Stories about white ladies are plentiful in Europe, especially in Germany, and this particular The White Lady In Freihung ended up winning against the U.S Army.
The main town in Freihung has a long history of Bavarian culture and the industry of mining lead. There is also a ghost said to be haunting the quaint little Bavarian town.
This The White Lady In Freihung who is supposedly haunting the city center is said to be a middle aged woman who used the old mining tunnels to glide through, scaring people so much that in the end they destroyed the tunnels altogether. One hotel was greatly bothered by it and ended up taking matters into their own hands to rid themselves of the ghost.
The Noble White Lady In Freihung
Who The White Lady In Freihung was is not certain, but there are tales that there used to be a castle at this place were it now was a hotel, although there are no direct historical proof of it.
According to the legend, there lived a noble woman in this mysterious castle who died tragically, although her name and manner of death is not known as with the rest of the facts of the legend.
According to reports, there are tales about seeing The White Lady In Freihung since 1625. Ghosts that are reported on wearing white are very common in ghost stories from Germany, especially if the ghost is linked to a noble house. This is the case with the haunting of the house of Hohenzollern as well as an example.
The noble family of Hohenzollern of Germany has been haunted for centuries. The White Lady follows them, wherever they go. Who is she? And what does she want with the life of the nobles?
She is said to haunt the grounds where the castle once stood. Archaeological findings of a castle named Freihung Castle, exist, but in another place than where the hotel is today, and it is unclear whether that has any connection at all.
Today, most reports come from The Gasthaus Alte Post Hotel that they built over the underground mining tunnels.
Weiße Frauen in Germanic Folklore
Why exactley is germanic ghost stories riddled with stories about the lady in white or as they are called in german, Weiße Frauen
In German legends and folklore the stories of the Weiße Frauen or White Women used to be a name meant to the elven-spirits and the stories of the light elves from pagan times and has probably evolved to refer to the female ghosts said to haunt castles, forests, homes and everywhere women have met a deadly end.
The Missing Castle: could the ghost of the Lady in White come from the remains of a supposed castle that used to stand in Freihung? Did the castle even exist?
Now the name is also used on women dying in grief, of sorrow or with an urge of revenge. It has spread throughout Europe and is an image with strong connotations, even today.
Even outside of Europe, there are tales about female ghosts clad in all white, from the Korean Virgin Ghosts to the vengeful spirit on the Onryo in Japan.
The U.S Army on Ghost Hunt
The terror of The White Lady In Freihung got so bad that the local owners of the hotel called in the U.S troops to the The Gasthaus Alte Post Hotel where most sightseeings of her were reported.
From 1945, the American army had a training center in Grafenwoehr, not far from Freihung. Elvis Presley was once stationed there. It is still used today as a training area by the army.
The hotel owners were desperate by the 1970s and asked for their help and help they received. The army from the base came and used explosives to seal off all the tunnels under the hotel, hoping it would silence the ghost that supposedly walked underneath inside of the tunnels.
The Haunting Continues
This was not enough to stop The White Lady In Freihung however, as she just finds new ways to move among the locals to scare them. And if we are to believe the stories, she is still wandering the streets in the city center of Freihung and showing herself in the rearview mirror of passing cars.
In the ruins of Lyse Abbey there are rumors about the ghost monks haunting the ruins as well as a white lady roaming the roads around it.
Lyse Abbey or Lyseklosteret is a former cistercian monastery that was built in Os, right outside of Bergen in Norway. There are only ruins of it today, as many of the monasteries were destroyed during the reformation from catholicism to protestantism in 1536.
In 1578 stones were removed from the monastery and shipped to Denmark and used in Kronborg Castle, as Norway at the time was a colony in Denmark. The stones were also used to build the Rosenkrantz tower in Bergen.
Ghost Monks
The monastery called Coenobium Vallis Lucidae ( The Monastery in the Valley of Light) in Latin and named after the fjord, Lysefjorden (The Light Fjord) was founded by English monks in From Fountain Abbey in North Yorkshire 1146 and the building was built over the next hundreds of years. They also brought fruits like apples to Hardanger, a place now renowned for its tasty apples.
Lyse Abbey: The ruins of the old monastary is said to be haunted by ghost monks// source
It is said that the monks that first built the monastery never left and haunts the location even to this day. Many have reported about seeing cloaked silhouettes walking about as if they are working on the building.
There have also been heard moans from the ruins of the once great monastery, especially on foggy nights, making people believe that the old ruins are haunted by Ghost Monks.
The ghost monks are however not the only ones that are rumored to haunt the place. Apparently there are stories about a “white lady” that walks around in the ruins of the monastery at night time and in the evening. According to legend there was a terrible accident involving a tractor in 1960 when she was bicycling along the road nearby and a tractor ran her over.
It is unclear if it actually was an accident since it was her neighbor driving the tractor. Anyway, since then, there have been multiple reports about a woman in white around the weeks leading up to Christmas, often described as a white morning robe, wandering restless around the monastery, just looking straight ahead.
Explore Palavas-les-Flots, the haunted coastal city of France and learn about its mysterious supernatural phenomena of the ghost of a hitchhiking woman in white.
Palavas-les-Flots is a coastal city in France with a mysterious history. It has been the site of many supernatural experiences, including ghost sightings and numerous unexplained phenomena. Discover the spooky secrets behind this haunted city today!
Palavas-les-Flots is located within the historic Camargue region of France. A walk through the narrow, cobblestoned streets of Palavas-les-Flots will bring you past some of the city’s most mysterious and supernatural sites.
Dame Blanches in French Folklore
One of the most pervasive supernatural mythologies associated with Palavas-les-Flots is that of the Dames blanches, or White Ladies. These mysterious figures are said to wander through fields and forests near the city, bringing with them both luck and misfortune to those who encounter them.
They are known way back from myths and folklore as well and quite well spread in European ghost stories. Tales of these enigmatic creatures have been told for centuries, inspiring many artistic interpretations and offering a glimpse into a fantastic world beyond our own.
