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Where the Nydegg Church is today, there once used to be a castle. Tales about ghosts lingering around the old Nydegg Castle and the stairs leading up to it still roams. And one of the more infamous and feared ghosts of Bern is the Burgträppe-Balzli.
Where the Nydegg Church is today, there once used to be a castle. Tales about ghosts lingering around the old Nydegg Castle and the stairs leading up to it still roams. And one of the more infamous and feared ghosts of Bern is the Burgträppe-Balzli.
High above the bend of the Aare River in Bern, where ancient cobbled alleys twist through the heart of the Old City, lies the Nydegg, an old district with centuries-old bones and whispers of things best left in the past.
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Though today the area bustles with the charm of a medieval town center, one shadow remains darker than the rest: that of Burgträppe-Balzli, the ghostly scourge said to haunt the ruined stairway of the once-mighty Nydeggburg Castle.
Burgtreppe in Bern: Castle stairs from Mattenenge to Nydegghöfli. // Source
A Castle Lost, but Not Forgotten
Nydegg Castle stood at the eastern tip of Bern’s Zähringerstadt, the city’s oldest neighborhood, founded in 1191. Built as a stronghold to watch over the Aare River and secure Bern’s eastern flank.
Nydegg Castle: Built by Berchtold IV of Zähringen (second half of the 12th century). The extent of the town founded by Berchtold V is also disputed: either the first castle reached as far as Kreuzgasse in 1191 and was extended at the beginning of the 13th century by a second castle roughly where the choir of Nydegg Church is today. After the destruction of Nydegg Castle (1268?), the (Nydegg) Stalden was created.
By 1268, the Nydeggburg Castle had met a mysterious and decisive end, destroyed with little fanfare or record. The Bernese demolished the castle to make room for the Nydegg Quarter and to prevent any claims by other noble families after the Zähringen family was conquered. In a charter dated January 16, 1274, King Rudolf I of Habsburg forgave the city of Bern for the destruction of the castle.
In its place rose homes, workshops, and busy water-powered mills that soon filled the air with the grinding and creaking of early industry. Also the Nydegg Church was built on the site.
The Gruesome Ghost of the Burgträppe
Locals call him Burgträppe-Balzli, and his tale has been whispered down generations and is perhaps one of the more well known ghosts from Bern. He is no ordinary phantom and is said to be strange, bitter, and even violent, Balzli seems to choose his victims carefully. According to legend, he doesn’t go after the women at all, but men walking up and down the stairs claim to have been beaten by some unseen force.
Burgtreppe: Castle stairs at Nydegg Church // Source
But who is this ghost said to still linger in the stairs? Did he have connections to the castle that once stood there? Did something terrible happen on the stairs that he is now trying to get back at?
Whatever the truth, his rage is eternal. On cold winter nights, passersby near the stairway report hearing echoing thumps like fists pounding stone and the sudden appearance of bruises on the bodies of those who dared tread too close.
Ghostly Builders in the Night
Balzli is not alone in his haunting the area around Nydegg and where the castle once was. Witnesses have reported hearing ghostly craftsmen from older times. They are heard hammering, dragging stone, and dismantling invisible walls. These apparitions appear on bitter winter nights, just when the fog off the Aare is thick.
Ruins of a Castle:Not much remains from the old castle. Landing gate of Nydegg Castle in Bern, around 1300. // Source.
According to legend, these ghosts are the restless spirits of the workers who tore down the castle in 1268, cursed to repeat their demolition for eternity.
So, if you find yourself wandering the Nydegg at night, mind the stairway. Avoid the shadows clinging to the stones. And if you hear footsteps behind you on the stairs, don’t stop and don’t turn around.
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