Have you ever ever seen the underground world of the outdated city in Bern? Now fancy cafes and outlets, there are additionally tales of secret passageways, hideouts and ghosts beneath the cobbled stoned metropolis.
Whenever you stroll via the winding lanes of Bern’s UNESCO-listed Previous City, it’s simple to be enchanted by the medieval allure of the sandstone arcades, glacial-blue Aare, and clock towers whispering of centuries previous. However beneath this orderly magnificence lies a netherworld of darkness: an historic community of tunnels, cellars, conventional wine cellars referred to as carnotzets, and hidden passages riddled with tales of homicide, sorrow, and spectral unrest.
Learn Extra: Try all ghost tales from Switzerland
Most guests to Bern barely discover these curious doorways nestled flush towards the cobblestones, or small hatches tucked beside storefronts on Kramgasse and Gerechtigkeitsgasse the place each constructing has one. At present, many function modern boutiques and comfortable bars. However for each store that thrives underground, there’s one other tunnel sealed shut, padlocked, or misplaced to reminiscence.
Within the twentieth century, a few of these medieval areas had been strengthened into fallout shelters, reflecting Switzerland’s Chilly Conflict-era coverage of making ready bunkers for all residents. Some bunkers, like the huge Sonnenberg facility in Lucerne, might shelter hundreds. However in Bern, the older constructions hid not solely from bombs—but additionally from the eyes of the dwelling.
And with such hidden depths come tales, and most of them ghost tales. These are a few of them penned down largely by Hedwig Correvon by her assortment of ghost tales from 1919 Gespenstergeschichten aus Bern.
Ghosts of the Buried: A Home That Breathes the Previous
In a single Bernese residence, a long-disused underground gallery as soon as served as a macabre burial hall. The custom, by no means formally sanctioned, was whispered solely amongst trusted neighbors: for those who had a physique—a homicide, a disgrace, or a secret—you took it to that home. Though it mentions the home was within the outdated city, it by no means specifies which streets the home was in.
Over time, the lifeless grew stressed.
Tenants have lengthy complained of phantom footsteps above and beneath, even after they’re alone. Kids whisper of pale faces on the home windows. One boy, unable to sleep, claimed he might really feel tiny fingers pulling the covers from his mattress.
A younger girl reported being comforted by a blonde-haired lady throughout a bout of toothache, solely to look at her soften away behind a range. This blonde lady is alleged to have appeared to multiple tenant of the home through the years. As soon as, the ghost of this girl was stated to have sat down in a chair to hearken to a younger lady training her piano.
The ghosts are stated to stroll the galleries and courtyards, creeping via cracks in locked doorways and disturbing the peace of even probably the most rational visitors. And when a tenant dares transfer out due to these hauntings, the spirits rage—doorways slam for days, pots fall from cabinets, and home windows fog with icy breath.
Father Nägeli’s Treasure: A Crypt That Checks the Courageous
Many in Bern know of the treasure hidden beneath the Münzgraben, however just a few dare pursue it. To achieve it, you need to descend into a decent, damp passageway lined with historic stone underground within the metropolis. Ultimately, a faint bluish mild glows forward. That’s when he seems: a snarling, spectral canine, as giant as a bear and twice as offended.
Solely those that know the sacred password could cross and solely the ghost of Father Nägeli is alleged to might give the important thing. He’s stated to hang-out the Frick Stairs within the outdated city. Learn Extra:
When you survive, you’ll discover a gate that opens right into a radiant chamber, its mild casting eerie shadows over three mysterious sacks. Attain into the sacks and take a handful of earth. Then flip and depart.
However don’t look again.
Learn Extra: The Stressed Spirit of Hans Franz Nägeli: The Ghost of the Fricktreppe
Those that hesitate to search out their golden treasure have turned to ash. Those that observe directions return to the floor clutching cash of pure gold—or so they are saying. Most who go looking for Father Nägeli’s treasure by no means communicate of what they discover… in the event that they return in any respect.
