The Ghosts of Lagow Castle

Many castles in Poland have legends and myths that surround them. These stories often include tales of lost love and hauntings.

Here is a favorite.

Lagow Castle

A fierce Polish knight named Marek in the 15^th century claimed Lagow castle for his own. The Germanic Teutonic Knights had built this castle a hundred years before.

He at one time was beloved by the townspeople but when his wife died, he became lonely and embittered. His younger beautiful sister, Dorota came to live with him.

Marek took a prisoner during a battle he fought just outside the town--a Prussian Prince named Boris. He imprisoned Prince Boris in his castle’s dungeon.

Prince Boris began to sing every day. It was believed he did this to keep his sanity for he was enclosed in a dark, damp place.

It wasn’t long before the townspeople started to flock to the castle to hear him sing--for Prince Boris had a fine voice.

Lagow Poland

Marek’s sister Dorota became enamored by the Prince’s voice. She bribed the guards so she could meet Boris. After this she visited him regularly--the two fell in love.

Dorota told her brother she wanted to marry Prince Boris. Marek disapproved and arranged for Dorota to marry an elderly knight that lived in a neighboring community.

During her wedding reception at the castle, Marek had Prince Boris brought up to the great hall. He commanded the prince to sing for his guests. Boris refused.

Marek now angered ordered the guards behead the Prince. They then threw his body into a nearby lake. Dorota who witnessed this terrible event died from a broken heart before her marriage could be consummated.

Lagow Castle seen from the lake.

Soon after, her distraught ghost was seen wandering along the shore of the lake where Prince Boris was thrown. She is also seen walking through the town and in the castle.

Witnesses that live in Lagow today state they have seen her ghost.

They also state that during the summer months in the evening they hear Prince Boris singing near the castles’ dungeon and by the lake.

Haunted Smithsonian Castle

The “Castle,” which is the cornerstone of Washington D.C., is the original Smithsonian Institute building.

Of the various white-columned Smithsonian museum buildings that line the Washington Mall, the Castle stands alone in its unique appearance. Designed and built by the renowned architect James Renwick in 1815, this redbrick building often is compared to a medieval castle.

The Castle is also noteworthy because it is considered by some to be haunted. This fact is often discounted as just a myth or urban legend, but there is compelling evidence that this building might just have a few “otherworldly inhabitants.”

The various Smithsonian Museums contain millions of artifacts including paintings, the Hope Diamond, a T-Rex dinosaur, the Kitty Hawk, a Woolworth’s lunch counter, Egyptian mummies, Archie Bunker’s chair, scalps taken by Native Americans, Dizzy Gillespie’s trumpet, Judy Garland’s Ruby Slippers, Edison’s light bulb, Lewis and Clark’s compass, and various other unique historical and anthropological significant items.

Hope Diamond

One item the Smithsonian castle contains is said to be the reason this building is haunted. The Smithsonian is named after an Englishman, James Smithson. He was a chemist and mineralogist. He traveled Europe studying and publishing papers on his findings.

James Smithson

When he died, he left his fortune to the founding of the Smithsonian Institute. Ironically, Smithson never visited the U.S., and he never viewed the Castle that bears his name.  After his death, his body was brought to the Castle in 1904 and placed under one of the main rooms.

At one time there were so many sightings of Smithson’s ghost that in 1973, the former curator of the Castle’s collections, James Goode, had his body disinterred. His casket was thoroughly inspected, and it was found his skeletal remains were still inside. So nothing unique was found.

But his ghost was still seen.

Smithson's gravestone in Castle

Click to enlarge

An article was published in the Washington Post in May of 1900. This article entitled, Shades of Scientists Who Walk There Nightly * mentions sightings of ghosts.

The guards and staff that worked at the Castle, late at night during this period, reported seeing several of the “devoted deceased scientists of earlier eras walk the halls of the museum.” It was believed they were there to guard the institute’s collection.

