnant woman.

There are also some traditions for the Malay Pontianak that are followed. To prevent this ghost to form, as with its mother the lang suir, a needle is placed in each of the corpse’s hands and a hen’s egg under each armpit. The Pontianak is also said to locate their prey by sniffing clothes that are left out to dry, which is the reason Malay’s refuse to keep their clothes outside at night. Also whistling after night is said to draw evil spirits. 

An interesting thing is how the Pontianak stopped showing up in modern media for a long time in Malay media. Films about her had mostly stopped being produced by the 1970s and in the 1990s, the Malaysian government censored horror films. These laws were relaxed in the 2000s, which brought on another wave of films, including the feminist Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam. She once again became something shared in media and culture to this day. 

The City of Pontianak

Pontianak, capital city of Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, shares its name with the fearsome monster. Perhaps a little confusing, the Indonesian city is given the Malayan name for it. 

Pontianak is said to have been founded in 1771 as a Malay fishing village, near a delta on the trade route of the Kapuas River. The legend of the city of Pontianak holds that the city began as an old trading station, infested with ghosts until Syarif Abdurrahman Alkadrie and his army drove them away with cannon fire. 

Read More: The City of Pontianak and the Vampiric Ghost its Named After

He also cut down all of the trees they could be hiding in, then constructed a mosque and a palace on the site. These buildings became the city and the seat of the Pontianak Sultanate. Holiday celebrations often include firing bamboo cannons to pay tribute to the Sultan.

Some claim that the vanquishing of the ancient creature in Pontianak was a metaphor about how the area entered to a place of a more modern era, ridding itself of old superstition in order to take on new ones. But old stories are hard to get rid of completely. And if they are still firing cannons, did she vanish at all?

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References:

Kuntilanak

The Indonesian Frontier Town Named for a Jungle Vampire – JSTOR Daily 

Kuntilanak – Wikipedia 

Kuntilanak – Wikipedia bahasa Indonesia, ensiklopedia bebas

(DOC) INDONESIAN GHOST KUNTILANAK IN FOLKLORE AND MASS CULTURE

Pontianak

The Indonesian Frontier Town Named for a Jungle Vampire – JSTOR Daily 

Kuntilanak – Wikipedia 

If Singapore has a lion, why should Pontianak not have a ghost? – National – The Jakarta Post

The ultimate survival guide to Malaysian superstitions and ghosts

Ghosts in Malay culture – Wikipedia

Ukategorisert

The City of Pontianak and the Vampiric Ghost its Named After

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How haunted is a city to be named after its ghosts? This is the case of the Indonesian city of Pontianak, said to have been haunted by the fearsome ghosts known as the Pontianak or the Kuntilalak ghosts, thirsting for blood and vengeance.

The seductive but bloodthirsty Kuntilanak is a popular character in Malay horror films and novels, where she typically lurks around forested areas with abundant banana or banyan fig trees, waiting for her victims she can drain dry. 

The ghost of the Kuntilanak or the Pontianak as she is known in this city, has given name to the capital of the West Kalimantan on Borneo island, as it was said the place was filled with ghosts. Not just ghosts though, bloodthirsty ghosts, lurking in the deep jungle. 

The Pontianak City Founded on a Coast of Ghosts

Pontianak, capital city of Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, shares its name with a fearsome monster. Perhaps a little confusing, the Indonesian city is given the Malayan name for it. Throughout most of Indonesia, she goes under the name Kuntinalak. 

Pontianak is said to have been founded in 1771 by Syarif Abdurrahim, near a delta on the trade route of the Kapuas River as a fishing village, with the equator line passing through it. There does however seem to have been a more ancient civilisation living here in the late 17th century. The city is also sometimes known as Khuntien in Teochew and Hakka and was a Malay state on the western coast of Borneo in the late 18th century until 1950. 

A nobleman of Arab descent, he was given land because of the strategic importance since the river served as the main trading route for transporting goods from the interior of the island. 

The delta was also home to pirates and building a fortress against them was also an important task. It is said that when they first came by boat, they noticed many disturbances and frightening sounds coming from the thick and dark jungle that surrounded them. The disturbances were perceived as evil ghosts and they frightened the people they didn’t want to stay. 

