During his lifetime, the knight Christian Friedrich von Kalbutz from Kampel, which is located near the city of Neustadt, gained fame as a great womanizer. Awarded for military merit in the service of the Elector Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg on a vast estate and successfully married to a wealthy heiress of an ancient family, the knight indulged in his favorite pastime with great zeal. For 15 years of marriage, the wife of von Kalbutz gave birth to 11 children. In addition, the restless knight produced 30 pieces on the side. Respecting the "right of the first night", he did not miss any of his young vassals.
Everything went smoothly until the maid Maria Leppin refused the loving knight, motivating her refusal with her fiance's loyalty. The next day, a big misfortune happened to the shepherd, who was Mary's fiancé - he completely unexpectedly fell out of the blue. Moreover, he fell extremely unsuccessfully, twisting his neck, and even ran into it several times when falling either on a knife or on a sword. The bride, distraught with grief, rushed to the city archbishop and complained about the murder of the groom and the knight's expressed intention to deprive her of her innocence.
Considering the seriousness of the charges brought forward, the archbishop appointed a speedy and fair trial over the knight suspected of the atrocity, which took place in Drez (Brandenburg) in 1690. At the trial, the inconsolable girl said that the knight killed the shepherd out of revenge after she rejected his harassment.
Since there were no witnesses to the death of the girl's fiancé, Kalbuts used the right to take an oath of innocence. As the legend says, the knight said the phrase: "It was not me who killed, otherwise may my body never rot after my death." After which he was acquitted by the wise and compassionate members of the court and released.
Christian Friedrich died in 1702 at the age of 52. His body was buried in the family crypt. In 1783, the last representative of the von Kalbutz family rested in Bose. And in 1784 it was decided to demolish the tomb standing next to the church, in which there were three burials.
During the demolition of the tomb, it was found that the two bodies were completely decomposed, and the body of Christian Friedrich dried up and did not undergo decomposition. When they began to look for the cause of the strange and inexplicable mummification, they recalled the oath given by Christian at the trial. And it became clear to everyone that at one time the shepherd did not fall out of the blue, but was actually cunningly killed by a deceitful and vengeful knight.
As usually happens in such cases, rumors began to circulate around the area about a ghost, which frightened belated travelers at night. And that at midnight in the corridors of the old castle you can see the spirit of a knight who, wandering around the castle, mutters his oath under his breath.
When Napoleon's troops entered Prussia at the beginning of the 19th century, French officers stood in the castle of Kalbutz. Kind people confidentially informed them that the restless spirit of Christian Friedrich chose the castle for night walks. In response, the dragoon captain said it was all nonsense. And, demonstrating my courage, I went down to the tomb and pierced the mummy with the point of a saber.
Promotional video:
Is it any wonder that the next morning he was found in a room locked from the inside with a rolled neck.
It is said that in addition to this, the soldier, whose face was accidentally touched by Kalbutz's brush when the mummy was taken out of the grave, soon passed away as a result of a heart attack.
After these gloomy events, rumors of a terrible, ominous and insidious ghost of the castle flared up like dry grass. They continue to walk to this day, although more than two centuries have passed since the time of the mysterious and poorly explained death of a French officer.
For the sake of fairness, it should be noted that attempts on the ashes of a knight have happened repeatedly in the past. Several times the mummy was stolen from the tomb. Later it was found not in the most suitable places for ashes, removing it from the cemetery fence, or even from the ridge of the church roof. Local hooligans in the evenings dragged her through the streets, frightening the girls. And once the imperishable ashes of Christian Friedrich were put on the bed of the newlyweds.
The number of those wishing to see the mummy does not decrease and the flow of tourists visiting the Kalbutz castle flows like a stream. Moreover, the mummy is of interest not only to fans of mystical stories, but also to serious scientists.
The curious Japanese, for example, offered good money for the biological material of Christian Friedrich Kalbutz. But the wise Neistadts refused the deal. Most likely, they were afraid of the revenge of the ghost, who could brutally avenge the desecration of his body.
Mikhail Ostashevsky