Country file · Europe
Haunted places in Germany
What are the most haunted places in Germany? The best-known are The White Lady of the Hohenzollerns, Castle Frankenstein, Doppelgänger and The Flying Dutchman, among 5 on file.
Germany gave the world the word poltergeist and one of Europe’s most famous family ghosts. For four centuries the White Lady – die Weiße Frau – was said to appear in the palaces of the Hohenzollerns, from the Plassenburg in Franconia to the royal palace in Berlin, to announce a coming death in Prussia’s ruling house. Fontane put her in Effi Briest, and courtiers recorded impostors caught in her white dress.
- 5 hauntings
- 12 recorded sightings
Haunted places in Germany
The White Lady of the Hohenzollerns
For four centuries a pale woman was said to appear in the palaces of Prussia’s ruling Hohenzollerns to announce a coming death in the family. Folklore
Castle Frankenstein
A medieval ruin above Darmstadt sold as the ‘real’ Frankenstein castle – a claim historians reject, though ghost hunters and Halloween crowds still come. Regional legend
Doppelgänger
A ghostly double of a living person – an omen of death in folklore, a favourite of writers, and a real if rare experience neurologists can now explain. Folklore
The Flying Dutchman
The ghost ship doomed to beat against the storms off the Cape of Good Hope forever – the sea’s most famous phantom, from sailors’ yarns to Wagner. Folklore
Will-o’-the-Wisp
Pale flickering lights over marshes and bogs that lure travellers off the path – folklore’s ghost lights, and a puzzle chemists are still trying to solve. FolkloreThe ghost lore of Germany
Elsewhere, folklore and marketing meet. Castle Frankenstein above Darmstadt is sold as the ‘real’ home of Mary Shelley’s monster, a claim local historians have taken apart point by point, yet its Halloween festival – started by US airmen in 1978 – is one of the country’s biggest. The Rhine gorge has its Lorelei, the Odenwald its Nibelung legends, and Germany’s rich tradition of fairy tales, collected by the Brothers Grimm, is full of the restless dead.
Visitors come for castle ruins, ghost walks in old towns and the Halloween events at Frankenstein.
Ghost-hunting hotspots
- Plassenburg, Kulmbach
The Hohenzollern fortress in Franconia where the legend of the White Lady began.
- Spandau Citadel, Berlin
The Renaissance fortress where Anna Sydow, often named as the Berlin White Lady, was held until her death in 1575.
- Rhine Gorge
Castle-lined cliffs and the Lorelei rock, where legend says a siren lured boatmen to their deaths.
- Odenwald and the Bergstraße
Wooded hills of castles, dragon tales and the Nibelung legend, including Castle Frankenstein.
Timeline
- 1252First record of the castle Castle Frankenstein
A document bearing the name of Konrad II Reiz von Breuberg, now “of Frankenstein”, provides the first proof that the castle exists.
- 1486First reported at the Plassenburg The White Lady of the Hohenzollerns
Chroniclers record the White Lady at the Hohenzollern fortress of the Plassenburg, where the legend of Countess Kunigunde of Orlamünde is set.
- 1 January 1598The White Lady in Berlin The White Lady of the Hohenzollerns
The ghost is reported in the Berlin Palace eight days before the death of Elector John George, and linked to his father’s imprisoned mistress Anna Sydow.
- 10 August 1673Johann Konrad Dippel is born Castle Frankenstein
The future alchemist and theologian is born at the castle. Centuries later, unproven tales of his experiments become the backbone of the Frankenstein myth.
- 1796The word is coined Doppelgänger
Jean Paul uses Doppeltgänger in his novel Siebenkäs, giving a name to the old idea of the living double.
- 9 October 1806Prince Louis Ferdinand’s omen The White Lady of the Hohenzollerns
According to his adjutant, the prince sees the White Lady in the Green Salon; the next day he is killed at the Battle of Saalfeld.
- 14 May 1812Napoleon’s uneasy night The White Lady of the Hohenzollerns
Legend says the White Lady troubled Napoleon when he stayed at the palace on his way to Russia, a story later retold by Theodor Fontane.
- 2 January 1843Wagner’s opera premieres The Flying Dutchman
Richard Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer opens at the Royal Saxon Court Theatre, giving the legend its most enduring form: a captain who may be freed only by a faithful love.
- 1888Before the death of Frederick III The White Lady of the Hohenzollerns
The White Lady is reported once more before the death of Emperor Frederick III after only 99 days on the throne.
- 31 October 1952A Halloween hoax on the radio Castle Frankenstein
John Keel sends American Forces Network reporters to the castle for a live broadcast and rigs a statue to topple in the crypt, frightening listeners and reporters alike.
- October 1978The Halloween festival begins Castle Frankenstein
Airmen of the 435th Transportation Squadron at Rhein-Main Air Base hold the first Halloween party at the castle, the start of a festival that draws tens of thousands of visitors.
- 2008Ghost Hunters International Castle Frankenstein
The SyFy series devotes an episode to the castle and reports voice-like recordings from the chapel and entrance tower.
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