Tradition: Austrian Mythology
Alternative Names: The Ghost of the Butcher of Imst, The Condemned Butcher of Imst
Category: Ghost
The Myth
The Butcher of Imst was a dishonest butcher who lived in the Tyrolean town of Imst in Austria. He made a habit of stealing other people’s sheep in the mountains, altering their identifying marks, and allowing them to mingle with his own flock. After some time, he would either slaughter the stolen animals or sell them alive. His deception succeeded for years, but his death brought no peace. Soon afterward, a terrifying ghost began appearing in his house, frightening his family so badly that they were forced to abandon it until the Church could arrange for the spirit to be exorcised.
One pitch-dark night, as the night-watchman of Strad announced midnight, two Capuchin monks appeared on the road, each carrying a burning candle. One of them also carried a massive book beneath his arm. Walking between them was the dead butcher, dressed in black, with his familiar high-crowned hat pulled tightly down over his eyes and his arms crossed before him. The monks signaled for the watchman to move aside, and he obeyed in terror as the strange procession passed through the village.
The three figures continued along the road toward Nassereit, reaching the inn known as Zum Döllinger without entering it. Instead, they turned toward the Gurgl Valley and proceeded to a narrow gorge through which the Klammbach torrent rushed down from the Andelsberg. This chasm was said to be a place where numerous ghosts from the area around Imst had been condemned. In the stillness of the night, terrible cries could frequently be heard coming from the gorge: “Help us! Hoi—hoiiih!” The butcher’s spectral escort suggested that his spirit, like those of other local wrongdoers, was being led to a place of supernatural punishment.
Sources
Von Günther, Amalia, Countess. Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. London: Chapman and Hall, 1874.