Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology Alternate Names: Midnight Washerwoman; Washer Spirit of the Syr Category: Ghost
The Myth
At Lêbur in Reisdorf, people say that at midnight loud bellows can sometimes be heard, though no one is seen.
In the Betzter meadows near Betzdorf, on the banks of the Syr River, it is told that a girl once appeared every night to wash clothes in the darkness. She labored alone beside the water, returning again and again after nightfall.
Thus the places were remembered as sites where unseen washer spirits worked in the night.
Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology Alternate Names: Washerwomen under the Bridge Category: Ghost
The Myth
One evening a woman was walking past the Fötzbusch forest between Götzingen and Kapellen. When she reached the runners’ bridge near the woods, she sat down to rest.
As she sat there, she suddenly heard from beneath the arch of the bridge a noise like the beating of laundry in water, as though several washerwomen were at work below. Yet no one could be seen.
Thus the bridge was remembered as a place where the unseen washer spirits labored in the darkness beneath the stones.
Near the mill at Liefringen, people said that on dark and still nights the sounds of many washerwomen could be heard. From the water came the clapping and splashing of washing, as though a whole group labored beside the stream.
Whenever the noise was heard, no one dared to step outside their house, for the presence of the unseen washerwomen filled the place with fear.
Thus the area around the mill was remembered as the haunt of ghostly women whose washing could be heard in the night.
In the forest near Greiweldingen, in a meadow called Föllewies, a strange woman known as Bombatsche Kätchen was said to appear beside the stream.
She washed laundry there, but her washing consisted only of small scraps of cloth no larger than a hand. People claimed they had seen these little pieces hanging on the hedges nearby. Because of this, when someone washed only ragged scraps, it became customary to say that they had laundry like Bombatsche Kätchen.
The place where she was believed to live was said to be barren, with no trees growing there. Both adults and children were afraid to go to that spot, fearing that Bombatsche Kätchen might harm them.
Thus she was remembered as a feared washer spirit who haunted the lonely meadow and stream.
Two women from Manternach were returning toward evening from Lellig. When they reached the place called Helgenheischen, they saw a short distance from the path, in the middle of the stream, a woman dressed in white.
She sat in the water, splashing and beating it as though with a washing bat. At the sight, the two women were overcome with fear and returned home pale as death.
Thus the stream near Helgenheischen was remembered as the haunt of the ghostly washerwoman who appeared there in the evening.
At the Johannisbur stream between Echternach and Steinheim, a ghostly washerwoman is said to appear on certain nights.
She is described as having a black face and wearing a white cap with mist-grey garments. She wields a long washing bat and strikes the cloth with such force that the blows echo eerily through the Johannisbösch and the nearby rocks.
The washerwoman is also said to host strange, ghostly guests. At times she sets richly laden tables beside the spring and serves them food and wine. After the meal, she washes the table linen in the water.
Once she encountered a man from Steinheim who was returning late at night from Echternach. She invited him to follow her, and he went with her to the spring, where a table stood covered with fine dishes and surrounded by uncanny figures. The man sat down among them, but when he made the sign of the cross to say his prayer, the entire scene vanished at once, and he found himself alone.
Thus the Johannisbur stream was remembered as the haunt of the ghostly washerwoman and her mysterious nightly gatherings.
Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology Alternate Names: Washer Spirits of the Sauer Category: Ghost
The Myth
At Gehansbusch on the Sauer River, between Echternach and Steinheim, people long believed that washer spirits appeared at night beside the water. Old inhabitants of the surrounding villages said they often heard the clapping of the washing bat, though no figure could clearly be seen.
Some told a different tale about the same place. According to them, three strange and uncanny figures sometimes returned there. An old fisherman once said that as he came home from Echternach one evening, he saw them seated at a table covered with bottles, gambling and drinking. They beckoned to him to join them, but he refused and continued on his way.
Thus the riverbank at Gehansbusch was remembered as a place where mysterious beings gathered at night, whether washing unseen beside the water or feasting in ghostly company.
On certain nights, a maiden clad entirely in white is said to appear at the Guiseborn stream, which flows between Rosport and Steinheim along a small hill.
At times she is seen washing her linen in the spring. At other times she walks silently back and forth along its edge.
Thus the spring is remembered as the haunt of a white-clad maiden who returns there by night.
Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology Alternate Names: Laundry Maiden of the Olkerbach Category: Ghost
The Myth
In the Olkerbach gorge below Ralingen, where the stream falls from the rock called the Scheeß into a pool, a tall maiden in dazzling white robes was once said to appear on certain nights. The people called her the Wäschfrächen of the Olker Bâch.
Sometimes she washed snow-white linen in the pool beneath the rock; at other times she wandered along the banks of the stream or moved through the hazel thickets that once grew thickly there.
A woman from Olk once went to the place on the evening of the Feast of the Assumption to gather hazelnuts. As she reached the pond, the white-clad maiden appeared on the opposite bank, wearing a necklace of gold and silver coral. She rebuked the woman sternly for profaning the holy feast. Filled with fear, the woman hurried home at once.
Another time, a young tailor from Kordel, who lived in Rosport, wandered into the hazel bushes there on the same feast day while gathering nuts with friends. Separated from the others, he saw a radiant maiden pacing on a meadow below the pond. She wore a golden crown, and her garments glittered with gold and silver, shining with an unearthly light. When the young man spoke to her, she answered gravely, telling him that the day was not meant for pleasure but for sanctification.
The encounter filled him with dread. He returned home, took to his bed, and from that time on was ill. The following year, on the same feast day, he died.
Thus the white washer-maiden of the Olkerbach was remembered as a radiant and solemn spirit who appeared beside the water and rebuked those who treated sacred days lightly.
Tradition / Region: Luxembourg (Weiler; castle stream called the Gels) Alternate Names: Washerwomen of the Gels Category: Ghost
The Myth
In earlier times, the Gelsfrächen were said to come at night to the castle stream called the Gels near Weiler. There they washed clothing, and people in the surrounding houses often heard the clapping sound of water and washing through the darkness.
If the women or maids of the nearby households had no time to wash their garments, the Gelsfrächen would sometimes do the work for them. More than once the farmhands from the manor farm that had belonged to the castle found their dirty overpants, left soiled the evening before after work in the fields, freshly washed and hanging on the fence posts.
Thus the Gelsfrächen were remembered as night-washing spirits who labored unseen beside the stream.