To scare away the ghosts, Syarif Abdurrahim fired cannon to keep them at bay. The city was built on swampy ground and tropical forest subjected to regular flooding by the river, requiring buildings to be constructed on piles to keep them off the ground. He also cut down all of the trees they could be hiding in, then constructed a mosque and a palace on the site. These buildings became the city and the seat of the Pontianak Sultanate. 

It went through many hands, until it became a part of the Republic of Indonesia after the Japanese surrendered after the second world war. Because of its history and blended population, it has a culture unlike other places in Indonesia. But did they really rid themselves of the ghosts said to roam here?

The Pontinak or the Kuntinak Ghost

But what exactly is a Pontinak, or the Kuntinak that the ghost is known as in the rest of Indonesia?

The Kuntilanak is believed to originate in the spirit of a woman who died while pregnant or during childbirth. Banana trees are by nature hollow at the center and in Javanese and Malay belief these hollows are places where spirits can dwell. The Kuntilanak is said to hide in the hollows of banana trees, emerging at night or when someone passes too close to drain them of their blood and life like a vampire. This is why it’s advised to ask permission from the spirits and guardians before entering a jungle and take certain measures. 

Some people also claim that the origin of the name Pontianak comes from the Malay language, namely ponti, from the acronym for tall tree, something the place was before turning into a city. 

The Ghost as a Citizen Today in Pontianak

To this day, the story of the Pontianak is important for the city, both as history, and everyday life. There used to be annual festivals in order to commemorate the founding of the city, during which people fired the bamboo cannon and thereby symbolically evicted Kuntilanak. Almost like they still have to do it to keep her at bay.

During the New Order the annual event and the cannon disappeared. However, some citizens have set up cannon again in recent years. An annual festival is still held in Pontianak during which meriam karbit, special carbide cannons made from wooden logs, are fired to ring at the end of Ramadan.

In recent years, the people of Pontianak city stand divided over how to honor their namesake. For years, plans of raising a statue of the Pontianak were put forth. There had long been rumors and ideas about these plans, but it seemed more real when Kartius, head of the Youth, Tourism and Sports Agency in West Kalimantan. Kartius proposed the idea to build the statue, arguing that the monument would increase tourism. Towering over 300 feet, the ghost would dwarf the buildings around it.

Protests started and banners with “Community Movement to Reject Ghost Statue.” They turned up outside of the parliament building, although no official moves had been done.  Turns out, not every person was eager for the idea of their childhood nightmare turned into a tourist attraction. A poll showed 98% of residents were opposed to the idea. 

Fear to attract the ghost perhaps? 

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References:

Kuntilanak – ScienceDirect

The Indonesian Frontier Town Named for a Jungle Vampire – JSTOR Daily

Pontianak – Wikipedia

The Time a Town Was in an Uproar Over a 300-Foot Ghost Statue

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The Lady in White Haunting Ebersberg Forest

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Said to haunt the area around The Hubertus Chapel in the vast Ebersberg Forest in Bavaria, Germany, the Lady in White is seeking revenge for those refusing her a ride. But is she truly the only thing haunting this old and mystic forest?

Between the trees stretching for miles and miles in Bavaria, Germany, an alleged apparition in the Ebersberg forest. The story says that if the white lady appears to lonely travelers in the forest, something bad is going to happen. Usually a fatal accident if you don’t stop for this vanishing hitchhiker. .

Read More: Check out all ghostly legends from Germany

The Hubertus Chapel in Ebersberg Forest is situated on a very sharp bend where there have been many traffic accidents in the past before they mended the bend on the road. Skeptics will say this is probably the background to this urban legend. However, others will defend the legend, claiming something strange was going on in the forest, long before the Lady in White appeared. 

Ebersberg: in Bavaria, southern Germany. The Ebersberger Forst  is one of Germany’s largest continuous areas of woodlands. Ebersberg’s history is closely tied with the nearby Benedictine monastery founded in 934 and since then, a lot of legends and mysteries have remained unsolved within the darkness between the trees.

The Lady in White of Ebersberg Forest

The bend around the chapel has been defused, and the road widened since the legend emerged. The whole B2R in the forest is still a place for common accidents and still people blame them on the Lady in White’s wrath. . 

