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After her public death in the tower of the Munich Frauenkirche, many have claimed to have seen the ghost of Fanny appearing at her death anniversary wearing white.

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

One of these is the story about Fanny, said to appear on her death anniversary, on Valentines day, after she threw herself from one of the tower because of a broken heart.

***Frauenkirche***: 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.

The Life and Tragedy of Fanny

Maria Franzisca was born in Ingolstadt, but after her father’s early death, she moved with her mother to Munich, where her mother remarried. Fanny received an excellent education from her mother and showed remarkable talents even as a young girl. She wrote poetry, sang, played the piano, and composed music. The girl had a particular affinity for dramatic subjects. It is said that she had already written a plan for a tragedy at the age of nine, which was published posthumously.

***Fanny*** **Ickstatt**: Image of the Silhouette of Fanny von Ickstatt and her mother Maria Franzisca von Heppenstein. Maria Franzisca Magdalena Freiin von Ickstatt , called Fanny (* 11 May 1767 in Ingolstadt ; [ 1 ] † 14 January 1785 in Munich ), gained sad notoriety by jumping to her death from the Munich Frauenkirche and is considered a female version of Goethe’s Werther .

Contemporaries reported that she could laugh and cry in the same minute. She often mentioned that she would die an unusual death.

During a stay in Ingolstadt, Fanny met the young officer Franz von Vincenti at a ball. They fell passionately in love, and Franz requested a transfer to the Leibregiment (Life Regiment) in Munich. However, his mother, Maria Franzisca von Heppenstein, had higher ambitions for Fanny and opposed the couple’s marriage. When the rumors grew increasingly intense, Franzisca finally declared that marriage was out of the question. Tumultuous scenes ensued in the house, which in turn became the subject of whispers throughout the town.

Because of the preceding events, Fanny’s mother planned to remove her daughter from Munich for the time being. On January 14, 1785, at around 2 p.m., Fanny, accompanied by her maid, climbed the north tower of the Frauenkirche (Cathedral of Our Lady), as arranged with the tower keeper the previous day.

She had the keeper open a grille for a better view and then jumped from it. She crashed headfirst through the roof of the benefice house and died on impact.

For weeks, this event shocked the city, yet not a single newspaper reported on it. The tower keeper and the chambermaid confirmed the suicide: Fanny had jumped from the tower room with a farewell. Nevertheless, the bishop, as well as the police and the electoral authorities, concluded it was a tragic accident. For years it was a debate. Was she severely depressed? Could the Goethes novel on her bedside chamber of unrequited love be to blame? Some have even hinted that her mother ended up falling for the same man. Today, there is no definite answer to the tragedy.

The Haunting of Fanny in the Tower

Some of the young woman’s surviving works were printed after her death in 1785/1786 in the Palatinate-Bavarian Museum, along with letters from her mother, as part of a defense by the editor against the widely held view that Fanny von Klein had committed suicide and that her mother was to blame. Ickstatt’s sudden and highly visible suicide shocked the public and led to a short-lived media sensation.

Now, she is mostly remembered in local lore as the lady in white that haunts the tower of the Frauenkirche. People say you can spot her in the windows, every Valentines day, the day she ended her life. But if we are to believe local legends, it is far from the only supernatural thing that is haunting the church.

The Devil’s Footprint in Frauenkirche

Another story from the Frauenkirche is about the strange footprint inside of the cathedral. The cathedral’s master builder had promised him a church without windows when he made a pact with him to build it. 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.

Read the whole story: The Devil’s Footprint in Frauenkirche in Munich

Also, at the “Frauenfreihof,” as the cemetery by the cathedral was still called at the beginning of the 19th century, a ghost was said to haunt, wearing a white nightcap.

Source

The Tragedy of the Church

So what of the tragic tale of Fanny and her following ghost story, now largely forgotten? News of Ickstatt’s started a debate about the cultural anxiety of how printed descriptions of suicide might glamorize the act and contribute to a suicide epidemic, leading us back to the German author Goethe. At the beginning of his Italian Journey, on September 6 , 1786, during his only visit to Munich, Goethe stayed overnight at the Gasthaus Schwarzer Adler near the cathedral. That evening, the then 37-year-old Goethe climbed the north tower of the Frauenkirche, from which Fanny von Ickstatt had thrown herself the previous year. Goethe knew that Fanny had thoroughly read Werther and underlined passages, and therefore wanted to see the original location for himself. He wrote in his letters: “I climbed the tower from which the young lady threw herself and looked around at the Tyrolean mountains.”

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References:

Fanny von Ickstatt – Wikipedia

München Bücher – Der Fall Fanny von Ickstatt – Leonhard Maria Magdalena

Historischer München-Roman: Fannys Sturz von der Frauenkirche

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The Cursed Weilheim Plague Chapel

7. October 2026 Mirror Leave a comment

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What really happened around the Pollingsried Chapel, and its supposed plague cemetery? Is there really a curse around the area? As far as the ringing of the bells can be heard?

The area around the plague chapel in the Lauterbach Forest, a few kilometers from Seeshapt is also said to be haunted by an ancient curse as well as the ghosts of people buried in its nearby wells.