Today however they are most often told about in the deepest and oldest castles as ghost of ladies that died gruesome deaths, or along the road as women who died in a road accident of some sort. Very often they are mixed in with the urban legend of the hitchhiker.
Dame Blanches in Palavas-les-Flots in 1981
Many people from the town claimed to have seen one of these mysterious White Ladies late at night near the water. They described the figure as incredibly tall, with flowing white robes and an otherworldly presence.
There was one occurrence that became more famous than others. One night on May 20th, 1981 a group of four people aged 17 to 25 were taking their car for a trip to the sea. After a couple of drinks and a walk in the city they were headed back home around midnight.
The people picked up a female hitchhiker in Palavas-les-Flots right before the Pont des Quatre Canals.
She was dressed in a white raincoat and a scarf and looked to be in her fifties. She refused to speak and sat in the back of the car. Suddenly she would scream: Mind the turn, mind the turn , and the driver slows down and drives safely past the bend.
Suddenly, the two passengers in the back scream out as the hitchhiker disappears into thin air. What exactly happened that night on the road in Palavas-les-Flots remains a mystery.
All the Woman in White Ghosts
While the White Ladies like the one told about from Palavas-les-Flots remain some of France’s most famous supernatural figures, and are hardly the only ones. Across the country, similar legends exist about white women in traditional northern French clothing lurking near places like cemeteries and abandoned houses at night. Whether or not these sightings actually occur is up to debate, but one thing remains certain: The mysterious stories will continue to captivate people for years to come.
An old fortress of protection turned into a prison of a mistress who died and started haunting Zitadelle Spandau where she met her end. And the ghost of the mistress Anna Sydow are said to haunt both the place and the family who caused her death.
One of the best preserved Renaissance military structures in Europe is the citadel in today’s Berlin, in German called Zitadelle Spandau. It was built in 1559 on top of another fort and designed to protect the Spandau town which is now a part of modern day Berlin.
Many castles in Germany have stories about a certain Lady in White haunting it, and in Spandau Citadel there is the ghost of Anna Sydow.
Anna Sydow was the mistress of the Brandenburg Elector Joachim II. Joachim II was a part of the Hohenzollern who has been rumored to be plagued by the ghosts of a Lady in White. Anna Sydow is just one of the many rumored to be at least one of them.
Read more about the curse of the House of Hohenzollern: Here
Anna Sydow: Portrait of the mistress Anna Sydow who are believed to be the Lady in White that haunts Zitadelle Spandau after she was imprisoned by the son of her lover.
In 1549, the wife of Elector Joachim II suffered an accident which left her walking on crutches. She fell down the floor and impaled herself on a couple of antlers that hung in the room below. Something that the elector thought ruined the marriage and the enjoyment of hunting. He chose then to take a mistress and he chose Anna Sydow.
During her life as his mistress, Anna Sydow bore him two children and lived in the Grunewald Hunting Lodge for two decades and is also said to haunt the grounds of that place. This was also the place where the wife of Joachim II got impaled and ended up on crutches.
Imprisoned in Zitadelle Spandau
Johann Georg was the heir and son to Joachim II, and had explicitly promised his father on numerous occasions that he would spare and protect Anna Sydow after he died. But when the elector died in 1571, she was imprisoned in the Zitadelle Spandau until her death in 1575.
The Zitadelle Spandau was often used to house prisoners of the state for a long time, and Anna Sydow was one of the first. She was arrested under false pretenses though and saw no trial. Although the arrest was unjust, she at least didn’t end up being executed like many others of his fathers old court did. Or according to some of the legends, she was actually murdered.
In any case, Johann Georg felt haunted by her after her death. On January 1st in 1598, Johann Georg saw the specter of a Lady in White that he thought had to be Anna Sydow and died eight days later.
In 1709, there was a skeleton of a woman found buried inside of the Zitadelle Spandau during renovation, and everyone thought it had to belong to the Lady in White that was plaguing the fortress as well as the Hohenzollern family. They gave her a proper burial in hopes of ending the hauntings, but according to reports, there is still something haunting within the Zitadelle Spandau walls.
Immured in the Hunting Lodge
There is also this rumor that it wasn’t in the fortress Anna Sydow met her end but in the Grunewald Hunting Lodge. So she is thought to haunt both places as well as members of the Hohenzollern family.
It is a legend that she was immured alive in the small spiral staircase in the western corner wing. Since then she has been haunting the castle around midnight.
Thes old and noble family House of Hohenzollern in Germany seems to forever be haunted by a Lady in White. Both the ancient family homes of the family, and also the family members, however far they go away, the curse of the house will follow.
In December 1628, the Palace in Berlin can’t keep the cold out, not completely. A hereditary haunting of the ruling family of Prussia sits in the walls of their castles — a bad omen. Most often the bad omen of the curse is seen as a woman dressed in white. You can hear her sometimes, the clanking of the large keys around her waist. A young prince is next this time. She appears to a him and says: – ‘Veni, judica vivos et mortuos’ which means ‘Come, I judge the living and the dead’. The day after, he dies of an illness.
But who is it that haunts this old and noble family? Even the young princes? Years before the young person died, she was also spotted by three young pages in 1619. In one of Hohenzollern Castle halls, it doesn’t need to be the one in Berlin. As long as it is one of the ruling Hohenzollerns. The young pages thought she was a living human being, and approached her. When he asked what she was doing here she turned to him and hit him with her keys, killing him. The two pages ran away, terrified.
The House of Hohenzollerns was growing restless when they heard about the sighting of the woman. She had been spotted again, it was a bad omen. Something was about to happen. Three weeks later, John Sigismund Prince-Elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from the House of Hohenzollern, died.
House of Hohenzollern in Germany
The family is an old one. The House of Hohenzollern once ruled what is now known as Germany as a dynasty being princes, electors, kings and emperors. They ruled the lands of Brandenburg, Prussia, The German Empire and as far as to Romania.