The Hubertus Chapel: in the center of the Ebersberg Forest is a wayside chapel on State Road 2080 between Ebersberg and Schwaberwegen, at the junction with Scheibenweg. The chapel is dedicated to Saint Hubertus, the patron saint of hunters and marksmen. The oldest document of its existence is a map from 1783. The current building was erected in 1859. This is the place where the urban legend of the Lady in White is set. // Image: J. Patrick Fischer

According to the legend, the chapel is haunted by a woman who died in a car accident at this spot in the 1940s. Some say that she died in the forest after her car broke down. She tried to hitchhike out, but only one guy passed and left her, which is why she froze to death and now seeks revenge.

Some say that it was a hit and run. She died there in the roadside ditch close to the chapel, abandoned by her murderer, and has found no peace since. In another version, the woman’s two children also died in the accident.

The story of the woman in white goes that she will be hitchhiking on the side of the road, but she will only appear if you are a male driving alone on this road at around midnight. If you take her with you, she will sit in the back seat for a while and then vanish. 

Read More: The Vanishing Hitchhiker as well as The White Lady of Köhlholz Forest

If you don’t take her with you, she will appear on the passenger seat and grab onto your steering wheel to cause an accident. 

The Truth Behind the Urban Legend

But did such a death actually occur along these roads? It is most often said that the accident happened in the 1940s, but the documentation of it comes from the 1970s. 

There is no record of an accident like the one described in the origin story of the White Lady. Up until the 1980s, there were frequent accidents on the state highway near the chapel. In 1985, a car struck the chapel. After that, the road alignment was slightly altered and the curve was straightened, which reduced the number of accidents on the road.

Still, the legend lives on and people have claimed to have encountered the ghostly lady. Once, it is said that even the police tried to arrest the ghost at the chapel. What is also reported on is several people being arrested for dressing up and impersonating the ghost around the chapel. 

The legend of the White Lady at the Hubertus Chapel is also the basis of the Ebersberg horror film series, which consists of two seasons of four episodes each.

The Irrlichter Lights of Ebersberg Forest

But what about the other things said to lurk within the Ebersberg forest? There are the so called “irrlichter” of the ebersberg forest that have spun a lot of legends. 

Irrlichter: This is the German name for will-o’-the-wisp or the Ignis fatuus, the ghostly light sometimes seen at night over bogs and swamps. In folklore and superstition , will-o’-the-wisps are predominantly considered to have an ominous or malevolent nature, but it seems that the lights of the Ebersberg forest have kinder intentions.

The story goes that some guy got lost in the woods and couldn’t find out. After wandering for a while he saw a light shine for a second in the distance. It kept appearing and he decided to follow it, despite most stories like this, leading people out in bogs, or to darker parts of the forest where they never emerge from.  After following it, he found himself on the side of a road with the dark trees behind him. These lights can still be seen today, guiding lost people out of the woods.

The Ghostly Boar of the Forest: Another strange legend is about the Satanic Boar haunting the forest. Count Sieghart von Sempt hunted a huge boar here in the 9th century. When he finally got it within range of his lance, it suddenly vanished as if by magic. A hermit told the count: “The boar is Satan. Build a church and a castle to protect it, and the spell will be broken. After gifting it to the monks, the first provost received the skull of Saint Sebastian, the plague saint, from Pope Stephen VIII during a journey to Rome, and it was placed in the church. The ritual of the flourishing pilgrimage consisted of pilgrims drinking consecrated wine from the skull. This bizarre ritual continued until 1923.

For ages, even before the legend of the Lady in White emerged, it was a test of courage for the local children to go into the forest at night and look for the will-o’-the-wisps. Was it the honey fungus mushroom that gave off a glow of fluorescently light at night, or is it actually something else inside of the Ebersberg Forest? 

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References:

Ebersberg – Wikipedia

Hubertuskapelle (Ebersberger Forst) – Wikipedia

Spuk am Gotteshaus – Ebersberg – SZ.de

Die weiße Frau vom Ebersberger Forst: Heimatforscher lüftet das Geheimnis

Gruselalarm im Ebersberger Forst: Weiße Frau schleicht durch den Wald – FOCUS online 

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The Plague Dance and the Dragon who Brought it to Munich

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Once, a plague ridden Lindworm was said to crawl out from the darkness, and attack the people of Munich. After defeating the dragon, and ridding themselves of the plague, a ceremonial dance has been danced through the city for over 500 years. 