Read More: Check out all ghostly legends from Germany

The Chapel is actually called Pollingsried Chapel, named after the deserted village it used to belong to. Although it is properly more known under Weilheim Chapel, a nearby village. The ominous chapel can be reached via the Tradfranzhof farm, the last remaining farm of the old hamlet the chapel belonged to.

The Abandoned Pollingsried Village

Pollingsried once consisted of four or six farms clustered around the chapel. originated from the clearing of a wooded area near Polling Abbey, sometimes before the Hungarian invasions of 955 as an estate before being divided into the farmsteads.

In the Middle Ages, the first chapel, dedicated to Saint Sebastian, was built, serving the inhabitants of Pollingsried as a place of worship.

***Saint Sebastian:*** According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians. He was initially tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows, though this did not kill him. Legend says he was rescued and healed by Irene of Rome, a popular subject in 17th-century painting. After his recovery he went to Diocletian to warn him about his sins, and as a result he was clubbed to death. Sebastian is a popular male saint, especially today among athletes. In medieval times, he was regarded as a saint with a special ability to intercede to protect from plague, and devotion to him greatly increased when plague was active.

In 1803, Polling Abbey was dissolved, and the forest, including Pollingsried, became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria. The farmers then became tenants to the state and had to pay high sums for this. They sold off their farms, one by one, or lost it because of debt. The last farm in Pollingsried was demolished in 1864.

Today, only the chapel and its wells remain. The other farms disappeared in 1803 during secularization, when large areas once belonging to the clergy were transferred to state ownership. As a result, many hamlets were abandoned and their inhabitants resettled. Perhaps the chapel’s isolation fueled the imagination, turning into legends that the farms were abandoned because of a curse lingering in the area.

The Plague History of the Pollingsried Chapel

The small chapel is dedicated to Saint George and Saint Anne. Inside, the visitors are still able to see a fresco of Saint Roch, the plague victims’ protector, and inscriptions containing names of over 300 victims. The chapel’s simple interior features the original terracotta floor. A small window on the west side offers a glimpse inside as the church is only opened on special occasions today.

The chapel itself is often said to have originated in one of the darkest chapters in Bavaria’s history, a plague epidemic that swept through the lands in 1633-1634. This was during the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) that brought the plague to the region with the Swedish invasions.

***The Thirty Years War and the Plague:*** Thought to have originated in Northern France in 1623, the plague was carried throughout Europe as a result of troop movements associated with the Thirty Years’ War. Initially perceived as safe from war, Bavaria became a battleground as Protestant forces, led by influential leaders such as Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden, invaded the territory. By the mid-1630s, the conflict had left Bavaria in a state of turmoil, and its population was estimated to have decreased by about 30 percent during the war.

Particularly in nearby Eberfing and the surrounding marshlands, was said to have been stricken hard. At that time, the people of Pollingsried vowed to have a mass celebrated annually in the chapel in honor of Saint Sebastian, the patron saint against the plague.

There have been mentions of some sort of chapel here since 1138/40. First, it was said a wooden chapel was built as a prayer site for the victims’ families as well as a plague cemetery. But in 1655, the chapel burned down and was rebuilt as a small Baroque church.

***Saint Sebastian’s Cranium:*** Sebastian’s cranium was brought to the town of Ebersberg (about 80 km from the chapel) in 934. A Benedictine abbey was founded there and became one of the most important pilgrimage sites in southern Germany. It is said the silver-encased cranium was used as a cup in which to present the consecrated wine of the Blessed Sacrament to the faithful during the feast of Saint Sebastian. Safe to say that they in this area, feared the plague. // Image:J. Patrick Fischer/Wiki

A votive, or holy tablet is said to have once hung on the north wall of the Pollingsried chapel, its depiction was said to show a vow the people of Eberfing made. When the plague raged through Germany from 1633 to 1634, the farmers of Eberfing, (In some versions it was Eichendorf), offered a mass to St. Sebastian, and pledged to hold mass there every year if the people in the region were spared from the plague, as far as the bells ringing could be heard.

From that time on, no one in the area where the church bells could be heard fell ill with the plague. Perhaps this is were the plague legends now surrounding the chapel come from. And throughout times, the protection the pledge gave has now turned into a story of it being cursed.

The Pentagram Wells

Perhaps some of the stories are connected to the five moss covered wells that are placed around the chapel. one is said to be located in or beneath the church itself. Together, they supposedly form a pentagram, can still be found today, and there are said to be recurring ghostly apparitions in the forest.

It is said that plague victims were once thrown into the wells there. Only when the wells were full did they supposedly begin burying them around the church.

They are arranged in the shape of a pentagram, which served the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages as a protective symbol against demons. Four fountains are arranged around the chapel; the fifth, the so-called “Devil’s Fountain,” is said to be located directly beneath it.

Divers inspected the wells in the later years but have found no skeletons. Also, there are only four wells found. Historians, too, found no evidence in the annals to support the rumors. Besides, the wells were their drinking waters, and throwing plague victims into that would have been something completely odd thing to do.

However the empty wells remain in the stories, barred so that nothing can go in. Or out.

The Haunting of the Plague Chapel

So except for the legend about protection from the plague and the mysterious wells, what are people actually claiming that goes on around the chapel? Many residents were said to be afraid because of apparitions and the wailing of the dead, which seemed to come from the cemetery. Some say that’s why they left.