Among these former curators was Spencer Fullerton Baird 1823-1887. He was the first Smithsonian curator. The Post article mentions that long after Baird died, “he continued to supervise the affairs of the museum he devoted his life to.”

A night watchman by the name of Lynn reported seeing Baird’s ghost repeatedly. But when he tried to talk to or approach this apparition, it would vanish.

Another ghost seen was that of paleontologist Fielding B. Meek who actually lived in the Castle with his cat. He first occupied two tiny rooms under the staircase, but in 1876, a fire forced him to move to a tower room, where he died shortly afterward.

His ghost has been seen in these two areas of the Castle.

In contrast to these traditional stories a recent curator, Richard Stamm of the Castle’s collections for 34 years, states that he has never seen a ghost.

* The term “Shades “ is an old-fashioned word for ghosts.

The Witches Castle

Moosham Castle located near Salzburg, Austria, dates back to the 13^th century. Built by the Prince-Bishops of Salzburg, Moosham, has a strange and sinister past.

Hundreds of witches were beheaded within the walls of this castle. * It is said some still haunt this Austrian fortress, which is run as a museum today.

Moosham’s persecution of witches was not unique for the time. Three centuries ago, mass hysteria swept through the U.S. and Europe. This hysteria was caused by people’s irrational fear that witches lived among them. Witch hunts and witch trials became apart of everyday life.

During this time many women lived in fear of being accused of witchcraft.

In Austria, Moosham Castle became the center stage in the Salzburg Witch Trials. Between 1675 and 1690, over 100 people were killed in this castle, tried, and found guilty of witchcraft.

Thousands more were accused during this time. They were imprisoned and tortured. One interesting fact about the Salzburg Witch Trials was the majority of people charged, were men, not women. The ages of those executed ranged from 10 to 80 years old--ninety-two of them were under the age of 21.

Sadly, the youngest victims found guilty during these witch trials, were actually beggars, or just harmless children--their only crime was they had no one to vouch for their characters.

The methods used to torture were ghastly. Hands were cut off, and people were burned with hot irons--which branded them as criminals for the rest of their lives. Many, while being tortured, confessed to witchcraft, just to stop the agony.

This gruesome history has left Moosham haunted.

Today, staff and visitors, recount instances of being touched, feeling someone’s breath on them, banging sounds, phantom footsteps, and doors slamming shut. Many talk about seeing unexplainable floating white mists.

The current owner of the castle, Theresita Wilczek, states the room called the “room of Toni” was the quarters of the man who was responsible for all the torture. Many feel a dark presence in this room. One museum visitor stated she even conversed with this entity.

In the torture chamber, many have felt hands touch their hair and legs. Others state that an unseen presence came very close to them. It is here where several people have reported they felt someone breathing on them.

Various voices have been recorded during EVP sessions in the castle.

* Another strange part of Moosham’s history is the reports of werewolves, during the 1800s. Many deer and cattle were found close to the castle, mutilated. Several residents of the castle were accused of being werewolves--some accounts state these people were then executed--others state they were imprisoned.

Chillingham’s Torture Chamber

Chillingham is a medieval castle located in northern England in Northumberland. It is near the coast and the English-Scottish border. This castle played a significant role in the bloody war between the English and Scots in the 14^th century. 

Below this castle is a small dungeon room that is by far England’s most infamous torture chamber. It is estimated that over 7500 Scots, including men, women, and children of all ages were tortured and killed in this dungeon over three years.

Chillingham Castle was an important strategic location for both the English and the Scottish during this war. It was used as a starting point for King Edwards1s armies to enter Scotland. 

The Scottish led by William Wallace-- often attacked the castle. It was at Chillingham where William Wallace made his base-camp in 1298 after a successful attack upon the English.

The following is more terrifying than most horror stories because it is true. 

The torture that took place at Chillingham resulted in more than one haunting. This dungeon chamber still vibrates with the last breath of the Scottish victims of this bloody war. 