Read More: Check out all of our ghost stories from Germany
They began their ruling dynasty in Swabia, in a town called Hechingen during the 11th century and took their name from their ancestral Hohenzollern Castle. The first ancestors of the House of Hohenzollerns were mentioned in 1061.
Burg Hohenzollern on the Hill: The ancestral home in Swabia, Germany, constructed in the early 11th century to the House of Hohenzollern. The haunting may have started here, but the sightings of the White Lady Haunting the family has been spotted everywhere were a member of the family has been residing.
They were the rulers of the lands, growing in power until 18 71 with the unification of the German Empire with the Hohenzollerns as hereditary German Emperors and Kings of Prussia. This title they held until Germany’s defeat in World War I in 1918 led to the German Revolution. The House of Hohenzollerns were overthrown and the Weimar Republic was established, thus bringing an end to the German monarchy.
Sure, they were powerful, and powerful families makes powerful enemies. Blue blood attracts bad blood. But who was so intent on following the family, haunting them for centuries? There have been many claims as to who exactly is the woman behind the hauntings. And this here, is one of the more famed ones.
The Noble Killer Nun Haunting the House of Hohenzollern
Kunigunde von Orlamünde is a ghostly reminder of the ancient past. She was born in 1303 as the first child of Ulrich I, Landgrave of Leuchtenberg, and part of their Bavarian dynasty in the middle-ages.
According to legend, Kunigunde von Orlamünde fell in love in a man called Albrecht the fair, the fourth son of Frederick IV, Burgrave of Nuremberg. A man of the House of Hohenzollern.
The Abbess: Tombstone of Kunigunde von Orlamünde at Himmelskron, is rumored to be behind the curse of the House of Hohenzollern.
Albrecht had expressed that he would marry Kunigunde von Orlamünde, hadn’t it been for that “four eyes did not stand in the way”. Kunigunde thought he meant her son and daughter. Therefore, she stabbed their eyes out with a needle, and they died, freeing her to marry the man she loved.
Johann Löer made a verse about this in 1559:
And thought, those small children I wanted Will certainly be the eyes that Robs me of my love! And if the woman even did That murdered her own children That misery robbed their life That stabbed them with pins Tender and soft all over
This is not what Albrecht meant though, as he was talking about his parents as they disapproved of their match. He refused to marry her after her actions. He married a woman named Sophie von Henneberg and got two daughters on his own.
Kunigunde von Orlamünde was devastated and full of regret. She had murdered her own children for a man that didn’t even want her. Therefore she started on a pilgrimage to the Vatican to get absolution for her sins from the Pope himself. He ordered her to build a monastery and become a nun. She joined the Kloster Himmelkron.
In some version she she was sentenced to life in prison for the murders, other tell of how she died on the way to the Vatican, not being able to beg of forgiveness. She is one of the origin stories of the curse over the House of Hohenzollern and she has been haunting the family ever since.
Weiße Frauen Haunting the House of Hohenzollern
Could Kunigunde von Orlamünde be the lady following the haunted House of Hohenzollern? Lurking along the walls with her keys, paying close attention on every male descendant in the family that she never got to be a part of? A family growing bigger by every generation while she cut down her own? In any case, the legend of the Lady in White is old. Perhaps so old that even not history keeps it in its records?
Basking in the sunlight, hiding in the shadows, her dress is always white. In German legends and folklore the stories of the Weiße Frauen, meaning White Women used to be a name meant to the elven-spirits and the stories of the light elves from pagan times. Many of the ghost stories seems to be based on these old folklore types of myths and legends, even to this day.
The White Lady Haunting Germany: Illustration from the opera, The White Lady. The White women or the Weiße Frauen has been a part of the German mythology for ages. It has know been a part of German ghost stories as well for centuries.
The legend of the Weiße Frauen or white woman has, as everything does, evolved from its elven origins. Now the name is also used on women dying in grief, of sorrow or with a urge of revenge. It has spread throughout Europe and is an image with strong connotations, even today.
The Family Curse Over the House of Hohenzollern
Some call her the White Lady, some call her ‘The Harbinger’. She brings bad luck to those seeing her, and reports of her sightings has been going on for centuries.
In 1667, Louise Henrietta of Orange, the wife of Elector Friedrich Wilhelm of Brandenburg, was lying ill. A few days before she passed away, she saw the White Lady, sitting by her desk almost as an omen that warned the family that death was approaching.
The family members started to learn to spot the signs, but was unable to do anything after her sightings. In 1678, the Margrave Erdmann Philip of Brandenburg saw the White Lady in his armchair as he entered his chamber in Baireuth. He left the room, shocked and terrified. The next day he rode his horse out in the court and there was something weird going on. The horse was uneasy, as if seeing something that scared it and he threw the prince off. The Prince stood up, seemingly fine and he retired to his chamber. But after two hours, he was dead.
Weiße Frauen Curse of the House of Hohenzollern: The White lady, also known as the Harbinger, has been haunting the family for centuries, acting as an omen when someone is about to day, and even as a warning. Is it really a curse, or actually someone watching over them, trying to warn them when danger is afoot?
Even the dead ones seems to warn about the White Lady that haunts the House of Hohenzollern. The White Lady was supposedly absent during Frederick the Great’s reign, but in his death, he came back to warn them about her. In 1792 in Paris, his nephew Frederick William the Second was camped outside the city with his troops, ready to attack the next day. That night his dead uncle appeared before him, warning him about the seeing the White Lady if he didn’t call off the attack. His nephew listened and left France, avoiding the harbinger and according to the legend, a certain death.
Even Napoleon tried to spend a night in one of Hohenzollern castles but left bothered by the ghost haunting the place. In 1806 he had defeated Prussia and claimed some of its land as a French province. He left the next day, never to returned, calling it le maudit chateau, ‘the cursed castle’.
But today? Were is she? Just before World War I in 1914, she was last reported. Just before the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated. After they lost the war Kaiser Wilhelm the Second was the last ruling Hohenzollern, and he later abdicated the throne.