After the people left, witches, demons and ghosts remain, holding black masses and haunting the ground. There are tales of a woman hanging from a tree in the woods and when there are no lights, you can see a red figure with terrifying eyes in the window. Inside the chapel, candles were burning there at night and you can see an upside-down cross.

Instead of being protected from the plague, they say that the place is cursed within a 5 kilometre radius. About how far the bells can be heard perhaps?

The sound of screams and glinting eyes in the dark are said to follow you through the forest. And those who go looking for them often get lost in the forest.

The Black Dog and the Murdered Girl

Some claim that black Hellhounds are prowling the place. Huge, black dog with bloodshot, fiery eyes that are barking around the chapel at night. Some versions however, claim that it is a friendlier black dog that guides lost travelers.

Several bodies are said to have been sunk in the well. Legend has it that in 1625, a girl was murdered by the pastor near the chapel and thrown into one of the wells. Her black dog howled at the scene of the crime and kept watch beside the body. When the priest arrived at the church, the dog is said to have leaped at his throat, exposing him as the murderer and he confessed on his deathbed. Even today, the girl’s former companion, the jet-black dog with the fiery red eyes, is said to roam the woods at night, howling loudly.

Now, did a girl get murdered here? Who knows, but as there was no priest at this chapel, it was most likely not a priest murdering her.

The only tragic incident in Pollingsried, in which 13-year-old Elisabeth Promberger died, dates back to 1701. The young girl fell from the upper threshing floor of the farm and died from her injuries. A sad incident, but one that was “only” an unfortunate accident.

The truth of the Plague Chapel

But what is the truth behind these wild rumours? The chapel we see today is rebuilt after it burned down in the 17th century. Not much has changed since then.

***The Oberammergau Plague:*** There are many stories about Bavarian villagers protecting themselves from the plague with pledges. The most famous one is perhaps the legend about Bad Kohlgrub was so depopulated that only two married couples remained alive. The village of Oberammergau remained plague-free until 25 September 1633, when a man named Kaspar Schisler returned home after working in the nearby village of Eschenlohe. Over the next 33 days, 81 villagers would die, half of Oberammergau’s population. On 28 October 1633, the villagers vowed that if God spared them from the plague, they would perform a play every 10 years depicting the life and death of Jesus. Nobody died of plague in Oberammergau after that vow, and the villagers kept their word to God by performing the passion play for the first time in 1634. This pledge and tradition is still going strong.

The caretakers of the chapel have worked hard to refute the haunted rumours and stop people drawn to the place to vandalize it further. The chapel is more protected than ever though with surveillance cameras. In the 1980s it was vandalised and set on fire. Its bells were thrown into the pond.

That is also why they are rather hesitant to share direction to it when discussing the legends that have haunted the chapel for decades now.

Was there even a plague going on at this time and place? Because of the famous Oberammergau Plague and the passion play that followed, the years 1633-1634 have traditionally been thought of as plague years. But was it really? It seems like there was an outbreak of plague in villages like Oberammergau, but it took place from September 1632 to March 1633, when there were a total of 84 deaths from all causes. And in the case with Pollingsried, there certainly weren’t enough people to fill wells or cemeteries.

The Haunted Chapel in the Forest

To get to the chapel today, you have to make it through the dense forest. Contrary to the legends, there are signs to the chapel, but they are few and far between, and it’s easy to get lost. It does have its own parking lot at Tradfranz farm though, so there is that. Perhaps not at hidden away as the legends would have it

Only once a year does this place come alive: The Annafest takes place in the summer, with a mass held in the small church. Who knows, perhaps the chapel is the victim of legends out of control. Or perhaps under the church, a fifth well lays in waiting.

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References:

Höllenhunde, Mädchenmord:: Die gruselige Geschichte der „Pestkapelle” in Bayern – Rundschau Online

Lost Places in Germany: Nine Spooky Locations

Grusel-Halloween: An diesen Orten in Oberbayern ist es ganz schön unheimlich! | münchen.tv

Die einsame Kapelle von Pollingsried: Was ist wirklich mit dem verschwundenen Dorf passiert?

Hier scheiden sich die Geister – Die Weilheimer Pestkapelle | mystisch.net

Seeshaupt – Zum Fürchten schön – Bayern – SZ.de

Die Pestkapelle von Pollingsried – Spuk oder Spinnerei?

Saint Sebastian – Wikipedia

Oberammergau Passion Play – Wikipedia

Destruction of Bavaria | History | Research Starters

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The Devil’s Footprint in Frauenkirche in Munich

27. August 2026 Mirror 1 Comment

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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.

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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.

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

Ukategorisert

The Plague Visits Munich at Alter Peter Church

11. August 2026 Mirror Leave a comment

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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.

Read More: Check out all ghostly legends from Germany

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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The Haunted Legends of Stenberg Gård, Hoff Church and Toten Legends

12. May 2026 Mirror Leave a comment

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Deep in the farmland of Norway, Toten has a lot of ghost stories lingering on the old farms and buildings. Who were the priests said to haunt the Hoff Church and rectory, and who are the ghosts said to linger at the old Stenberg Manor?

The district of Toten is rich in farmland landlocked east in Norway with old churches, and quiet waterways, and a few ghost stories lurking beneath its peaceful surface that have unsettled locals for generations.

