After her husband forgot to bury her with shoes, a woman came back to haunt him as she was condemned to wander the realm of the dead barefoot.
In the Emmental area in the heart of Switzerland, where the rolling green hills cradle the village of Hindelbank, an old belief once echoed through the valleys: if a woman died before her newborn child had reached six weeks of life, her soul would not find peace.
Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Switzerland
Condemned to walk barefoot over thistles and thorns in the shadowy realm of the dead, she would be forced to suffer for the unfinished bond of motherhood. Unless, of course, the living remembered to offer her one final gift that were her shoes.
Lost in Limbo and the Realm of the Dead
This is a ghost story found in P. Keckeis, M. Waibel, Legends of Switzerland. Bern, Zurich 1986, and tells about this eerie custom from Switzerland. Although said to have been a tradition or folklore, there isn’t much information to go on about the subject to back it up.
It was said that placing a deceased mother’s shoes in her coffin would ease her painful journey through the underworld, where the spirits of mothers wandered among nettles and barbs until their children were out of danger as they feared for their souls. The Limbo of Infants is the hypothetical permanent status of the unbaptised who die in infancy, too young to have committed actual sins, but not having been freed from original sin in Catholicism.
There have been many debates about this part, and there have also been a lot of folklore talking about how to combat it. But in the quiet village of Hindelbank, this final act of compassion was tragically forgotten.
The Ghost with no Shoes
After a young mother passed away suddenly, her grieving husband was left to mourn with his infant child. Distraught and overwhelmed, he buried his wife without the customary footwear. Soon after the funeral, a strange sound disturbed his nights with sharp, persistent knocking at the window, always around midnight. No matter how he searched, no one was ever found outside. Yet the knocking returned, again and again, growing more insistent with each passing night.
Desperate and frightened, the man finally confided in his neighbors. The woman was likely trying to reach him, not in malice, but in pain. Her feet were bare. Her soul could not rest. “Place her shoes at the window,” they told him, “and she will take them.”
That very evening, he did as instructed. He retrieved her shoes and placed them gently on the windowsill. When morning came, the shoes were gone. And the knocking never returned.
Newest Posts
- Rathfarnham Castle and the Lingering Ghosts Haunting itThe whole estate of Rathfarnham Castle in south Dublin is said to have its ghosts. From the antique ballroom, its icy lakes and roads leading up to it, ghosts are said to linger.
- The Ghost of the Psychic Anne Brandfjell Haunting the old Sjømannsskolen in Oslo
Is the ghost of Anne Brandfjell, a famous fortune teller and wise wife from Norway haunting the old Maritime school in Oslo? - John Mulligans and the Pub Ghost on Poolbeg Street
A stop on the haunted pub crawl through Dublin, one of the stops would be John Mulligan’s. Stories about glass and bottles flying from the shelves has haunted the place for decades now according to the people behind the bar. - The Ghost of General Birthe of Elingaard
Ruling her Elingaard Manor house with an iron fist, the noble Birgitte Kaas is said to haunt it in her afterlife as well. But what is the truth of her strange disappearance and whispers about a deal with the devil? - Loogaroo: The Shape-Shifting Vampire of Caribbean Folklore
Hanging her skin in trees every night, the vampiric Loogaroo across the Caribbean goes out to hunt for blood to quench her thirst as well as pay her dark lord for her dark powers. - The Devil’s Castle in the Aubinger Lohe and the Hidden Treasure
Said to be the location of a hidden treasure, the old nobles from the Devil’s Castle in the Bavarian hills are said to roam the forest, still searching for it. - The Devil’s Footprint in Frauenkirche in Munich
Inside one of Munich’s landmark churches, something devilish is said to be stamped on the floor. In the middle of the room, a black footprint is clearly seen, named The Devil’s Footprint, as he was said to have left it there. - The Cursed Black Cat at Promenadeplatz in Munich
Once the house of a greedy grain speculator, the haunted house at Promenadeplatz in Munich is said to be haunted by the man in the form of a cat, as penance after a curse drove him to ruin. - The Kuntilanak and the Pontianak: Vampiric Ghosts of the Banana Tree
At the cusp of a vengeful ghost and a vampiric entity, the Kuntilanak of Indonesia, or the Pontianak as she is called in Malaysia, is after both vengeance and to devour her victims. - The City of Pontianak and the Vampiric Ghost its Named After
How haunted is a city to be named after its ghosts? This is the case of the Indonesian city of Pontianak, said to have been haunted by the fearsome ghosts known as the Pontianak or the Kuntinalak ghosts, thirsting for blood and vengeance. - The Lady in White Haunting Ebersberg Forest
Said to haunt the area around The Hubertus Chapel in the vast Ebersberg Forest in Bavaria, Germany, the Lady in White is seeking revenge for those refusing her a ride. But is she truly the only thing haunting this old and mystic forest? - The Plague Dance and the Dragon who Brought it to Munich
Once, a plague ridden Lindworm was said to crawl out from the darkness, and attack the people of Munich. After defeating the dragon, and ridding themselves of the plague, a ceremonial dance has been danced through the city for over 500 years.
References:
From: P. Keckeis, M. Waibel, Legends of Switzerland. Bern, Zurich 1986.