Mythology

Weihizer

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Tradition: Czech Mythology
Alternative Names: The Weihizer
Category: Ghost

The Myth

The Weihizer is the ghost of a wealthy but dishonest innkeeper who once lived in Neukirchen in the Bohemian Forest. He cheated his customers by pouring only as much drink as he could fit his unusually long thumb into the jug. Through this trick, he accumulated an enormous fortune. One day, he challenged his servant Girgel to cut as much straw from dawn until dusk as the innkeeper possessed money. If Girgel succeeded, he would receive ten guilders; if he failed, he would have to pay the innkeeper the same amount. Girgel worked tirelessly and produced a huge pile of straw, but the innkeeper’s mountain of money was even larger. The poor servant lost his ten guilders, which the wealthy man simply tossed onto his enormous pile of silver.

The innkeeper was said to possess supernatural abilities, including the power to be in two places at once. When the hay was being brought in, he could be seen in the meadow and inside the barn simultaneously. As he grew old, he tried to ease his conscience for the harm he had inflicted on the poor. He ordered a gigantic bell to be cast, so wide that eight couples could dance beneath it. Yet the bell could not save him, because not a single honest penny had been used to pay for it.

After his death, the innkeeper could not rest in his grave. As punishment for his dishonesty, he was condemned to raise mysterious fires and sit on the cellar stairs. Before the Angelus bell rang, he was forbidden to harm anyone. Afterward, however, his ghost tormented those who came to fetch beer. The beer would not flow from the barrel because the innkeeper sat upon it, holding his purse. At night, cattle often cried out in terror, and farmhands who rushed outside discovered the stable doors standing open while the cows trembled and staggered around the yard.

One night, a travelling priest stopped at the inn, but nobody dared fetch him beer from the cellar. The priest descended himself to banish the ghost, making the sign of the cross three times. The ritual failed, and the Weihizer leapt from the barrel and struck the priest on the head with his purse, knocking him down. Desperate to rid themselves of the troublesome spirit, the people summoned the Bishop of Regensburg. The bishop finally took the ghost away to the wilderness of Switzerland, ending its haunting of the inn.

Sources

“Der Weihizer.” In Hans Watzlik, Böhmerwald-Sagen. Budweis: Böhmerwalder Dorfbücher, 1921, Heft 5. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/tschechien/watzlik/weihizer.html

Rofner Berg Ghost

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Tradition: Liechtenstein Mythology
Alternative Names: The White-Cloaked Knight of Rofner Berg
Category: Ghost

The Myth

The Ghost on Rofner Berg is a mysterious apparition said to appear at night on the southern slope of the Schellenberg in Liechtenstein. The ghost takes the form of a man wearing a white cloak and wanders between the Rofner Chapel and the wooded hill known as the Schneller, where Eschnerburg Castle once stood. From this lonely hillside, the surrounding Rhine plain stretches toward the towering mountains, but after nightfall, the area is haunted by the figure of a restless knight.

According to the legend, the apparition is a knight who killed his own brother in a fit of rage. Because his sudden and violent deed went unjudged during his lifetime, he could never find peace after death. His spirit remains condemned to wander the hillside, passing between the former castle and the chapel century after century. The white-cloaked knight continues his endless journey, unable to rest in his grave because the crime he committed was never brought before a judge.

Sources

“Der Geist.” SAGEN.at – Liechtensteiner Sagen. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/liechtenstein/geist.htm

White Horse from Malans

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Tradition: Liechtenstein Mythology
Alternative Names: The White Horse of Malanser
Category: Ghost

The Myth

The White Horse from Malans is a ghostly apparition said to haunt the Malanser hill above Eschen, where the ruins of a once-great castle still stand. Long ago, a robber knight lived in the castle with a band of armed followers. They terrorized the surrounding region, threatening the people of Eschen and Mauren with their raids and robberies.

Eventually, the farmers of Eschen and Mauren formed an alliance to put an end to the knight’s rule. They planned to attack the castle on a Sunday evening and set it on fire while its defenders were unaware. When the day arrived, the farmers marched up to the heights and ignited the castle at nine o’clock. The knight and his men-at-arms were heavily drunk and failed to notice the flames until the fire had spread too far. All the armed men perished in the burning castle, but the knight managed to escape on his white horse.

The farmers pursued the fleeing knight as he raced across the heights. In his desperation, he rode too close to a cliff and plunged over the edge with his horse. Yet the knight’s story did not end with his death. According to the legend, his restless spirit must continue to haunt the Malanser hill, riding his white horse through the area until he has made amends for all the harm he caused during his life.

Sources

“Die Malanser.” SAGEN.at – Liechtensteiner Sagen. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/liechtenstein/malanser.htm

Robber Knights of Schalun Castle

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Tradition: Liechtenstein Mythology
Alternative Names: The Two Haunting Knights of Schalun
Category: Ghost

The Myth

The Robber Knights of Schalun Castle are said to haunt the ruins of the castle on the Feast of the Assumption. Many hundreds of years ago, on this holy day, a group of girls climbed up to Schalun Castle to pick raspberries. While gathering fruit, they suddenly noticed two knights pacing nearby. One of the knights called out to them, inviting them to come closer. Frightened by the mysterious men, the girls immediately fled.