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Among these tales are three locations bound together by whispers of the supernatural: Stenberg gård, the brook at Bøverbru, and Hoff Church. Each is said to be touched by a presence that refuses to fade.

**Haunted Toten:** Toten was part of a small kingdom in the early Viking Age and Halvdan Kvitbein was the most famous king who ruled there. The origin of the name is linked to the Old Norse Þótn , which supposedly means “something one likes”.Toten has traditionally been one of Norway’s largest agricultural areas, and the industrial park at Raufoss is one of the largest industrial centers in the inland.

The Ghost of Stenberg Gård

Stenberg (or Steinberg) is a large open-air museum that shows the cultural landscape, building practices and social conditions in Toten in the 19th century. The museum is built around the county manor Stenberg.

County magistrate Lauritz Weidemann (1775-1856) developed Steinberg into a county magistrate’s residence. He took over the farm in 1802 and laid out today’s yard and an almost 30-acre park in the English landscape style. Weidemann was also known as one of the men at Eidsvoll when Norway received its constitution in 1814.

Stenberg Manor, or Gård (farm) is widely believed to be home to Toten’s most famous ghost. The historic farm, known for its cultural significance and well preserved buildings, has long been surrounded by rumors of unexplained activity. people claim to this day that they have experienced a number of unpleasant incidents on the farm. It has been said that the Weidemann family is going again.

Visitors and staff alike have reported strange sounds after dark, shifting shadows in empty rooms, and the unsettling feeling of being observed. Though the identity of the spirit is never clearly agreed upon, local lore insists that something still walks the halls of the old estate, guarding its past or reliving a tragedy long forgotten.

Blind Ola of Bøverbru

Near the brook at Bøverbru, another chilling legend is often told. According to reports shared in Oppland Arbeiderblad, a blind man known as Blind Ola is said to have drowned in the water long ago.

Since then, swimmers and passersby have described eerie experiences near the stream. Some claim to feel unseen hands pulling at them beneath the surface, while others speak of sudden cold currents and strange sounds rising from the water. The story has made the area a place of caution, especially after dusk.

Whispers Around Hoff Church

Hoff Church in Lena, east Toten is also the subject of debate among those who believe the past never truly rests. Parishioners and visitors have spoken of unexplained noises, shadowy figures, and an uneasy atmosphere within the church grounds. For believers, these phenomena are signs that the dead still linger close to the sacred site, bound by unfinished business or ancient traditions.

In 2009, the legends stirred when the church bells started ringing and the police were called. The priest stopped the bells, but they found no sign that anyone had been there. The bells are controlled by a remote, and when they checked it out, there was no sign of technical faults, although they could never completely rule out that someone had put on an elaborate prank.

**Haunted Church:** Hoff church at Østre Toten by Lena, Oppland, Norway. Hoff kirke ved Lena på Østre Toten. //Source: Øyvind Holmstad

But who is haunting the church? Could it have something to do with the old ghost story? At a Christmas party at the widow Bolette Cathrine in Kristiania (Oslo) in the late 1870s in the presence of several witnesses.

The event is said to have taken place at Hoff rectory “some time ago”. Author and the storyteller, Marie Wexel came to Hoff rectory one Christmas Eve with a lady from Kristiania. At the dinner table, the priest said a few words about a haunted room on the second floor, but the priest reproached her for mentioning it; it could only frighten the guests unnecessarily. The two ladies got up early to go to bed.

Marie sat down in the armchair instead to read before going to bed as her companion had done. When she had finished, she put the book in her lap to think about what she had read. “As she looked up, she caught sight of a priest in old-fashioned vestments standing just in front of her with a pleading look and pointing in the direction of the cake oven. Then the vision immediately disappeared. She wiped her eyes and thought it was a figment of her imagination, perhaps brought on by what the priest had said. She went to bed, however; but as she extinguished the last candle she saw the same figure standing before the table and bending over it towards her, as he now pointed with the same pleading look towards the cake oven”.

*The Haunted Hoff Rectory on a sunny summers day*

The next morning she took a lighted candle with her to get a better look at the attic and the stairs. But as she was about to go out the door, it went out. To get it burning again she took a match from a container on the wall and struck it against the firewall. At the same moment as the light was lit, the priest stood before her for the third time, but this time next to the tiled stove and pointing towards the firewall. Terrified, she rushed downstairs and told her host what she had seen. He told her to keep quiet about it.

**Marie Wexelsen:** (born 20 September 1832 at Sukkestad in Østre Toten, was a hymn writer and author. Her full name was Inger Marie Lycke Wexelsen. She is best known for the Christmas hymn Jeg er så glad hver julekveld.

But after the service, he and Miss Wexelsen stayed back in the church, where there were painted portraits of a number of Toten priests. He told her to look at them carefully and point out the one who resembled the ghost. After looking at all the pictures carefully, she went back to one of them and said: “If I haven’t seen a fantasy fetus, then he’s there.”

This was the portrait of a priest (“the name should not be mentioned”) who, according to legend, was supposed to have killed a small child he had with his maid; the child’s body was never found. “Late in the Christmas period, the parish priest quietly made an agreement with a bricklayer and another person – probably the churchwarden – to punch a hole in the firewall in the room upstairs in the rectory. And here they found a child’s skeleton, which was buried in complete silence by the priest. And later there was never a “ghost” at the East Toten rectory. Source

The Ghost of The Yellow Hall

One of the rooms in Hoff vicarage was called “The Yellow Hall” and also have a story of the ghost of a former priest lingering. There is a legend connected to this room, which can be read about both in Totenmål and Anna Mål 12 and in The Great Book of Ghosts (Espeland).