Marks can be seen on its walls where prisoners kept track of the number of days they were tortured before death finally released them. The screams, cries, and smells of these victims--many of them innocent--are still felt, smelled and heard in several of the castle’s rooms.

The variety of torture devises used in this room is each more horrific than the last. Besides the usual implements of pain, such as a rack, thumbscrews, chains, leg irons, man traps, and an iron maiden, this chamber also had other insidious items. 

To name just a few, a boiling pot, branding irons, items used to gouge out eyes, a bed of nails, and a chair with lethal spikes on the seat.

Some captives were tied into a barrel full of spikes and then rolled around until the flesh ripped from their bodies--only death brought relief from this agony. Other victims had a cage strapped to their stomachs. Within this cage a starved rat was placed--its only way out was to eat its way out through the victim. 

The chambers’ floor was purposefully built on a slant, this was to allow body fluids, such as blood of the tortured to drain down into a trench that was at one end of the room.

Many victims had their arms and legs broken and were thrown down a twenty-foot oubliette.* They then were left to starve. Some resorted to eating chunks of other victims’ flesh or even fragments of their own in a vain effort to prolong their lives. 

The bones of the last victim to be thrown down can still be seen today. They are the bones of a female child. Her ghost has been spotted looking up at visitors.

Staff and tourists have taken photographs in this torture chamber-- strange light anomalies have shown up in their pictures. 

One Guide that gives tours of the castle states that he will not enter the torture chamber alone. He and others feel there is a very malevolent presence in this dungeon. 

Some state this ghost is the man responsible for the torture. John Sage was one of Edward Long shank’s best soldiers, rising to the rank of lieutenant. When he was wounded and could no longer fight, he asked the King for another assignment. He was then appointed Chillingham's torturer.

Sage held an intense hatred for the Scots, and he had an affinity for developing new ways to torture. Brutally, he tortured and killed fifty Scots every week. Sadly, he reached a kind of celebrity status in England during this time. ** 

When the war finally came to an end, it is stated that Sage rounded up what was left of the Scottish men, women and older children prisoners in the castle and took them into the courtyard and threw them on a bonfire.

The younger children were kept in “Edward’s Room” on the top floor in the castle as their parents burned alive. They could smell their parents burning flesh and hear their screams. Sage knowing these children would take revenge when they grew up then grabbed a small ax and chopped these children to pieces--including ones as young as a year old. 

This room is known today as the “Killing Room.” It is one of the more haunted areas in the castle. Furnishings, including a chandelier move without cause and soft voices and footsteps, are heard.

John Sage met as violent an end as most of his victims. While making love to a woman, Elizabeth Charlton, on the rack in the torture chamber he accidentally killed her. Her father was a member of a gang of outlaws who were tribal leaders and broken men, known as the Border Reivers. 

Wanting revenge for his daughter’s death, he threatened Edward Longshanks. He warned that his group would join the Scots in a battle to take Chillingham if Sage was not punished. The King knowing they would probably succeed since the war had left him broke, agreed to hang Sage.

A large, enthusiastic crowd gathered to watch Sage’s execution. He was hung from a tree near the castle grounds. As he slowly died, people cut off his fingers and toes, etc. for souvenirs. His ghost is seen and heard wandering the castle. Some witnesses state that his spirit has followed them around. People sense evil when his ghost is present.

Chillingham Castle has survived for over 800 years. Today it is open to the public for private and public events. 

Several other ghosts haunt the castle, but they are not connected to this particular point in history so I will save their stories for another post. 

This castle has so much activity that they retain their own paranormal team. Public events such as “night vigils” are regularly offered to those who are interested. Visitors can also stay in apartments within the castle.

* Oubliette is the French word for forgotten.

** To be fair, let me note--this war was cruel on both sides. The Scottish crossed the border and set churches on fire with woman and children locked inside.