The Locked Away Women: The Ghost within the Locked Chest
A lot of Bern’s outdated homes as soon as had secret tunnels resulting in the Aare River, helpful for transporting items from the river banks into town, in addition to smuggling or darker deeds.
One such tunnel bore witness to an unspeakable tragedy: a younger servant lady seduced by her grasp, then lured right into a hidden chest underneath the kitchen and dropped into the abyss. Her physique was carried away by the river. He needed to cowl their affair from his mother and father. The one witness was the cook dinner who hid in a cabinet, paralyzed by concern, and haunted for all times. She had suspected one thing was happening. She didn’t inform anybody, however waited all day for the lady to return from the tunnels. She by no means did, and the cook dinner waited all her life.
Ever since, the home stays tormented and the chest continues to be there, locked underground. At midnight, groans and moans could be heard all through the home, like a ghostly wail and a cry for assist.
The Kids Who Dance within the Mist: The Kindlifresser’s Fountain
Few sights in Bern are extra chilling than the Kindlifresserbrunnen—the notorious “Youngster-Eater Fountain.” Locals name it grotesque, comical, or weird. However its true historical past could also be darker than artwork historians admit.
Legend says the fountain marks the location of a hidden tunnel between two medieval monasteries the place one was for monks, one for nuns. Kids born in disgrace, secrecy, or sin had been stated to be led into this tunnel and misplaced eternally.
Some say their cries can nonetheless be heard within the fog of Kornhausplatz, particularly when the mist wells up between the stones at midnight. After which… they emerge.
Learn Extra: Kindlifresserbrunnen and the Ghosts of the Discarded Kids Beneath Bern
Wearing flowing white, the ghost kids dance—flitting between fountains, pausing by shuttered shopfronts, or sitting silently on cellar steps. For an hour, they play and snicker, looking for each other in pleasure. However when the ultimate bell tolls one, they vanish again beneath the ogre’s toes—to attend for subsequent time.
Witnesses communicate of tiny handprints on cellar home windows, laughing voices in empty corridors, and chills that don’t have anything to do with the climate. Are they nonetheless haunting the underground although? The Kornhauskeller at Kornhausplatz 18 is Bern’s most opulent vaulted cellar and a preferred restaurant and bar.
The Françaisbad: The Aare’s Mourning Wind
Excessive above the bends of the Aare, close to the previous spa and tub home referred to as Françaisbad, the wind howls in a peculiar means. The place this Françaisbad was precisely is a bit unsure. Those that pay attention say it cries out the names of males seduced, robbed, and murdered by the enigmatic Frenchwoman who as soon as ran a decadent spa right here.
The bathhouse was rumored to be a haven for crime: playing, trysts, and betrayal flourished behind closed doorways. But it surely led to blood. The Frenchwoman disappeared herself in the long run, her physique pushed via a secret trapdoor right into a tunnel that led straight to the river. Her victims, lots of them noblemen, now weep within the wind, some say.
At evening, shadows transfer throughout the river’s floor. Lights seem in rooms that haven’t any electrical energy. And when the Aare floods, locals say it’s as a result of the lifeless can not relaxation.
Echoes within the Underground Stone
Bern’s tunnels and cellars could now maintain boutiques, wine bars, and galleries. However their partitions are thick with centuries of silence, punctuated by disgrace, cruelty, and sorrow.
Some tales function warnings. Others linger as reminiscence. All of them remind us that beneath each step on Bern’s clear, cobbled streets, there’s a shadow. Beneath each cellar arch, a whisper. As Above, so Under.
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References:
https://www.maerchenstiftung.ch/maerchendatenbank/11873/vergrabene-gespenster
https://www.maerchenstiftung.ch/maerchendatenbank/11883/der-unterirdische-schatz
https://www.maerchenstiftung.ch/maerchendatenbank/11871/von-unterirdischen-gaengen
https://www.maerchenstiftung.ch/maerchendatenbank/11866/der-kindlifresserbrunnen
https://www.maerchenstiftung.ch/maerchendatenbank/11847/vom-francaisbad