The legend goes that there was a priest who was once a resident of the manor. One evening, as the parish priest was busy with his Sunday sermon, he was said to have seen a figure in a bluish tinge, and he got the feeling that this was someone in deep spiritual distress. The figure led the priest to the yellow hall, where the ghost knelt by a fireplace and appeared to be praying. After the service the next day, the priest recognized the figure in one of the priest pictures in the church. He had the fireplace examined, and there they found the skeleton of a woman. After the skeleton was buried in consecrated ground, the ghost is said to have been seen no more.

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References:

https://www.filmweb.no/filmnytt/de-mest-hjemskte-stedene-i-norge

Stenberg

Stenberg, Stenberg gård | Reporterne flyttet inn på spøkelsesgården

Leter etter spøkelser på Toten

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The Church of San Giuseppe: A Sacred Place Where Rain Still Falls

7. May 2026 Mirror 1 Comment

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In the woodlands on the Hill of the Dead, the Sanctuary of Somazzo or Church of San Giuseppe has been the place of a strange pilgrimage for ages. According to legend, praying to the three girls said to be entombed alive in the church is said to bring rain in times of drought.

Near the Swiss-Italian border outside Brusata, in Novazzano, where the lush greenery of Ticino meets the rustic charm of Lombardy, stands the Church of San Giuseppe in Somazzo, also known as the Sanctuary of Somazzo, or even the Sanctuary of the Dead. The church on top of the Hill of the Dead in the middle of the woods is a serene yet haunting sanctuary with a story as mysterious as the mists that often gather around its spire.

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The current religious building was constructed by expanding a previous oratory dedicated to San Cassiano, whose existence is attested as early as the 15th century where the oldest historical mention dates back to 1423. In the 17th to the 20th century, hermits used to settle around the sanctuary. In a visit from the bishop in 1671, the building was called “Oratorio delle Anime Purganti” and indicated a dedication to the souls in purgatory.

To the unassuming visitor, the Sanctuary of Somazzo may appear as just another picturesque rural church, but local legend speaks of a chilling sacrifice and a miraculous legacy tied to its stones.

A Haunting Legend of Three Girls

According to oral tradition passed down, the Church of San Giuseppe hides a tragic and unsettling secret. The tradition comes to life during times of drought.

Long ago, during a time of religious fervor and superstition, three young girls were said to have been walled up alive on the north side of the Uggiate sanctuary because they resisted a lord who wanted to abuse them or because they wanted to keep the women’s fidelity to their husbands.. “To keep faith with the husband,” is written on the sanctuary wall.

Legend has it that a kiln worker from Riva San Vitale who was passing by heard their cries and helped them by offering them water with his hat through holes in the wall. As thanks they gave a prophecy: “When you are thirsty, come to us and we will quench your thirst.”

Miracles on the Hill of the Dead

The phenomenon has persisted well into modern times. Farmers and devout villagers from both sides of the border make their way to the hilltop Sanctuary of Somazzo during particularly dry seasons, holding onto hope, and often, walking away in awe when the skies open shortly after.

Rather than fading into obscurity, the legend grew. Over time, locals began to believe that these girls, martyred in silence, had been granted a unique and powerful gift: the ability to bring rain. In times of prolonged drought people began to climb the hill to San Giuseppe, praying to the spirits of the girls for relief. “Nem a tö l’acqua a Ügiaa,” they say in Riva.

A particularly memorable edition of the procession in Mendrisiotto was held in 1976. On that occasion, the faithful of Riva walked to the sanctuary at the height of a long drought. Their initiative was followed by several days of heavy rain. It rained so much that “the lake rose and the firefighters worked for weeks to empty our cellars.” as the river overflowed.

As one who actually attended one a couple of the processions said: “I don’t believe it, but I can confirm,” an elderly man reports, “out of four processions I’ve attended, it rained four times.”

A Place of Faith and Mystery at the Sanctuary of Somazzo

The Church of San Giuseppe, humble in its architecture and quiet in demeanor, has become a spiritual focal point for those who believe in the intertwined powers of nature, sacrifice, and the divine. While no historical records confirm the story of the three girls walled up in the walls of the Sanctuary of Somazzo, the power of the tale endures.

There are however the supposed relics of the three girls still kept at the sanctuary of the dead, dedicated to the people in purgatory.

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La leggenda e la profezia In processione per l’acqua

Il piccolo valico che apre solo due volte l’anno (una per San Giuseppe)

Santuario di Somazzo – Wikipedia

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The Black Church: Where the Devil Waits in Dublin

22. April 2026 Mirror Leave a comment

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A church with the sinister name The Black Church in Dublin has a legend that claims if you follow the ritual, you will be able to summon the devil.

In the quiet streets of Dublin 7, where old stone and shadow mingle, there stands a building that has said to hold the power to summon the devil. Surprising enough, it is a former church and chapel.