When the Black Plague hit Munich in 1349, almost half the population of the city fell victim to it. Some historians claim that the Black Death struck Munich up to 25 times between the mid-14th and late 17th centuries – a period of approximately 350 years. During these years, many legends and tales about what caused it spread.

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Right by the church at the north site of Marienplatz, the New Town Hall still bears the images of the legend of the dragon. This dragon was once said to have brought the plague to Munich with its poisonous breath. 

The New Town Hall: Neues Rathaus is a town hall that forms the northern part of Marienplatz in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It hosts the city government including the city council, offices of the mayors and a small portion of the administration. In 1874 the municipality left the Old Town Hall for its new place.

The Wurmeck Corner of New Town Hall

At the western corner of the New Town Hall, a large dragon climbs the neo-Gothic tower called the Wurmeck Tower, first completed in 1906. The three stone reliefs above the fearsome dragon tell the legend. According to this legend, a lindworm crawled out of the earth in the city center, possibly even at this corner of the former marketplace, and spread the plague.

The Lindworm: The Lindworm is a snake- or dragon-like mythical creature in German folklore. The lindworm is usually bipedal, but four or more legs are also possible. It resembles a dragon and is sometimes referred to as a subspecies. It has no wings or only short ones and is mentioned primarily in old Germanic sagas.

In the central panel, the lindworm, or dragon ascends while a citizen falls to the ground, struck by the animal’s poisonous breath, while women and children flee to the sides. On the left, mercenaries and citizens prepare for battle against the dragon, loading a cannon.

The Basilisk: One of the four putti on the Marian column erected in 1638 in Munich’s Marienplatz also commemorates the fight against the plague. The basilisk, a mythical creature, symbolizes the deadly disease. a plague epidemic occurred in Munich around 1635, killing approximately one-third of the population – roughly 7,000 of Munich’s 22,000 inhabitants. // Image

After the Lindworm landed in the market square, courageous Munich residents shot him down with a cannon. Even after the dragon was defeated, no citizen dared venture onto the streets again except one. 

Plague Sites Around in Munich: The cross at Franz-Prüller-Straße 12 is probably a so-called plague cross. These were used during plague epidemics to mark houses where all the inhabitants had succumbed to the disease. The cross in the Au district are often said to date back to the plague epidemic that lasted from 1517 to 1519. // Image

Another version of the Lindworm Legend of Munich goes like this: 

In the year 1463, a plague-riding lindworm flew in from the Schwabing Gate and settled at the corner of the marketplace. Great terror ensued, and no one knew what to do until the mighty Duke Christoph came galloping down from Grünwald Castle and slew the dreadful creature. This and more of folklore could be found in a 1921 book called:  “The Adventures of Duke Christoph.”

The Lively Coopers and their Plague Dance

The coopers are also depicted on the tower. Because the coopers lived and worked in the outer districts of the city due to the unpleasant smell of pitching the barrels, and because they inhaled the essential oils released when pouring the pitch into the barrels, they were better protected than many others. 

The coopers were left without work when no one dared to go outside after the plague subsided. One of them, whom tradition calls “Master Martin,” said to himself, “Someone has to make a start,” and resolved “to revive the old coopers’ guild dance and lure people out of their houses.

They were the first to dance through the streets after the Black Death had ravaged the city, to lure people back outside. This dance was called The Schäffler dance and still to this day, the dance performs is about fighting fear and overcoming the plague. 

The Schäffler Dance: This is a guild dance of the coopers (barrel makers), who dance prescribed figures to music. It originated in Munich and The Munich Schäffler dance was first documented in 1702. From 1830 onwards, the custom spread beyond Munich through traveling journeyman coopers and is now common in many places in Old Bavaria and Bavarian Swabia. It only performs every 7 years, and the next one would be in 2033. Besides an alleged recurrence of the plague every seven years, the lucky number “7”, and an order from Duke William IV, a schedule of guilds for their customs is also among the possible reasons for the cycle.

There is a legend that claims the dance was first performed in Munich in 1517 during a plague epidemic. It is doubted that there was even a plague epidemic in Munich in 1517, as the death registers for that year do not show any unusually high death rates.

