Stockholm’s Haunted Palaces

The Royal Palace

This palace located in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, has been used as the royal residence since the 18^th century.

It is one of the largest palaces in the world. It has 1430 rooms, 660 of them have windows.

Stockholm's Royal Palace

It is known to be haunted. Its two most famous ghosts are a White Lady known as vita fran and a Grey Man known as gra mannen.

A Harbinger

The White Lady is said to appear just before someone dies in the royal family. She, therefore, is a classic harbinger.

King Oscar ll

She was first made famous when old King Oscar ll wrote about her in his memoir.

She is seen dressed in a white dress, and a long white veil covers her dark hair. She wears dark gloves and carries a chain of keys in her hand.

As she walks through the palace, these keys are heard clanking together. Many Swedish royals and staff have seen her over the years.

The Founder of Stockholm

Another ghost seen at the palace is known as the Grey Man. It is said he has appeared before every reigning King at least once during their lifetime.

Birger Jari

He is believed to be the ghost of Birger Jari. Jari was the founder of Stockholm. He built a fortress with a core tower in the 13^th century. This site evolved into the royal palace that was completed in the 1830s.

A Haunted Mansion

The Palace of Scheffler is considered to be the most “haunted house” or Spokslottet-- in Stockholm. For this reason, people often refer to this palace as simply the Haunted Mansion.

Since the 1920s this palace has been owned by Stockholm University. It is used mostly today just for storage and occasionally for conferences.

A merchant, Hans Petter Scheffler built this mansion in 1690.

Palace of Scheffler

Ghost stories about this home have circulated since the 18^th century. Witnesses have reported strange singing and music coming from this building when it was unoccupied.

Mirrors and windows in the mansion have broken simultaneously without a known cause.

One story points to a former owner of this palace as the cause of this strange activity. Jacob von Balthazar Knigge was said to be a devil worshipper. He mysteriously disappeared in 1796.

At the time, witnesses stated that he was taken away in a black carriage with a coachman who had horns and a tail.

Another possible cause for this activity involves several deaths connected to the mansion.

Gustaf Sandstrom, an opera
singer, once rented a room in the palace. He committed suicide in his room in 1879.

A young married couple were murdered in the mansion and then bricked-up behind a wall in the basement.

In the mansion’s garden, a grave was discovered in 1907. These remains were removed to a cemetery. It is believed more people are buried in this garden.

Swedish National Heritage Board
Mansion in the early 1900s.

One legend connected to the palace is about a priest who was brought in to rid the home of this unwanted activity.

In one version of the story, this priest fled the home in fear before he finished the job.

In another version, it is said an angry spirit tossed him out of an upper window. There was no one in the building but him at the time.

Some believe all this unwanted activity is the reason why the university uses this beautiful old palace for storage most of the time.

The Stockholm Metro is also said to be haunted. A ghost train known as the Silverplein is seen. My post about this haunting is here.