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St Mary’s Chapel of Ease, better known as The Black Church, is built of dark calp limestone that seems to drink in the light. When it rains the limestone takes on a dark hue when getting wet, hence the name it was given. Once a place of worship, it now serves as offices, yet few locals can walk past it after dark without glancing over their shoulder. The reason is simple: the devil is said to dwell here.

The Church of Shadows

Built in 1830, protestant chapel, The Black Church was designed to serve parishioners who lived too far from St Mary’s on Marlborough Street. It even has a mention in James Joyce’s Ulysses. Over the years, however, its eerie appearance earned it a far darker reputation. The rough, blackened stone gave the building a funereal air, and as the decades passed, stories began to grow about strange whispers, cold drafts, and the feeling of being watched even in daylight.

When the church was deconsecrated in the 1960s, many claimed it was not just falling attendance that led to its closure, but something more sinister. Some even said that during its final service, the candles flickered violently and the air turned ice cold as if something within the walls had awoken.

Summoning the Devil

Every haunting has its ritual, and The Black Church has three. Locals whisper that there are only three ways to summon the devil himself.

One version says you must run around the church three times at midnight, your footsteps echoing on the empty street.
Another insists you must walk around it in reverse exactly thirteen times without looking away from the building.
The final, and perhaps most blasphemous, claims that if you stand before its door and recite the Our Father backwards, the devil will appear before you.

No one admits to trying all three. Some say a student once dared to, only to vanish without a trace, his friends finding his shoes by the entrance the next morning.

A Warning in Stone

Though time has softened its purpose, The Black Church remains one of Dublin’s most enduring legends. Whether or not the devil ever walked its grounds, its stones hold a strange gravity that draws the curious and the foolish alike.

If you ever find yourself near St Mary’s Place on a still night, take care. You may feel tempted to test the legend, to run around its walls or whisper a forbidden prayer. But remember the warnings of the locals and those who call upon the darkness at The Black Church may find that it answers.

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References:

St Mary’s, Dublin (chapel of ease) – Wikipedia

15 scary and most haunted places in Dublin that you won’t want to visit this Halloween

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The Haunting of the Antoniterkirche: Where the Monks Never Left

22. January 2026 Mirror Leave a comment

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The transition from Catholicism to Protestantism sometimes got bloody. This was also the case in Bern where the Antonite monks of Antoniterkirche had been residing for centuries. Cast out, their former churches and chapels were left desecrated, but did they truly leave the city?

In the twisted veins of Bern’s Old Town, where cobblestones whisper and centuries sleep behind shuttered windows, stands a building most passersby ignore. They shouldn’t. Tucked behind Postgasse 62 is the Antoniterkirche, now a shell of holy ground that once echoed with prayers and plague, now just as likely to echo with ghostly footsteps and the whispers of dead monks.

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The Bern Disputation was a debate over the theology of the Swiss Reformation that occurred in Bern from 6 to 26 January 1528 that ended in Bern becoming the second Swiss canton to officially become Protestant. After this, the monks were expelled from the city, but according to some ghost stories, some never left.

**The Church**: Painting by Michael Neher (1798–1876), The former Antoniter Church as a fire-fighting equipment house (1870)

The Antonites and their History in Bern

The Antonites, a medieval order of monks known for their care of the sick and their infamous symbol of the Tau cross, settled here in Bern before 1283 as servants of St. Anthony the Great. They were healers, yes—but also collectors of bone relics and donations, said to tend to the ill with both herbs and dark rituals. As their presence grew, so did the unease around them. Something about the way they looked at you, it was said. Something about the smell that clung to their robes.

**The Monks:** They were known across Europe for caring for the sick—particularly those suffering from “holy fire,” or ergotism, a disease that twisted limbs and seared flesh with a burning agony. Clad in black habits emblazoned with the blue tau cross, the brothers brought with them piety, relics, and rituals.

Their grand church, rebuilt in 1444 and again in the 1490s, stood proud for just a few short decades. By the 15th century, they had rebuilt their chapel into a grand Gothic church, welcomed the Shoemakers’ Guild and the Society of Rebleuten to worship at its altars, and staffed their hospital with six brothers and several lay nurses.

Then came the Reformation—a righteous blaze that burned through Bern and cast the Antonites into shadow. In 1528, the last friar was expelled. Mobs ransacked the sanctuary. Altars were shattered. Candles snuffed. Statues dragged and burned in the streets.

Hatred had also accumulated against the Antonite brothers, as against all monks, in the years before the Reformation. People complained about their shameless begging, the decline in morals, and their unexemplary lifestyle. This hatred now erupted. Lynchings of monks were not uncommon. But did the monks ever truly leave?

The Haunting of The Antoniterkirche

After its secularization, the church served many purposes: a granary, a saddlery, a fire station. The pews were torn out, the partitions fell, and the prayers ceased. But not the presence. In every incarnation, workers reported strange noises. Moaning. Shuffling. Cold hands where there should be none. Rats, people claimed. But rats don’t whisper in Latin. Rats don’t sigh from behind the walls.

And then there’s the woodcutter’s tale that was written down in a collection of ghost stories from Bern. He was working alone in a partitioned room when a cold wind passed through the boarded walls. Something moved behind him. He turned, expecting vermin. Instead, there stood a tall figure in the black robes of a monk, cowl drawn, eyes large and sorrowful. The monk raised his hands slowly. No sound, no breath, just that chilling gaze. The woodcutter dropped his saw. “It was the prior,” he said later, trembling. “The last one. The one who never left.”

