Tradition: Swiss Mythology
Alternative Names: The Lost Nunnery of Neuheim
Category: Ghost
The Myth
Long ago, a convent stood in Neuheim, in the Swiss canton of Zug, below the local church in a place known as the Unterhaus-Matte, or Lower House Meadow. The nunnery has long since disappeared, leaving no visible trace of its former existence. Yet the ground where it once stood remained strangely barren: despite repeated efforts and careful cultivation, nothing could be made to grow there. The abandoned site acquired an eerie reputation, as wandering lights were frequently seen flickering across it at night.
The supernatural disturbances were not limited to the former convent grounds. Near a nearby barn, a night watchman was reportedly confronted by a horrifying apparition: a headless man walking silently through the darkness. The legend offers no explanation for the identity of the figure or its connection to the vanished nunnery, leaving the barren meadow, wandering lights, and headless apparition as mysterious remnants of Neuheim’s haunted past.
Sources
“Das Kloster Neuheim.” SAGEN.at – Traditionelle Sagen aus der Schweiz (Zug). Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/schweiz/zug/kloster_neuheim.html