When the girls looked back, the two knights had vanished without a trace. They hurried home and told their families what they had seen and heard. Their strange encounter gave rise to a local legend about the former robber knights of Schalun Castle.

According to the tale, the robber knights met their destruction around the Feast of the Assumption. Since that time, two of them have been said to return as ghosts every year on the same feast day, appearing near the old castle and haunting the surrounding area. Their mysterious appearances continue to connect the ruins of Schalun with the memory of the knights who once lived there.

Sources

“Die Raubritter.” SAGEN.at – Liechtensteiner Sagen. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/liechtenstein/raubritter.htm

Mauren Ghost

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Tradition: Liechtenstein Mythology
Alternative Names: The Pledge Well
Category: Ghost

The Myth

The Payment Fountain is a haunted well in the rushes of Mauren, Liechtenstein. In ancient times, a godless usurer and swindler lived nearby. He exploited the desperation of his poor fellow citizens by lending them money under unfair conditions. For every hundred he promised to lend, he would provide only fifty or, at most, eighty, keeping the difference for himself. Through these dishonest dealings, he grew wealthy at the expense of those who were already struggling.

After his death, the usurer’s ghost began haunting the well, where it has reportedly been seen repeatedly. The apparition serves as a warning against greed, usury, and the exploitation of the poor. Sometimes, strange murmuring sounds rise from the water, believed to be the ghost repeating the words of his dishonest trade: “Eighty for one hundred.”

Another version tells that the usurer met a terrible end while returning home. He strayed from the road and sank into the marshy ground that once surrounded the area. The mire slowly swallowed him, dragging him deeper and deeper until escape became impossible. At last, only one outstretched hand remained visible above the ground before he disappeared entirely. His ghost is said to haunt the well as a reminder that dishonest dealings and greed can bring a person to a dreadful end.

Sources

“Der Pfandbrunnen.” SAGEN.at – Liechtensteiner Sagen, collected by Otto Seger. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/liechtenstein/seger/pfandbrunnen.html

Ghost in the Riethütte

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Tradition: Liechtenstein Mythology
Alternative Names: The Haunting of the Riet Hut
Category: Ghost

The Myth

The Ghost in the Riethütte is said to haunt an old shepherd’s hut near Ziegerberg in Liechtenstein. In earlier times, farmers from Balzers kept large flocks of sheep and drove them up the mountain for summer grazing. Two boys were usually employed to watch the sheep, and each was given one or two goats so they could have milk while staying in the mountains.

One evening, two young shepherds went out to search for their missing goats. As they searched, they heard a strange voice nearby, groaning and sighing, but they could see no one. Terrified, they rushed back into the hut. The eerie voice grew closer and closer until, suddenly, it fell completely silent. Then the hut door began banging open and shut with tremendous force, making such a noise that the beams shook and crashed.

According to the legend, a herdsman who once lived in the Riethütte had committed a terrible crime. In a fit of anger, he killed a boy because the child had repeatedly licked his cream. To conceal the murder, the herdsman carried the boy’s body away from the hut. But the crime did not go unpunished. The herdsman was condemned to haunt the place, and the groaning voice and violent disturbances were believed to be signs of his restless spirit.

Sources

“Geisterspuk.” SAGEN.at – Liechtensteiner Sagen, collected by Otto Seger. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/liechtenstein/seger/geisterspuk.html

Spirit on Gapfahl

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Tradition: Liechtenstein Mythology
Alternative Names: The Headless Spirit of Gapfahl
Category: Ghost

The Myth

The Spirit on Gapfahl is a headless ghost said to haunt the alpine pastures of Liechtenstein. It appears as a slender figure wearing a green cloak, but without a head. Those who encounter the apparition are overcome with terror. One cowherd experienced this while tending his cattle on the pasture. As he rested on a stone before returning to the alpine hut, he suddenly saw the headless figure standing before him. His face turned as white as chalk, and he stumbled back to the hut in such a state of shock that everyone who saw him was horrified. It took him an hour before he could speak and describe what had happened.

The ghost’s origin lies in a terrible act of violence committed long ago. A hot-tempered herdsman once killed a boy by beheading him with a forest axe. The boy’s unfortunate soul could find no peace after his violent death. Condemned to wander the land without a head, his ghost continues to haunt Gapfahl, appearing to those who venture across its lonely alpine pastures.