And it is said as long as there is no Hohenzollern that rules, the White Lady will stay in the shadows, and hopefully, outside of the Hohenzollern castles.
What is the Truth Behind the Curse?
Such a dramatic story, but does it ring any truth? What is true is that Kunigunde married Otto VI, Count of Weimar-Orlamünde. Historians refute the legend as according to record, their marriage produced no children. It is true that she and her husband adopted a daughter, Podika von Schaumburg, but she grew up and married Poske Ritter von Schweritz in 1341.
There are also records of her dying in 29th of April in 1382. And if she really was born in 1303 she would have been close to 80 and most likely in a comfortable home, not on the road to Rome or in prison.
Kinigunde’s husband died in 1340, leaving her with a vast inheritance. She spent it on the monastery she herself would join as a nun. Funnily enough, sources tells he actually bought the monastery from Albrecht.
The Harbinger of Death
For a story as old as this one, there is now difficult to separate facts from fiction and the story of the curse that allegedly looms over the House of Hohenzollern seems to still be there, even if no one has reported about the White Lady for a while.
But what about The House of Hohenzollern and their sightings of the White Lady over the centuries? All of their stories? Were they just that? Stories? Or is it that some details of the past is not for us to know. Not the living.
Could it be something else than a woman with a flare for eternal vengeance? Perhaps something even older like the German myths and legends have been telling for ages?
Chute de la Dame Blanche or the White Lady Waterfall is a legend of a grieving bride to be in the midst of the battle of Canada. She now haunts the waterfall still wearing her wedding dress were she ended her life, still grieving the loss of her lover.
Taller than the Niagara Falls, the Montmorency falls towers 83 m over the city of Québec. It flows downstream from the city and into St. Lawrence. It is a majestic sight, the veil gushing and all sound but the masses of water is heard when standing close to it. But next to it, another lesser known waterfall falls. From ground water it connects with the Montmorency River along the way as water does. When the waterfall hits the river below the water spreads out, like a wedding veil. This particular waterfall is called Chute de la Dame Blanche or the White Lady Waterfall.
Stories from waterfalls have always been connected with grief, love and death. At least in European folklore. Tales like the Banshee is steeped in water imagery and female ghost stories, and many waterfalls tells a sad tale of a bride to be that died too soon. And this one about the Chute de la Dame Blanche, is just that.
The Bride to Be of the Chute de la Dame Blanche Legend
But who is this woman in the waterfall that came to be known as The White Lady Waterfall more than her original name? A banshee? According to legend, it is the spirit of a young Canadienne woman. An ethnic group of French colonists who settled in Canada from the 17th century. Or as they were known back then, French.
The veil: The waterfall of Montmorency, 1900, just next to Chute de la Dame Blanche.
In a time when Québec was called Nouvelle-France, or, New-France, the state was in an unrest and in the middle of a war that was going to last for seven years against the British empire.
The story tells about Matilde Robin, living near either Côte-de-Beaupré or Île d’Orléans, close to Québec. At the end of the summer in 1759, she was meant to marry her beloved Louis Tessier. Through the summer, she tailored her own white wedding gown, in anticipation of her wedding.
But the unrest in the country was creeping in and about to disrupt the romantic notion of a happily forever after. Canada, being under French government was in a state of unrest as the British wanted a piece of the land and there were whispers about them going to attack soon.
On the night of 8th or 9 July, British forces landed on the north shore, some 1.2 km (1 mi) east of the Montmorency Falls, east of where the French west-east defense line ended, at the mouth of the Montmorency River. They met no opposition from the French for the landing, but the armed forces prepared for battle.
The Bloody Battle of Beauport
The 31th of July, at the cusp of fall, the British attacked. In what was going to be known as the Battle of Beauport or the Battle of Montmorency. The British had been mostly successful in their attacks with their aggressive battle strategy, sending 40,000 soldiers to New-France. For the campaign against Québec, General James Wolfe was given command of an army of about 7,000 men.
At war over Canada: This is a map depicting the troop arrangements at the 1759 Siege of Quebec. It was after this battle that the ghost legend of the Chute de la Dame Blanche is said to have started.
The women and children took cover from the battle in the forest to hide from the bloody battle that raged on. And according to legend, so did Mathilde. The French army, as well as soldiers was volunteers in a militia as well as around 500 natives. Louis was one of the militia men and assisted the French in the following days the battle raged on.
The attack was a fail for the British. Wet air from the falls nearby and a sudden storm ruined the English gun power. The British troops were forced to retreat and admit defeat for the time being. Wolfe recorded 210-deaths in this journal. The French leader, Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, recorded 60.
The White Lady Waterfall
It was a French victory though, and they returned to their loved ones in the forest. Mathilde also waited for her Louis in anticipation. But he was one of those that were never going to return from the battlefield. He died in the battles according to the legend. The deaths of the soldiers during this battle were mostly attributed to the fire coming from the great battery of the Montmorency camp of the British. Perhaps that’s how it also happened for Louis.
In some version of the story of the Chute de la Dame Blanche, it is Mathilde that finds his dead body, floating on the shores of the river banks after the battle. Perhaps she did, perhaps it just makes a better story.
Chute de la Dame Blanche: The White Lady Waterfall has been pictured many times in both books, stamps and postcards. This shows just how much a part of the culture and history this ghost story has become.
No matter of the manner she learned about the death of Louis, it was more than Mathilde could live with, and she ran home, grieving while the rest was celebrating French victory. In some version the houses was on fire after the battles, although it seems unlikely, given of the summer rain storm that ended the attacks.
In either case, she ran to save her one beloved item, the wedding dress. She put on her gown as well as the veil even though she knew there would be no wedding. She went to the Montmorency Falls were she and Louis used to go to be alone before the war. She threw herself from the cliff into the water, her white bridal veil becoming one with the gushing waterfall, becoming Chute de la Dame Blanche or the White Lady Waterfall.
Only a couple of months later, the French were defeated on the Plains of Abraham, and the dream of a New France died as it ended under the British crown.