The Haunted Former Church

The building today is shared by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bern, and the Russian Orthodox chapel hides quietly in the basement. The altar is long gone, the pews removed, but those who enter the chapel still speak of feeling watched. Of cold drafts that move against the grain of the wind. Of whispered invocations they didn’t speak.

The faithful come and go. But beneath the floorboards, something still lingers. In the coldest months, neighbors speak of low chanting beneath the stone. Of muffled crying. Of ghostly figures moving along the old monastic paths.

The Antoniterkirche was meant to be a place of healing. But after centuries of misuse, desecration, and silence—it seems the wounds here go too deep. And in Bern’s dark heart, the dead do not always rest easy.

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References:

Die Geschichte der Antonierkirche | Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Bern

https://www.maerchenstiftung.ch/maerchendatenbank/11839/im-antonierkloster

Antoniterkirche (Bern) – Wikipedia

Ukategorisert

The Haunting of Nes Church Ruins in Norway

19. January 2026 Mirror 1 Comment

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The mysterious Nes Church Ruins in Norway has attracted ghost hunters and legends for centuries by now. But what is really lurking among the old stones after dark?

Where the rivers Vorma and Glomma meet in Nes, west in Norway, there are the ruins of a church that are said to be haunted. Some claim that these ruins could possibly be the most haunted place in the country.

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By daylight, the ancient church ruins of Nes are a peaceful historical site. Stone walls softened by moss, the wind threading through broken archways, and birds nested in the quiet masonry. Yet when night settles, the place transforms. Ghost hunters and thrill seekers come armed with flashlights and recording devices, hoping to capture the strange energy that locals insist has lingered here for centuries.

A Thousand Years of History

These crumbling walls date back to the eleventh century, making them among the oldest standing church structures in the region. Even before it was a christian church, it was most likely a pagan place of worship.

Throughout the years it was expanded and torn down, and in 1567 it was burned down in the Nordic Seven Years War. In 1854 the church burned down after it was struck by lightning and wasn’t rebuilt because they feared mudslides. The ruins are now a popular place for weddings, worship and concerts with grass as the floor and the sky as the roof and the graves surrounding the gothic ruins makes it a sort of park.

Stories circulate of electronics malfunctioning the moment investigators step onto the grounds. Phones that suddenly power down, camera screens flickering into blackness, lights strobing without any cause. Visitors report the sense that someone, or perhaps several someones, does not appreciate the intrusion. The ruins, heavy with memory, seem to breathe and watch.

The Tragic Priest Said to Haunt the Church Ruins in Nes

Weathered but still imposing, they mark where generations lived, worshipped, and were buried. And beside them stands a solitary grave: the resting place of Priest Jacob Christian Finckenhagen who was buried here in 1837.

Finckenhagen served here in the early nineteenth century from 1800 to his death, remembered in local folklore as a deeply troubled man. Some say he took his own life inside the church, unable to bear the weight of his despair. Others insist that even death did not bring him peace.

Many visitors claim to have seen a figure in the black priest’s robes walking the path toward his gravestone. He is silent, moving with a slow and deliberate step, as if still patrolling the grounds of his parish. Those who have witnessed him say he follows at a distance, never closing in, never turning away.

Children Behind the Walls

The darkest story tied to Nes is whispered with lowered voices. According to local legend, Finckenhagen’s children were sealed within the church itself.

He married his wife, Charlotta Amalia Hassing and had three children together as well as Charlotta’s daughter from her first marriage. No records confirm it, but many swear the land remembers that they were in fact entombed inside of the ruins. People walking the perimeter after sunset report faint cries echoing through the stonework. High, distant, and pleading. Some turn back immediately. Others keep walking until the darkness grows too heavy.

The Truth Behind the Haunted Rumors

But how much is true about the ghostly priest said to linger? Records show that Priest Jacob Christian Finckenhagen actually died of a sudden stroke, and that he was 81 years old when it happened. His iron cross is still there, and at his funeral, one of Norway’s most famous writers, Henrik Wergeland had written a poem in his honor.

So what of his children? There are absolutely no records about them being interred in the walls of the ruins. His son Søren even did as his father had done and grew up to become a priest.

So when did the stories start to form? Although people have been talking about strange things happening by the ruins for ages, the story of Finckenhagen was told from the early 1900 at least. And what was told about the strange ruins before this is perhaps lost to history.

Haunted By the Past

Whether the priest is a restless soul, a lingering echo, or a remnant of old fears and superstition, the legends are impossible to ignore. The Nes ruins are more than a historical site. They are a place where something remains, something that refuses to sleep.

What is true though, is that it has definitely drawn people to it though. It got so bad that they had to put on cameras as people vandalized the ruins by driving on the grass, digging illegally and spray painting on the ancient walls. Perhaps the biggest haunting of the church ruins today is from the living.

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References:

Nes kirkeruin

Rev Jacob Christian Finckenhagen (1756-1837) – Find a Grave Memorial

Kirkeruinene omtalt i Forbes Magazine: – Er jo litt skummelt

NYHETER | «Hjemsøkt» sommerperle

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The Ghost Soldiers of Rapperswil Ringing the Bell of St. John

19. December 2025 Mirror 2 Comments

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In the middle of the night, it was said that the bells of St. John Church in Rapperswil, Switzerland started to toll. When the churchwarden went to investigate, it was said that he saw the headless ghosts of the fallen soldiers from the Battle of Näfels holding midnight mass.

