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