Today, especially during the summer and early fall, reports of seeing the young girl in her wedding dress lives on around the Montmorency Falls. And the small sister waterfall, Chute de la Dame Blanche, is all hers.
The Truth of the Legend of the Chute de la Dame Blanche
The legend of the Chute de la Dame Blanche has definitely gone through some changes over the years. It is nevertheless a persistent one, and it even made the cut to be put on Canadian post stamps, making Chute de la Dame Blanche or the White Lady Waterfall somewhat of a national treasure.
The Bride in the Waterfall: Many waterfalls like Chute de la Dame Blanche tells a sad story about a bride dying to soon.
A female ghost in the waterfalls is a common enough myth, especially with the dramatic flare of a wedding veil, fitting the aesthetic of a waterfall and across the world there are countless of brides to be’s that are supposedly haunting the waterfalls.
But looking at the timestamp of the legend, such a white veil as the foaming waterfall is unlikely as brides didn’t wear white until after Queen Victoria’s wedding in 1840. Could it just be the details of the wedding dress that were embellished over the years, or is the whole legend just that, a classic ghost story?
One thing that actually is true, is the battles, and it is definitely true that the Battle over Beauport happened, and that young men died and that women were left, longing after their lost ones. But was a man named Louis Tessier one of them?
According to a database of the French and British army soldiers in Québec in 1759 and 1760, there were no French volunteered named Lois. According to them there are no official military documents clearly identifying Canadian Militia members. And if our Louis did exist, he probably would have been one of them. However, some combat participants have been identified using historical and genealogical research. Biographical information will be posted as it becomes available.
From the French army, on the possibility he could have been one of those, there were not many Tessier. We found a Jean Tessier, born in France and part of the French army. Only 26 years old, he was Mortally wounded in the battle of the Plains of Abraham 13 September 1759, not in the Battle of Beauport.
On the account of Louis, there were a lot of them. Most of the Louis that showed on record they died in 1759, died in the battle of Plains of Abraham or the days leading up to it. The only ones dying up to French victory of Beauport were:
Both of these particular people were French born and in the French army, not in the militia. And therefore unlikely of being the Louis marked up in the legend of the Chute de la Dame Blanche.
As for Mathilde Robin, no such name has come up in the research in and around the time of the battle. Considering there is no certain sources as to their names, we have to consider the research and their story, inconclusive.
Chute de la Dame Blanche Illuminating the Country
However the legend of the Chute de la Dame Blanche, be it true or not, the waterfall runs as it has always done. The water keeps flowing, the veil creates the mist everything can hide in, perhaps even ghosts. But it isn’t all doom and gloom around the waterfall of the Chute de la Dame Blanche, but rather, the first source of light.
In 1885 on the 29th of September at eight o’clock, a crowd is gathered on the Dufferin terrace in the city, 12 km away from the gushing waterfall. For the first time in Canada at that distance, electrical light is powered from the power of the waterfall, bringing light again to the country and bringing Canada into the modern world.
The legend of the Lady of the Lake in Rochester has been around the Durand Eastman Park in the state of New York for centuries, haunting the lakes and park, in search for her daughter – and possible revenge.
Between the cities of Rochester and Irondequoit in the state of New York, the Durand Eastman Park has been a place for a nice park and a cozy picnic since the turn of the century. According to the legend though, the park is not always sunny sundays as the Durand Eastman Park is allegedly haunted by the ghost of a woman named The Woman of the Lake.
This type of ghosts takes on numerous names: The Lady in White, The White Lady, Lady of the Lake. She becomes a different entity with those names, one of many, a ghostly transparent figure of folklore. She loses her humanity and such, gains her legacy that lasts longer than a human lifetime. But who were this lady down by the lake when she was alive? Does she have a name?
Read Also: Check out the rest of our ghost stories from the USA
According The Rochester Candlelight ghost walk, the legend of the Lady of the Lake in Rochester have been told as far back as when the Durand Eastman Park was used as a vacation destination. And when a Boy Scout Camp was set up in the park, the legend grew around the campfire when they started to whisper about who the one in the deep lake could be and what she was after.
The Legend of Lady of the Lake in Rochester
Before the 1900’s, the area surrounding the Durand Eastman Park was a swampy place and not the nice and curated park we see today. It was farmland and small farms was around the lake with a few families living in the area. The lady that has been roaming the place since the early 1800’s is said to have been the wife of one of those farmers, farming this swampy land.
A walk in the park: During the day, the Durand Eastman Parkis a pleasant place for a walk. But at night though remember there is a ghost story about Lady of the Lake in Rochester// Photo: DanielPenfield
Lady of the Lake in Rochester’s name, according to written accounts and oral storytelling, her name was Eelissa. She appeared in different shapes and forms. Sometimes she was told to be an old and ugly woman. In other variants of the legend, she is a youthful spirit of the lake, almost more like the mythical fairy from the stories than a real woman.
Through the generations the story has been passed down through the locals, the story about this Lady in White or Lady of the Lake that has been haunting the park since the early 1800s has taken some different roads along the way. But the main overview remains the same.
In one of the variations of this ghost story, Eelissa had an abusive husband that left her for another woman when he got tired from her. In her jealous rage, she killed them both when she realised she would be alone. It is said that this is why she is haunting the Durand Eastman Park, mistaking young couples for her husband and mistress.
Legend has it that she is a dangerous ghosts, still blinding by rage and keeps slaying them, again and again for revenge. This variant of the legend about the scorned woman turned deadly is a classic take on a ghost story to tell around the campfire, but it is certainly not the most famous take on this legend.
The variation retold the most about the Lady of the Lake in Rochester, is that the Lady of the Lake is a grieving mother more than a scorned woman. The ghost of her is seen around the beach of the park, looking for her daughter she lost. In some variation, the daughter ran away with a lover and away from her overprotective mother to live their life in peace. Left all alone she haunts the place waiting for the return of her daughter.