The Dancers: Originally, only unmarried journeyman coopers with impeccable character were allowed to participate in the Schäffler dance; master coopers and their sons were not permitted. Besides the dancers, there are lead dancers, barrel bangers, jesters, and hoop swingers. Apart from the jesters, who wear colorful costumes , everyone is dressed in the cooper’s costume with black shoes, white knee socks, black breeches, a leather apron, a red jacket, and a green cap with a white feather plume.

The legend is attributed to the house name Wurmeck, which refers to the medieval burgher house at Marienplatz 3, located on the same site, that was demolished to make way for the town hall. A list of corner house names from 1725 mentions that a lindworm was attached to the corner house; a relief of Saint George slaying the dragon is documented from a later period.

Or just maybe, it all started with a murderous dragon coming to town, trying to spread the plague in Munich. 

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References:

Schäfflertanz – Wikipedia 

Pest in München: pomki.de Website 2024

Lindwurm – Wikipedia

Wurmeck – Wikipedia

Der historische Schäfflertanz in München: Bilder und Videos

Ursprung des Tanzes – Schäfflertanz Murnau

Sagen & Geschichten – Eintrag bearbeiten

Die Abenteuer Herzog Christophs von Bayern genannt der Kämpfer – Franz Trautmann

Ukategorisert

The Plague Visits Munich at Alter Peter Church

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Fantastical legends foretelling the Black Plague exist throughout Europe that would leave whole cities without any living. In Munich, Germany, a legend talks about a mysterious black hooded figure at the cemetery of St. Peter’s church being the omen of death. 

When the Black Plague hit Munich in 1349, almost half the population of the city fell victim to it. Some historians claim that the Black Death struck Munich up to 25 times between the mid-14th and late 17th centuries – a period of approximately 350 years. During these years, many legends and tales about what caused it spread.

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One of these legends goes, one evening in 1349, a maid was on her way to her employer’s house on Kaufinger Street, one of the oldest streets in Munich. Today it’s one of the most important high end shopping streets in Munich, but back then, there was no street lighting or paved roads yet, only a narrow path of red bricks for pedestrians along the frontages of the houses. As it was already getting dark, she took a shortcut through the cemetery at Old Peter’s Church.”

St. Peter’s Church: St. Peter’s Church , also known as Peterskirche , is the oldest parish church in Munich . The earliest structure likely dates back to the 12th century, while the Gothic building was consecrated in 1294. Its 91-meter-high tower, popularly called “Old Peter ,” is one of the city’s landmarks. In the 15th century (1487), St. Peter’s also had its own cemetery (“gotzacker”). During the Second World War, the church was so badly damaged that only the stump of the tower and remnants of the choir remained.

As she ran through the graves, she suddenly noticed, in the glow of a small light, a black, ragged figure sitting on a grave. Seized by sudden terror, she ran on, but when she turned around, she saw the figure floating toward her. She hurried on, hearing bony fingers tapping in rhythm. Finally, she reached the merchants’ house, slammed the door shut, and locked it behind her. But there, sitting on the step before her, the black man grinned at her with a pale face: “I am the Black Death.” 

Black Death in Munich: Munich experienced six waves of the plague epidemic from 1349 to 1634. In 1349, the mob spread the false story that the Jews had poisoned the wells and thus caused the plague. “the Jews were burned, slaughtered, dismembered, and otherwise butchered and killed as a result of wicked slander.” Munich merchants maintained good relations with Italian trading cities, especially Venice, as early as the 14th century, making it quite possible that the plague pathogen entered the city via this route.

Soon after, a Munich man was found dead. His body was bruised and misshapen. Following a vague premonition, he was taken to the doctor and he declared the plague had come to the city. A week later, all the inhabitants of the house the maid had run into had died of the plague, which spread from there throughout the entire city. 

The Old Peter Spire: The spire, for example, is slightly twisted. “The story goes that the devil once stormed into the church. The brave watchman beat him with a wooden cross until he was able to drive him away – the building itself probably suffered some damage in the process.” “The devil’s kick is said to have bent the cross.” In reality, under Ludwig II, the cross was turned to prevent the strong westerly winds from bending it further.

In 1349 alone, almost 5,000 Munich residents, half the city’s population, died of the Black Death,  often within just a few days. It is estimated that one in ten inhabitants of what is now Germany died during this pandemic.

