Moon Mausoleum
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.
In an old sanatorium in Switzerland the ghost of Hermann is said to have been haunting for ages. But who was he when he was alive, and what was his true name before he died in the remote fortress up in the mountains? And is he still haunting the old halls where he never made his recovery?
In an old sanatorium in Switzerland the ghost of Hermann is said to have been haunting the Val Sinestra Hotel for ages. But who was he when he was alive, and what was his true name before he died in the remote fortress up in the mountains? And is he still haunting the old halls where he never made his recovery?
Tucked away in the silent snowscape of Switzerland’s remote Lower Engadine Valley lies Val Sinestra, a former 1912 spa-hotel, or a Kurhaus, once famed for its healing mineral springs in the Grisons region of Switzerland. The Kurhaus ‘Val Sinestra’ grew into a real sensation, the foreign newspapers and magazines were full of it and the high society came there to take the cure. Some say that that some of the patients never left.
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Although once a stately institution, In 1914, this glorious period came to an end as the First World War broke out and the Belle Epoque was over for good. The therapy activities of Val Sinestra Hotel closed in 1972, but beneath its former Belle Époque elegance, it harbors a secret far colder in the form of a ghost named “Hermann” who has been haunting its corridors for nearly a century.
Originally built to treat tuberculosis patients, Val Sinestra drew visitors seeking cures and rest 1500 metres above the sea levels in the remote parts of Switzerland. The Hotel Val Sinestra stands like a fortress on the rock, eleven stories high with a pointed tower, looming above the valley overlooking La Brancla river. The rust-red, arsenic-laden water from the Ulrich spring was said to cure syphilis, people with consumption and anemic patients.
One of the more talked about ghosts has been one named Herman. Hotel owner Adrienne Kruit has claimed strange things have happened since 1978 when her husband bought the building. He passed away in 2018, and most of the ghost stories told from the hotel, comes from their time running the place. It is said that he was greeted at the door by a spirit screaming at him, scaring him so badly he drove all night to the North Sea.
“There were loud noises, keys were swinging on their hooks, and the windows were suddenly open!” she said about her experiences since taking over the Val Sinestra Hotel. “Once, a wall clock fell to the floor right next to me. But the hook was stuck in the wall.”
But who was the famed ghost? There have been a lot of theories, but most of them claim was a Belgian patient, who reportedly stayed so long and grew so attached to the Val Sinestra Hotel and its staff that he refused to leave. He was for a long time known as Hermann.
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In 2010 there were also two mediums ordered to check out the haunting of the Val Sinestra Hotel, and said it was a tuberculosis patient called Gilbert, Guillon or Guillaume, perhaps a Belgium soldier from World War I who stayed there in the 1920s haunting the hotel.
It is said that he fell in love with Maria, an employee. After his death in the late 1920s, sightings began: a tall, pale figure wandering the old bathhouse halls at night, sometimes glimpsed in the lobby or elevator area. It is said he mostly haunts the lower floors where the patients used to stay.
Staff and guests describe Hermann as mischievously protective of the Val Sinestra Hotel. Windows will open on their own, the lift runs unoccupied, and he’s even moved objects.
There is little evidence to the story of the poor patient at Val Sinestra Hotel today, especially since the guestbook from this time was stolen at some point.
The old bathhouse floor—a place of healing in life—has become the epicenter of paranormal activity. Lights flicker, faucets run without explanation, windows open suddenly, wine glasses begin to ring, balls of light emerge at night and cold drafts pierce the temperature of the rooms. Visitors report waking to the hiss of steam and feeling a distant presence when alone..
Val Sinestra remains an operational hotel, its ghostly inhabitant part of its allure. Guests hoping to connect with Hermann are advised to stay near the old bathhouse, wander empty corridors at dusk, and be open to subtle signs: a misplaced key, sudden draft, or perhaps a feeling of presence. As one medium noted, Hermann doesn’t mean harm—he’s just a restless guardian who cares deeply… and quietly.
According to Thomas Frei and other ghost hunters who have investigated the hotel for years, there are other ghosts said to haunt it as well. A man, a woman and a little girl is also said to be lingering inside of the halls.
Val Sinestra Hotel stands as a beautifully preserved relic of early 20th-century health resorts—but it is Hermann’s spectral shadow that lingers darkest. And in the silent snowfall of Lower Engadine, the gentle hum of unseen footsteps may well be the echo of a man who never truly left.
TVI Traveler – Hotel Val Sinestra
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Schweizer Ghosthunter kommen im Val Sinestra mehreren Geistern auf die Spur
A letto con gli spiriti nella Val Sinestra – Ticinonline