In other versions the daughter was brutally raped and murdered close to the lake. The mother was unable to go on after this when the culprits got away without punishment. The grieving mother looks for remains of her daughter to this day, as well as those who did her harm. In some variations of the story, she is accompanied by two ghost dogs, helping her in the search.
No matter how the story is told, one thing is a binding link: She still have an enormous mistrust in men, even in the afterlife. Perhaps because of the abusive husband, perhaps because of the man stealing her daughter away or because of the rapist and murderers that took the life of her daughter. Who knows really, perhaps it could be all of them?
She is therefore rumored to attack men that in some ways are: ‘hindering’ her mission and interrupting her search. So if you are a man taking a stroll in the Durand Eastman Park, beware so to not be hindering anyone.
The Castle Housing the Lady of the Lake in Durand Eastman Park
In the Durand Eastman Park, the ruins of a stone wall is hidden among the trees. It is called, the castle. The Castle is a common place to gather for parties and retelling of the legend of Lady of the Lake in Rochester. It has over the years also become a part of it. Whispers that it is actually a part of the Lady of the Lake’s house when she was alive, or that it used to be an insane asylum or even a cannon wall.
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But in reality the castle is just the remains of a dining hall that used to be there. Before the Great Depression this was a place people in the Durand Eastman Park could get some refreshments while strolling among the trees after it was built in 1911. But over the years after vandalism, even arson and the passing of time, this wall is all there remains of the building.
The Castle in the Park: In Durand eastman park, there is something that look like a castle that has become a part of the woman in white in Rochester.
Investigation The Lady of the Lake in Rochester
The blogger for The Rochester Subway, spoke to a Jenni Lynn that owns the Rochester Candlelight Ghost Walks that includes the ghost story about the Lady of the Lake in Rochester. She told that they had teamed up with local physic, Shelly Phillips to investigate the Lady of the Lake in Rochester once to get to the bottom of the matter. Could they possible find out anything about the ghost supposedly haunting Durand Eastman Park?
They had used several different equipment, including divining rods, EMF-detectors, temperature readers as well as noise monitors. According to Lynn, Phillips was able to stand behind the legend that Eelissa’s daughter ran away together with a local farm boy and that this was the true origin story of the legend.
Lynn also says she spoke with the local police, The Irondequoit Police Department to try to get some hard facts that could perhaps shed some light on the matter. According to her, there have been many reports to the police regarding the Lady of the Lake in Rochester and that people claimed to have seen her. These reports is maybe including even the police officers themselves when they have been patrolling the Durand Eastman Park.
Lady of the Lake: In Durand Eastman Park there are rumours about the ghost of a lady in white walking around the lake in search of her lost daughter.
It is worth noting though, the police department themselves have not confirmed this, and the stories about the Lady of the Lake in Rochester is for now just that, stories.
But then, there must be some historical records of this, right? Eelissa is such an uncommon name, and the place is well documented. But according to town historian Patricia Wayne, there are no such records, documents or proof that can verify the story. Even so, every year, reports of sightings every year comes in of people claiming to have seen the Lady of the Lake in Rochester.
The Lady in the Tree in Rochester
Telling of these ghost stories varies throughout the time, and sometimes there’s things that happens that gives new life into old stories. One thing that literary blew some new life into the story of The Lady of the Lake in Rochester though, happened in 2017. A forceful wind was storming around the Rochester area, awakening the ghost once more.
According to Democrat and Chronicle this storm seems to be the first that broke the story online when the wind ripped apart a chunk of wood from a tree in the Durand Eastman Park. It left in splintered in the form of a skull like female, that many believed to be the ghost of the Lady of the Lake in Rochester, centuries after the legend was born, reminding everyone that she was still here.
The mysterious legend about the Blue Lady in Verdala Palace on Malta is shrouded in questions as she is supposedly haunting the beautiful castle. What happened to her and Who is she? Will she ever find peace?
On the height of the Buskett Gardens lies The Verdala Palace. Set in the heart of the idyllic gardens and surrounding forests it gives some breathtaking views of the island. Today it is used as a summer residence for the president of Malta and is an enormous building sitting alone at the hill.
The Verdala Palace is closed off to public except on the annual Moon Ball held every August. And perhaps, sometimes, a woman wearing her blue dress dances among the guests, not being able to escape the palace, even in her death.
The History of Malta and the Verdala Palace
For a time Malta was ruled by a religious order. The Order of Saint John, was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order and the ones that built the Verdala Palace in the 1500s as a hunting lodge. And the island of Malta was ruled by the Order of Saint John as a vassal state of the Kingdom of Sicily from 1530 to 1798 when the legend is said to have taken place.
The Verdala Palace: Majestic as it stands from it was built by the Grandmaster Verdalle in 1586, it is now used as a summer residence for the president of Malta. Local legend has it that the Verdala Palace is supposedly haunted by The Blue Lady, a tragic story about a woman who was imprisoned in one of the towers.//Photo: ERWEH
The order thought self that they turned, “merely a rock of soft sandstone” into a flourishing island with mighty defenses and a capital city among the great powers of Europe during the 268 years they ruled the island.
The native felt otherwise though, as the Knights were French and excluded the native islanders from important positions. They were especially loathed for the way they took advantage of the native women. Perhaps The Blue Lady is an echo of these women?
The Blue Lady in Verdala Palace
The order was ruled by a so called Grand Master. And the last Grand Master of Malta was Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc. He had a niece according to legend who is said to be The Blue Lady in the Verdala Palace. But as the legend goes, even though the order were eventually expelled by the French from the Island, she remains there as a ghost, haunting the palace she ended up trapped inside of.
The Blue Lady: The Verdala Palace is supposedly haunted by the ghost of a lady wearing a blue dress.
Walking the halls of the Renaissance palace under the intricate frescoes in the ceiling, the bold architecture, grand staircases and passing under the high, arched ceilings, The Blue Lady is unable to find any rest in her castle prison.
The Blue Lady, sometimes referred to as Is-sinjura tal-Verdala, was supposed to marry a man she didn’t love according to legend often told about her. Who this man was varies, but it is often thought he was one of the knights.
