Note:[1]
[The following story of an Austrian haunted castle is sent by Dr. Franz Hartmann.—Ed.]
MORE than a hundred years ago the castle of H——, in Austria, was in possession of a Baroness M——, a widow with two grown up sons, who, after the death of her husband, had become involved in a lawsuit concerning her rights of ownership of the castle, which was claimed by other presumptive heirs, relatives of the deceased Baron, to whom he seems to have been indebted.
The lawsuit continued for several years, and a great deal of mutual hatred was fomented between the contending parties, but at last the trial came off, and the decision of the Court was to be delivered on a certain day at the town of S——, about three miles distant from the castle.
On the appointed day the eldest of the two sons went on horseback to S—— for the purpose of hearing the decision of the Court, and his mother, being very anxious to know the result as soon as possible, told him that she would ascend to the upper room of the tower of the castle and watch for his return. The road from
S—— to U—— leads over a little hill, and a man on the top of that hill may be easily seen from the castle. She therefore asked him, that in case the lawsuit had been won he should swing his hat in the air while riding over the hill; but if the suit had been lost, he should keep his head covered.
The decision was favourable, and the widow gained the suit; but the boy, upon his return, and while riding over the hill, forgot to swing his hat, and the old lady, believing that the suit had been lost, threw herself with a curse out of the window and died.
It is claimed that every year on a certain day, the date of which corresponds to that of the lady’s death, her ghost may be seen at the tower window, as if despairingly waiting for the expected news.
I have been repeatedly myself in the castle, but have seen no ghosts. Other parties, however, who stayed there and were no believers in ghosts, had some curious experiences, from which it appears that the castle is haunted. The ghost itself is probably a thought image created by the intense feeling of hatred and despair of the Baroness.
A correspondent (Mrs. Lush) forwards the following :—
The incident here recorded was told me by my dear friend Lady M,—— and I will give it as far as possible exactly as she told it to me. Her husband held a high official appointment, and she herself is an accomplished linguist. While in Italy an Italian was writing a book, which she undertook to translate into English. The MSS. were sent to her as they were written, all but the last two chapters, which were not forthcoming. She wrote for them, but received no reply. About this time she went to Warsaw and attended a stance. All present were asked to write a question on papers placed before them. She wrote, “What has become of the lost manuscripts?” Those present only spoke Russian or Polish, and no one in the room understood Italian. The lights were turned down, and on these being again turned up, on her paper was written in Italian and in the author’s handwriting, “The manuscripts have been stolen through jealousy,” and signed by the Italian’s name. At the time she did not know he was dead! She made every inquiry, but could find no trace of the missing chapters, but was informed of his death. Two years after she received an anonymous letter from Italy with the missing chapters, saying the papers had been stolen through jealousy, and the writer now hoped to have peace of mind. She translated and completed the book, which she sent to the man’s friends.
Note:
[1] Psychic Records. Dr. Franz Hartmann. The Occult Review 10, no. 1 (July 1909), 30-31 {This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos, by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}