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References:

Münchner Mythen: Besondere Geschichten zu bekannten Sehenswürdigkeiten – Ein Überblick 

Kaufingerstraße – Wikipedia 

Serie: Münchner Geheimnisse: Erinnerung an den Schwarzen Tod

Schauriges München: Grusel-Tour durch die Altstadt

München und die ersten Pestjahre

https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/pest-mittelalter-geschichte-1.4250084

Pest, Pocken, Cholera: München und seine Seuchen

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Langsuyar: The Night Vampire of Malay Folklore

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From the despair of a mother dying in childbirth, a blood thirsty spirit rises in her place. With her alluring appearance and ability to transform into flying entities, she is one of the feared vampires from Malay folklore. 

From the Malay Archipelago is a creature both feared and cautionary known as the Langsuyar or the Langsuir. This spirit is a type of vampire that emerges under very specific and tragic conditions. 

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The Langsuyar is not just another night ghost, but the spirit of a woman who died in childbirth. Transformed, a spirit driven by hunger, regret and in some cases, vengeance. The legend has survived for generations across Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore, haunting the night and the edges of village life.

A Death That Cannot Be Rested

At the core of the legend is the belief that a woman who dies in childbirth, or shortly after giving birth, may rise again as a langsuyar. Often after she suffered from a laboring sickness called meroyan. Forty days after burial, her spirit rises as a Langsuyar if proper rituals are not performed. 

Some stories also suggest that betrayal by her husband contributes to her transformation after he’s been cheating. 

In one version, the Langsuir was a beautiful woman who lost her child. When she heard about the stillbirth, she died of shock and became a demon. Upon hearing the news of other stillbirths, the woman claps her hands and flies off to a tree where she perches. The stillborn child becomes the Pontianak.

The Pontianak: The Pontianak is the spirit of the stillborn child and the Langsuyar is the mourning mother. In some versions and stories, the two exist as spectral counterparts in this tragic ghost tale of a mother and her child separated by death. // Image: Malaysian model of a langsuyar.

In most tales, the langsuyar looks like a normal woman and is sometimes described as beautiful by day with hair down to her ankles, often appearing in a green robe. At night, especially near the moonlit hours, her true form emerges.

Her hair becomes unkempt and her fingernails grow sharp like claws. Her eyes gleam red with hunger. In some versions of the legend she has wings like a bat or a bird. Her name is believed to originate from helang, the Malay word for eagle, but it’s often an owl she is compared to. 

Her voice becomes a shriek that carries across forests and fields. Travelers and villagers alike speak of hearing her call at night. Some versions of the tale say she calls out names familiar to her victims, drawing them closer into darkness.

A Predator in the Night

The langsuyar is associated with dark forests and rural areas where she hides. It is also connected with certain trees and the parasitic fern “sakat,” growing in dark green clusters and is said to be a common resting place for her kind. Woodcutters do exorcisms to protect themselves from Langsuyars and other spirits when they harvest wood from the poisonous Rengas trees in Malaysia.

Asplenium nidus (Sakat Fern)

In many stories, the preys upon men and children who travel alone at night as well. She approaches quietly, her feet barely touching the ground, until she is near enough. Then she feeds. In some tellings she bites at the neck, drawing blood and life, but most often her feeding is through her small hole at the back of her neck covered by her long hair. 

Signs and Omens of the Langsuyar

Langhui, Langhuā!
Your beak is stumpy,
Your feathers are cloth of silk,
Your eyes are “crab’s eye” beans,
Your heart is a young areca-nut,
Your blood thread in water,
Your veins the thread for binding on cock’s-spurs,
Your bones twigs of the giant bamboo,
Your tail a fan from China.
Descend, O Venom, ascend Neutraliser,
Neutralise the Venom in the bones,
Neutralise it in the veins,
Neutralise it in the joints,
Neutralise it within the house,
Neutralise it within the jungle.
Descend, O Venom, ascend Neutraliser,
And lock up this Langsuir.
Descend, O Venom, ascend Neutraliser.

Chant of the Sakai people and a charm against the Langsuir from Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula.  While repeating the charm, the sufferer would be rubbed with the leaves or root of the “kělmoyang,” possibly Chamacladon, Homalomena, or Alpina conchigera.