She had no say in that matter and was forced to it but kept trying to refuse the man she would be forced to spend the rest of her life with. The man grew angry and impatient at her refusals and imprisoned her in her room in the palace to teach her a lesson and keep her in her place.
Imprisoned and forced to compliance, she had no way of getting out. Unless… the only way she saw an escape was through the windows. The palace was many floors high and it was dangerous, some might even say impossible to escape this way. She slipped and fell to her death.
In some version she just gave up completely and threw herself out from the window to take her own life instead of marrying a man she didn’t love. Today we will never know.
After her tragic death she returned as a ghost. The Blue Lady has been spotted inside of Verdala Palace, walking the halls in her blue dress. The very same dress she wore when she died.
The Moon Ball: Sightings of the Blue Lady in the Verdala Palace is often during the August Moon Ball held in the palace. //Photo: Pablo Torres Flickr.
So why is she haunting the place she felt so trapped in? Many of these so called ghost ladies often found in old castles and mansions is haunting the place because of the tragic way they died. They are perhaps bitter about how it ended, but harmless according to most ghost stories about those ladies in white, grey and black from Europe.
So exactly why she is haunting the place is harder to pinpoint, however, we do have many written accounts of her haunting dating over a century back in time.
One of the written accounts of seeing The Blue Lady is from a Howard Jones in 1917. At this time, Jones worked as a staff member of Admiral Sir Arthur Gough-Calthorpe. He once visited the Verdala Palace and came back with a ghost story. I
n the diary, penned by a Capt. Robert Ingham, the aide-de-camp of the Gouverneur of Malta, he relayed Jones story of him seeing the Lady in Blue at Verdala Palace.
One time, Jones went to the Verdala Palace for a weekend in July, 1917. There, he was given a small room with a window overlooking the ditch. On the second floor there is something that are known as “Blue Lady’s Quarters”.
Today these quarters are almost empty and uninhabited and houses little to no guests. The walls are painted in dark wedgewood blue.
According to the diary, The Blue Lady appeared there before him as a ghost. When Jones was doing his tie in the mirror, a lady dressed in blue walked up behind him, but when he turned around there was no one there.
The Lost Name of the Lady in Blue
Even though the story has persisted for a very long time, little is known about the name of the Lady in Blue in Verdala Palace, even though she is a descendant of a noble family. But she has been embraced by the Malta as part of the history and even the official presidential website mentions her, writing: “This is only a legend, however many people do confirm that she does indeed appear in the palace wearing a blue dress.”
A possible link could be one of the de Rohan Polduc members seemingly being linked as siblings to Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc, which The Blue Lady is supposedly a niece of. They are:
Another version (a very dramatic one) of the legend behind the The Blue Lady in the Verdala Palace is:
Cecile, a niece of Grand Master de Rohan, who had eloped with a commoner and found herself in her uncle’s care. It is said that after the Grand Master’s death during the French occupation of Malta, her fiancé was tortured in order to make him divulge the whereabouts of a supposed treasure hoard at Verdala Castle. Cecile took hold of the sword belonging to a French soldier, killed her fiancé to end his misery, and then jumped to her death from a castle window.
Whoever The Blue Lady is, at the annual Ball at Verdala Palace in August, when the gates to the palace opens, when it is once filled with people, with life, the guests still, again and again, insist on seeing The Lady in Blue dancing in the halls in her blue dress.
Along the road in the English town, the ghost of a lady on the run haunts the area, allegedly causing accidents, and even deaths. This is the legend of the running lady of Beeford.
Beeford, East Yorkshire in England doesn’t sound like the most haunted place on earth. With the red bricked houses it looks like a classical quaint English town, never changing, dormant. Perhaps like the set of Midsummer Murders or the location of an Agatha Christie novel. Perhaps it indeed look a bit haunted, after all. Truth is, this place has been there even before England came to be. Mention in the Domesday Book, it has been there for a thousand years. Perhaps it will last a thousand more?
And everyone knows that old towns must have their own local ghosts. And here, they have the legend of the running lady of Beeford that is haunting the roads leading in and out of the town.
Causing Accidents and Deaths
This particular ghost is a ghost on the road. On a stretch of road between Beeford and Brandenburton, a ghost of a lady has been seen roaming around late at night. The ghost lady is also called the Running Lady as she is seen running across the Beeford Straight toward the North Frodingham junction.
Tales of her ghost causing accidents have been told over the years in the more modern area, as it’s usually involves cars. Not only is the ghost reported on being seen, but the running lady of Beeford has also been the one to blame for several accidents on this particular road.
The Running Lady of Beeford: There is a local legend that people have seen the Runnin Lady of Beeford, haunting the road. Some of the stories about her, even hints that she was the cause of a deadly car crash.
One of these stories details the curse she has supposedly put on this place made a car crash into a three, killing six people. What made the crash? An accident caused by witnessing the running lady of Beeford, or something more sinister as some of the version of the legend hints at?
There is also an anecdote about a motorcyclist picking up a female on the stretch on that road, only to find her gone when he turned around after a few miles. This story collides a bit with her habit of being on the run, but falls in line of the urban legend of a hitchhiker wanting a lift, but disappearing.
The Vanishing Hitchhiker is a well known urban legend throughout the world. Here is a Moonmausoleum original writings based on the Urban Legend – The Vanishing Hitchhiker
What’s the Truth Behind the Running Lady of Beeford?
This ghost story falls right into the White Lady legend from Europe we can read about in so many of the classic ghost stories. Also, stories about ghosts along the road is also a well documented phenomenon across the world by now. But what about this particular legend of the running lady of Beeford? How much does it ring true?
Considering that Beeford is such a small place there would be more documented that six people actually died in a car crash around that area. But as per now, we have found no such proof.
And the description of her appearance is so vague and non existing that it’s hard to make out what type of lady we are seeing. Well that is, if we see anything at all.
There is a ghost story that a Lady in White is haunting Haapsalu Castle in Estonia. According to the legend, she was walled up alive inside of the walls when the Bishop discovered her true identity. Her crime? She fell in love.