“Before this evil news reached the city,
that our brave heart had fallen in loyalty,
the great bell in Rapperswil rang sixty-two times.”
– JH. Fornaro

Along the northern shores of Lake Zurich, the medieval town of Rapperswil-Jona is known for its charming alleys in the old town, historic castle, and rose gardens which is why it’s known as Rosenstadt, or the City of Roses.

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But beneath this picturesque veneer lies a chilling legend, one that speaks of loyalty beyond death and spectral gatherings in the dead of night. The tale of the headless ghost soldiers of Rapperswil has unnerved locals for centuries and remains one of Switzerland’s most eerie supernatural legends.

A Bell That Rings for the Dead

Stadtpfarrkirche St. Johann (Saint John’s parish church) is a Roman Catholic parish church in the city of Rapperswil, right next to Rapperswil Castle on Herrenberg hill in the old town. Rapperswil Castle, the town walls of the former locus Endingen and the parish church were built by Count Rudolf II and his son Rudolf III of Rapperswil around 1220/29.

It is also on this hill on the southern walls that the first roses in Rapperswil blooms because their medieval sandstone walls are exposed to the sun all through the year. It is also where the old and dark ghost legends hang around the ancient halls.

The legend begins on a cold, silent night at the start of the 20th century, when the church bell at St. John’s Church began to toll by itself. This story was told by the Rapperswil politician and publicist Theodor Curti, who died in 1914, although it’s not certain exactly when this was supposed to have happened.

The mournful clang shattered the stillness of the sleeping town. According to the story, the churchwarden — believing someone had broken into the sacred place — made his way to the tower, expecting to find a prankster or a thief. Instead, he found the bell swaying on its own, untouched by human hands.

What he witnessed next would haunt the town’s memory for generations.

The Headless Procession

As the churchwarden descended into the nave, the flicker of ghostly figures appeared around the ancient altar. Dozens of soldiers, clad in bloodstained medieval armor, stood in silent formation. Their most horrifying feature: every one of them was headless. Despite this gruesome deformity, the soldiers appeared solemn and composed, as though celebrating mass in front of the altar.

The churchwarden watched in petrified awe as the ghostly warriors held a midnight mass for their fallen brethren. No words were spoken, no sound but the bell’s final echoes remained. When the ceremony ended, the soldiers faded back into the shadows, leaving behind an eerie chill in the air.

The Battle of Näfels and the Origins of the Legend

Local lore links these restless spirits to the Battle of Näfels, fought in 1388 between the Old Swiss Confederacy and the Habsburg forces that led to the independence from Habsburg rule. Rapperswil was then under Habsburg rule. It was a brutal clash in which 62 men from Rapperswil perished. It was said that the other soldiers all fled, only the brave Rosenstadters remained steadfast. When their bodies were found, they were all lying together, slain in a small orchard.

In his notes, Curti suggests that this is a variant of the legend that originated in the Battle of Näfels in 1388 that the death bell rang as well, exactly 62 times for the fallen ones. Although there really was 62 locals dead in the battle, there has been no historical proof that the bells actually rang back then but the legends.

Many believe the headless soldiers are the souls of these men, returning on certain nights to mourn their fate and honor those who died alongside them.

**The Battle of Näfels:** The battle was the last of the Swiss-Austrian conflicts that stretched through most of the 14th century. The Swiss had 54 men killed, who were buried at the parish church of Mollis. Habsburg losses are less well known, but are estimated to be between several hundred and 1,700 killed. In 1339, the first Näfelser Fahrt, a pilgrimage to the site of the battle, was held. This pilgrimage, which still occurs, happens on the first Thursday in April and is in memory of the battle.

Over the centuries, reports of the ghostly procession have persisted. Townsfolk whisper that the spirits are most likely to appear during violent storms, misty autumn nights, or on the anniversary of the battle. The legend has become so entwined with the town’s history that a path leading to the old battlefield is still marked by aged stones, and some locals claim to hear phantom footsteps or distant, mournful bells when passing by after dusk.

Symbol or Specter?

While skeptics dismiss the tale as folklore — a metaphor for the horrors of war and the sacrifices of the past — others remain convinced that something lingers within Rapperswil’s ancient walls. The church where the soldiers supposedly gather has undergone restorations, yet strange incidents occasionally occur: inexplicable drafts, flickering candle flames, and, once in recorded memory, the death bell tolling on a windless night.

Whether a symbolic remembrance or a true haunting, the story of the Ghost Soldiers of Rapperswil continues to captivate, reminding visitors and locals alike that the past is never truly buried — and that sometimes, the dead march on in silence, seeking the honor denied to them in life.

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References:

Hier spukt es: Unheimliche Orte in der Schweiz | WEB.DE

Stadtpfarrkirche Rapperswil – Wikipedia

Battle of Näfels – Wikipedia

Die kopflosen Geistersoldaten und ihr Spuk in Rapperswil | Südostschweiz

An online magazine about the paranormal, haunted and macabre. We collect the ghost stories from all around the world as well as review horror and gothic media.