Traditional practices to protect against the Langsuyar vary by community, but most have to do with the burial practices. After death, family members could place glass beads in her mouth, chicken eggs under her armpits, and steel needles in her palms to prevent the corpse from rising as a Languyar. The leaves of the gandasuli were also considered to be a powerful charm against Langsuyars.

There are stories where the Langsuyars were defeated though. It was believed that if her nails and hair were cut and stuffed into the neck cavity, the Langsuyar would lose her powers and revert to a normal woman. In some stories, she becomes a wife and a mother again, almost like a second chance at life.

This can go on for years. But folklore warns that if she ever experiences joy again where dancing is particularly mentioned, her supernatural form will return and she will go back to the forest where she came from.

A Legacy of Fear and Folklore

The earliest written mention of the Langsuyar appears in the English anthropologist Walter William Skeat’s Malay Magic (1891), which recorded tales of local spirits and beliefs in Selangor on the west coast of Malaysia. Of course, the legend existed long before that, although it’s uncertain exactly how old it is. Female and bloodsucking entities that can transform to a winged being, have existed for ages in various forms and stories throughout southeast Asia. 

In modern Southeast Asia, belief in the literal existence of the langsuyar has faded among many, although it still happens that a sighting of the Langsuyar causes panic. 

In 2013, villagers in the Pasir Puteh district in Kelantan, in the northeastern part of Malaysia, bordering Thailand reported sightings of a langsuyar that was terrorizing the town. This state is one of the poorer and conservative muslim parts of the country, and perhaps one of the more superstitious as well? 

The residents in several villages described seeing a long-haired Langsuyar flying and shrieking in the night. The fear spread and reached the news and local authorities urged the villages to remain calm and pray together to repel the spirit. It didn’t die down until a local shaman entered the scene though. He claimed to have captured four of the creatures and put them away. A local religious officer acknowledged the existence of the spirit, but cautioned against talk of magic as it may be sacrilegious.

The Langsuyar embodies ancient fears about death, motherhood, and the consequences of an interrupted life. Her wail echoes among trees, across fields, and in the quiet imagination of anyone who hears a woman’s cry in the night. 

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References:

Langsuyar – Wikipedia

Langsuir

Skeat, William Walter (1900). Malay Magic

https://web.archive.org/web/20160603133323/http://malaysianreview.com/32993/penduduk-kampung-solat-hajat-halau-hantu-langsuir

Langsuyar | Legends From Around The World | Stronghold Nation

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Ghostly Kittens at Radlsteg in Munich

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After being drowned in the river by Radlsteg in Munich, it is said that the ghosts of the discarded cats are still roaming and following passerby’s. 

The Radlsteg in Munich was a footbridge leading over the Katzenbach with a turnstile and a city gate. The name of the bridge derives from the fact that crossing the stream was blocked for all types of vehicles by a turnstile – colloquially known as a “Radl” (Bavarian for “little wheel”). The name of the river Katzenbach means Cat stream and is possibly named after a cruel custom. 

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The Einschüttbach was one of the two branches of the Katzenbach, which flowed behind the high bridge through Hochbrückenstraße. In 1731, bathhouses operated there, but the bridge was first mentioned in the 1500s. Alternatively, the name may derive from several mill wheels (“Radln”) that were built along the stream. 

The Radlsteg around 1880. Fresco by Hans Wißmeyer (1993) on the house wall in the Radlsteg in Munich.

The Legend of the Drowned Cats

According to the legend, the river is named after all the cats that ended their lives there. It was said that all the unwanted kittens, especially black ones, were drowned in it. Some say they are still roaming the nearby streets and alleyways. 

former Radlbad (today a residential and commercial building) with a picture showing the formerly unbuilt Pfisterbach. // Source: Wikimedia

In 1872, the Einschütt was covered and paved, the Katzenbach was also deepened and vaulted, the high bridge was demolished, and the street was leveled. 

Even today, it is said that girls and young women are often accompanied by kittens when they walk through the alley. Curiously,  it is said that the kittens vanish without a trace as soon as you try to pet them. They are said to only accompany ladies, following them towards the town center. Precisely in the direction the stream still flows underground.

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References:

Radlsteg – Wikipedia 

Radlsteg in München – Geschichte, Stadtbezirk Altstadt-Lehel, Sehenswürdigkeiten 

 Das sind Münchens gruseligste Ecken