The ghost of the Lady in White is a wide spread thing in Europe. Every country and even region have their own local version on it. Many are haunting the old castles, cathedrals and mansions scattered across the universe. Some are haunting the waterfalls, some haunts whole families. Estonia is no exception and according to legend, their White Lady is found in Haapsalu Castle.
Sitting in the midst at the cusp of the eastern Europe Baltic heritage as well as so far north, the culture of Estonia is somewhat of a mix of the two. Many consider themselves more Nordic than Baltic, being so influenced by both Sweden and Finland, they have a rich and varied lore still alive and well today.
The Haunted Haapsalu Castle
On the western shore, the sleepy seaside town of Haapsalu is best known for its warm seawater, curative mud and peaceful atmosphere facing the Vaiinameri Sea. Salt mud spas frequented by the Russian Romanov family still operate. Everything is made for a relaxing weekend and a nice holiday for sunny days. Just don’t go to the Haapsalu Castle, it’s haunted.
Read More: Check out all of our ghost stories from Haunted Castles around the world
In the 13th century in the coastal city of Haapsalu, a castle and a cathedral was built from 1279 and it’s the only one of its kind preserved today. It was also known as Haapsalu piiskopilinnus, or more simply Bishop’s Castle. It was to be the new seat of the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek, were God’s law was the lands law. So it was a sort of royal as well as godly position, and the design of the castle was as well.
The HaapsaluCastle by night: The castle in Haapsalu is said to be haunted by a lady in white that still lingers long after her death. She is perhaps the most well known ghost in Estonia. Here is a picture from Haapsalu Castle in the dark, or, at least what is left, is still there. Photo:Sergei Gussev/
It was not a particular popular way of ruling as the last seat they had ruled from in Perona, where the Lithuanians burned his home down to the ground. Although he needed the place quick as his previous residence had been burned down, the whole castle took around 300 years to complete with the attached cathedral and monastery to it.
The position of Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek changed hands all up to the 1500s, and in 1279, the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek was Hermann of Buxhoeveden. It was also then he founded the castle and probably the bishop who is talked about in the legend of the Lady in White in Haapsalu Castle.
The life there, especially in the episcopal castle, was a strict one. Every canon working and living there in the monasteries were meant to live a chaste and virtuous life according to the monastery rules.
Read Also: Check out our ghost stories from all of the churches and monasteries from around the world.
Meeting women in the Haapsalu Castle was therefore strictly forbidden and punishable by death. The castle forbade all access for women and the monks rarely ventured outside to test their vows. But all of these rules is useless, love will always find a way.
The Maiden and the Canon in Love
The Forbidden Love inside of the Castle Walls: One of the monks was on a walk outside of the castle walls when he fell in love with a woman he brought back to the castle with him.
As legend of the White Lady Haapsalu Castle tells, one of the canon working there fell in love with a girl when he was outside of the castle walls. When it was clear they had to be together no matter what, he brought her with him to the Haapsalu Castle.
As there was a strict no women allowed policy, they had to disguise her so that no one would now her true identity. She went undercover and was working as a choirboy for a while to be able to meet and have a relationship with him.
They were then able to meet and talk and be in each others lives as long as they were able to pass her off as a boy to the rest of the men living there. They had no other choice if they wanted to be together. He had taken a vow to god that couldn’t be broken, and she had no way of following him with being herself.
Their little scheme worked for a while. That is, until the bishop came back to the castle and their whole world came crashing down.
The bishop had been away for some time while this was going on and when he returned, a young choirboy caught his eye. Something was off, and even though they had been able to fool the rest he caught on to the deceit.
Perhaps he wasn’t the only one who knew, but everyone else had left them in peace as long as it was discreet. These details we’ll never know for sure. The bishop however couldn’t be fooled and he ordered an investigation, finding out the singer’s gender and found her to be a woman.
Starving to Death inside of Haapsalu Castle Walls
Sightings of the White Lady: The ghost of the Lady in White in Haapsalu Castle has been spotted in the chapel for a long time. Photo: Sander Säde
When the girl was found out, the bishop summoned his council to decide on their punishment. The boy was sentenced to prison were he was going to starve to death. But the girl got the worst end of the deal according to some.
She was to be put immured inside of the walls of Haapsalu Castle. The chapel was under construction at the time and they made a space where they could wall her up. They gave her a single piece of bread and mug of water before they closed up the wall with her inside and left her to die.
For several days her cries for help, her banging on the walls rung throughout the castle. No one came to her aid and everyone just passed the wall in silence, ignoring the screams that grew fainter and fainter.
Who know what she must have been thinking. She probably didn’t know she would die the way that she had been living since she arrived at Haapsalu castle, hidden inside of the castle walls.
Eventually, she died. But her soul, according to legend, remained and came back as a ghost.
Haunting the Chapel During Full Moon
Now the White Lady can move through the walls. In Haapsalu Castle there was built a chapel still standing today, and this girl is always seen at the inner wall of it, or standing by the Baptistery window around the place she is said to have been walled up.
Whether some have actually done some digging and looked if there actually is a walled up skeleton inside of the chapel wall, is unknown.
The sightseeing of this Lady in White are always around full moons, particularly in August, when it is said is when the Bishop returned to Haapsalu Castle and she was walled up inside of the walls. Why full moon? Did it all happen during a full moon? Perhaps because of the legends that strange things happen during full moons? Or perhaps it was the imagination of the writer Carl Russwurn who popularized the legend, or perhaps even made it up?
Full Moon Haunting: It is said that the ghost of the Lady in White comes out and shows herself during the hot August full moons. Photo by Ben Mack on Pexels.com
The Lady in White is not said to do anything in particular other than to mourn her lost love and life that were taken from her because of the verdic of one man.
Coincidentally, the sightings of her in Haapsalu Castle happens during full moon in the hot August nights. This sightings is also said to happen when a music festival is held in her honor, called: The White Lady Days.
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