Thread by @MikeStuchbery_

I'm interested in ghost stories, not just because they give me a fulfilling sense of dread, they can also tell us something about the place & time from which they emerged. The haunting of Burg Werdenfels, deep in the Bavarian Alps, is such an example. THREAD /1 #FolkloreThursday

Some of you will know that in another life, I was a high school teacher, living in Stuttgart, Germany. Every year, we'd take our Year 7 class to Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, near the border with Austria. Every year, we'd hike up to Burg Werdenfels. /2

Burg Werdenfels isn't the most imposing castle ruin you'll ever come across, but it has a commanding view, and was quite the power base when it was built sometime around the 13th century - chiefly to protect trade coming up from Italy. /3

Now, the stories say that at the time of the Crusades (I'm guessing the 4th Crusade), the lord of the castle (unnamed in the tales) was married to a beautiful woman called Siglinda. Siglinda was known for her beautiful singing voice and kind manner. /4

The call of the Crusades was a powerful one. The lord of Werdenfels could hardly resist the entreaties to liberate Jerusalem. Loathe to leave his beautiful wife at home alone at the castle, he asked his friend, a nearby knight, to ensure her safety. /5

No sooner had the lord departed, than his friend turned heel, and began to make advances on Siglinda. She resisted fiercely, smacking him away, telling him that she'd never take him as a lover. /6

Frustrated at Siglinda's repeated rejections, the lord's friend threw her in the castle's dungeons, feeding her only the merest crusts and mouldy bread. He told her that she could come out at any time - all she had to do was submit to his amorous advances. /7

Years passed, and Siglinda never relented - she knew that her husband would one day return to free her and make things right. To pass the time she would sing out a tiny dungeon window - the sound carried down the mountainside. /8

The lord's friend made himself at home, over the years, taking the lord's possessions. It seemed that he may eventually become the new lord of Werdenfels, much to the chagrin of the villagers below the castle. However, just before they were about to give up all hope... /9

...the lord returned from crusade on horseback, scarred, bearded & through with war. Greeting his friend like a brother, he quickly sought Siglinda. With the friend unable to explain her imprisonment, the lord ran to the dungeon. She'd passed away hours before. /10

Pulling his sword from his scabbard, the lord of Werdenfels turned and faced his friend. With a roar he drove the sword into his wife's murderer, twisting and shifting it to prolong the agony. The body he threw to the beasts of the forest. /11

After burying Siglinda, it's said that the lord of Werdenfels was never the same - a coldness came over him. For centuries afterwards, the folk living beneath the castle would speak of Siglinda's singing voice ringing out over the valley - especially when the moon was out. /12

Now this is the bit, where having told the story to 50 wide-eyed American military brats, I'd give the signal to a mate to start playing Hildegard von Bingen over a bluetooth speaker - always worked a treat! /13

So, what does it tell us, this story? Well, it suggests that many of our romantic notions of the the middle ages are just that - romantic. This is a story in which the woman has no agency of her own, and is treated as a possession. /14

It also tells us that notions of chivalry - which would find their full bloom in the 14th and 15th centuries - didn't count for much in corners of Bavaria like this, if this story is an echo of a true event. /15

The most telling aspect, however, is that THIS is the story that they tell about Burg Werdenfels. As it stands, far, far worse things happened there... /16

At the end of the 16th century, the Reformation had divided the continent, making the zealous even more so and creating fear and suspicion everywhere. Couple with bad harvests, the atmosphere of fear and dread led to outbreaks of mass hysteria. /17

Around 1590, people in the bishopric of Freising, of which Werdenfels was in, began to report the bewitching of their animals, the cursing of their crops, and strange rituals performed by their neighbors, usually older women. The Bishop launched an investigation... /18

Accusations of witchcraft soon began to spread through the mountain valleys around Werdenfels. Both women and men were dragged from their homes and led up to the ruins of Burg Werdenfels, where they would be imprisoned in horrific conditions during their confinement. /19

Between 1591 - 1592, 600 witches were tried and burned at Burg Werdenfels, most having been tortured to force a confession. No wonder the castle would fall into ruins shortly thereafter - it seems what happened poisoned the earth. /20

Now, here's the rub - the first recorded mention we get of the story of the ghost of Siglinda emerges in the mid-19th century or so. This was during the Romantic period, the period of nation-building, when such tales served a valuable role in creating a mythic past. /21

The witch trials? You really gotta look for mention of those, and it's only in the last few years that Germans can easily access the records of places like Werdenfels. For the locals, there seems to be a palpable sense of shame for this pre-Enlightenment abomination. /22

Want to know what a people wish to leave behind? Look for what they don't turn into a ghost story. Look for what they don't mythologize. Seems obvious, but it's striking the conclusions you can come to when viewing the past through this lens. /23

Many people say that ghost stories fulfill the role of allegory, fable and the establishment of social mores. I suggest that it has another role - to comfort and create a dream-like perception of the past. Does that make sense? /24

I'm still trying to work out, in my own muddled, amateur way how ghost stories and the past intersect, and what they tell us about ourselves. In the meantime, if you want to learn more about Burg Werdenfels, check out my @atlasobscura entry for it. /FIN atlasobscura.com/places/castle-…