Tradition: Swiss Mythology
Alternative Names: The Three Plague Messengers, The Dark Messengers of the Plague
Category: Ghost
The Myth
The Black Plague Messengers are mysterious supernatural figures associated with the arrival of the plague in the canton of Zug, Switzerland, in 1628. According to the legend, the events began on the Feast of the Assumption in mid-August, when the people of Kolinstadt gathered beneath a linden tree beside the lake to enjoy a beautiful summer evening. Among them was a man troubled by terrible news from friends in Basel, where the plague had begun raging once more. When the townspeople pressed him to explain his melancholy, he revealed the dreadful tidings. The cheerful gathering fell silent, and the citizens gradually returned to their homes, fearing that the epidemic might spread to their own community.
As night descended over the lake, some of the townspeople witnessed a strange vessel approaching the shore. Dark, unfamiliar figures stood aboard, and the sound of iron chains clanking accompanied the boat as it drew nearer. Three dark men eventually stepped onto the shore. They offered no greetings or words of comfort, but instead behaved like grim messengers carrying out a terrible assignment. The tallest among them addressed his two companions in a somber voice, declaring that he would remain behind to perform his duties while the other two went ashore to carry out their orders.
After the three figures separated, the mysterious vessel glided back into the darkness. Their appearance seemed to announce that the plague had reached Zug. The following morning, the first victims of the disease were discovered lying on the slope. The legend thus portrays the outbreak not merely as an epidemic spreading between towns, but as the arrival of supernatural messengers whose silent landing foreshadowed death and suffering. Their dark vessel, clanking chains, and ominous division of duties made them terrifying harbingers of the calamity that was about to strike the region.
Sources
“Die Pestboten.” SAGEN.at – Zuger Sagen. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/schweiz/zug/pestboten.html