Sources

“Der Geist auf Gapfahl.” SAGEN.at – Liechtensteiner Sagen, collected by Otto Seger. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/liechtenstein/seger/gapfahl.html

Bergi Woman

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Tradition: Liechtenstein Mythology
Alternative Names: The Ghost of Bergi
Category: Ghost

The Myth

The Bergi Woman is the restless spirit of a woman who committed a terrible deed in the mountains near Triesenberg, Liechtenstein. In ancient times, farmers lived on Bergi, also known as the Bergle Alp. Among them was a woman who gave birth to a child she did not want. Carrying the infant and a hoe, she descended from the mountain and crossed a footbridge toward Valorsch.

In a secluded place, the woman dug a hole with her hoe, laid the child inside, and covered it with earth. She abandoned the infant there and returned from the mountains, but her terrible deed would not go unpunished.

The woman died soon afterward, but her spirit was condemned to atone for her crime at the very place where she had buried her child. Every night, she must descend from Bergi and travel through Valorsch, carrying the same hoe in her hand. She returns to the spot where the child lies buried, repeating her sorrowful journey night after night for all eternity.

Sources

“Das Bergi-Wiebi.” SAGEN.at – Liechtensteiner Sagen, collected by Otto Seger. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/liechtenstein/seger/bergiwiebi.html

Sad White Woman

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Tradition: Liechtenstein Mythology
Alternative Names: The White Woman of Mäls
Category: Ghost

The Myth

The Sad White Woman is a ghostly figure said to appear in Mäls, Liechtenstein. She is described as a woman with long blonde hair reaching down to her shoulders, dressed in a long white gown. Sometimes she appears wearing the clothing of noblewomen from an earlier age. Her presence is often accompanied by a beautiful, mysterious song, which can be heard near the village well.

According to one tale, the apparition appeared while the relatives of a recently deceased peasant woman were keeping vigil beside her body. Hearing a beautiful voice outside, they went to an open window and saw the white-clad woman near a field known as Under the Stone. The mysterious figure sat beside the village well before continuing on her way. A man secretly followed her and watched as she stopped at a place called Anaresch, where a pond once stood, and wept bitterly. Local tradition holds that the sorrowful woman had drowned her own child in that pond and could find no peace afterward.

Another version of the legend describes the ghost sitting beside the well, singing a wondrous song before slowly walking toward the old castle. As she travels, she weeps pitifully, her sorrow echoing through the night. Her appearances are believed to be the restless wanderings of a woman burdened by a terrible deed, unable to escape the grief that binds her spirit to the places where she once lived.

Sources

“Die weiße Frau.” SAGEN.at – Liechtensteiner Sagen, collected by Otto Seger. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/liechtenstein/seger/weissefrau.html

Sücca-Keres

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Tradition: Liechtenstein Mythology
Alternative Names: Keres, The Spirit of Sücca
Category: Ghost

The Myth

Sücca-Keres was once a herdsman who worked on the Sücca alpine pasture on Kulm Mountain in Liechtenstein. When he took the position, he was required to swear an oath promising faithful and honest service to his master. However, Keres broke his oath by secretly stealing cheese and butter and selling them in the village of Triesen. He often walked back and forth near the Guferwald forest while carrying out his activities.

After Keres died, he was buried in Triesen. When people later attempted to dig up his body, three fingers emerged from the earth. His body looked exactly as it had when he was buried, except that it had turned black. Frightened, the people immediately covered the grave again. Soon afterward, nobody wanted to work as a herdsman on the Sücca pasture, because Keres’s ghost haunted the old herdsman’s hut. People travelling from the Malbuntal and Älpelti valleys sometimes saw him looking out of its window, wearing a leather cap and loincloth just as he had when he was alive.

Eventually, a priest was summoned to drive the ghost away. Keres begged to remain on the hilltop, where he could still hear the bells of the Sücca herdsmen and look down upon his father’s estate. The priest allowed him to retreat into a hole on the hilltop, which became known as the Keres Hole. Another version says that two Capuchin monks banished him there. When they asked why he was condemned to wander, Keres replied that it was not the theft that had condemned him, but the broken oath.

Even after his disappearance from the herdsman’s hut, Keres continued to frighten people near the hilltop. Schoolgirls once approached the hut to collect walking sticks left behind by the herdsmen, but a shutter suddenly flew open and a broad-faced man wearing a leather cap and a red breast cloth peered out. Recognizing him as Keres, the girls fled in terror. On another occasion, goats suddenly bolted across the hillside, and their shepherd later saw Keres looking out of the hut’s window. The shepherd thought the animals had sensed the ghost before he did.

The Keres Hole remained a place of fear. When a poor widow’s goat fell into it, a shepherd climbed down on a rope to rescue the animal. Inside, he thought he saw a hand illuminated by a strange light, holding up three fingers as if taking an oath. Terrified, he scrambled out, and the people above covered the hole with chopped wood. Another tale tells of a boy who threw stones into the hole and then ran away in fright, claiming that a man had climbed out. The ghost of Sücca-Keres was believed to remain bound to the place because he had violated the oath he had sworn as a herdsman.

Sources

“Keres.” SAGEN.at – Liechtensteiner Sagen, collected by Otto Seger. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/liechtenstein/seger/keres.html