Once a place for executions, the place the Ruffinihaus in Munich, Germany is built upon is said to be haunted. It is said that in the dead of night, the undead rises from their graves, still carrying their heads the executioners took. 

The Ruffinihaus is a commercial building on Sendlinger Strasse in Munich’s old town, made up of three connected sections arranged around a triangular courtyard. It rises four stories and features bay windows and stucco decoration across its street-facing facades.

Read More: Check out all ghostly legends from Germany

It doesn’t look like it now, but once, it used to be an execution ground. And from this, ghost stories come out at night. 

Once a place for executions, the place the Ruffinihaus in Munich, Germany is built upon is said to be haunted. It is said that in the dead of night, the undead rises from their graves, still carrying their heads the executioners took.
East corner facing the Rindermarkt, with the Ruffiniturm fresco.

The Raven Stone Executions

Gabriel von Seidl designed the Ruffinihaus between 1903 and 1905, building it on the site of the medieval Ruffiniturm, a tower that had been part of Munich’s old city defenses. The tower was demolished to make way for the new building, which kept the name of the structure it replaced.

Diagonally opposite the Ruffinihaus , at the corner of Sendlinger Straße and Färbergraben, is a relief of a horse with the inscription “Rappeneck”. However, according to older records, it is actually the “outer Rabeneck” – a name that refers to the raven, a bird of death associated with gallows sites.

In the Middle Ages, execution sites were often called “Raven Stone” because of the ravens that swarmed around them. The house at what is now Roseneck was called the “inner Raven Corner” as a counterpart to this. After the city expansion in the 13th century under Louis the Strict, the execution sites were placed outside the new city walls.

Once a place for executions, the place the Ruffinihaus in Munich, Germany is built upon is said to be haunted. It is said that in the dead of night, the undead rises from their graves, still carrying their heads the executioners took.
Raven’s Stone Execution Grounds: The name Rabenstein (Raven’s Stone) derives from the phenomenon of ravens and other carrion birds regularly circling execution sites. This phenomenon can be found in many cities in Germany.

Next to the house at Rappeneck, the executioner’s house is said to have once stood on Sendlinger Straße, with the execution site behind it, in an open field. Indeed, old documents also refer to the houses at the corner of Färbergraben and Hofstatt as “am Rabenberg” (at the Raven Hill). The execution site is believed to have been located precisely where the Hofstatt (farmstead) now stands.

The Skeletons Haunting the Night

Over the years, the ground has been disturbed several times as the city grew and buildings were built on top of it. Bones were found during excavations, as those hanged were usually buried on the spot. Some claim that the area is haunted, and the executed are supposedly seen there at night, carrying their heads in their arms.

Today, strange beings are said to appear at the site every few months and then crumble to dust back to the earth, translucent figures with gaping mouths, as their final scream and words.

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References:

Ruffinihaus – Heritage commercial building at Rindermarkt, Münchner Altstadt, Germany

Schauriges München: Grusel-Tour durch die Altstadt

München: Das sind die gruseligsten Orte der Stadt | Regional | BILD.de

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