Northern, but Scandinavian cozy Sweden is hardly associated with mysticism among tourists. However, even in its most remote village, there will be a house that keeps a terrible secret, not to mention fortresses and castles with their centuries-old history. There is also a "cursed island" here.
Mystical stories and urban legends in Sweden are treated with awe. One in five Swedes believes in ghosts, according to a poll by the analytical agency SIFO last year. About the same number of respondents admitted that they came into contact with the deceased or felt their presence. Programs dedicated to paranormal investigations are more popular here than ever, and the names of the most mysterious places in the country are on everyone's lips - that's where we'll go.
BLO JUNGFRUN - THE CURSED ISLAND
The island of Blo Jungfrun, lost in the Baltic Sea off the southwestern coast of mainland Sweden, is shrouded in mystery. Its name is translated as "Blue Maiden" - this is how sailors dubbed this rocky piece of land, who tried not to land here because of evil spirits supposedly living on the island. In addition, the Swedes associate Blo Jungfrun with Blockulla - the place where, according to legend, witches gathered for the Sabbath on Maundy Thursday. Its closest analogue in Slavic folklore is Lysaya Gora, and in German it is Brocken.
The first to explore this island was the great naturalist Karl Linnaeus, who visited here in 1741. Describing his impressions, he did not skimp on epithets: "If there are scary places in the world, then Blo Jungfrun is undoubtedly one of the most cruel." The scientist discovered here a mysterious labyrinth made of small stones, the origin of which remains unknown.
It is said to have been built by a sailor whose ship sank nearby. However, many believe that the labyrinth was used in magical rituals, which no one will remember now. There is a legend that on the island there was once a cruel reprisal against the mistresses of a mysterious structure - witches who flocked here for a devilish feast in number of more than 300! It should be noted that in Sweden, as well as throughout Europe, a witch hunt was conducted in dark times, its peak was in 1668-1676.
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According to official data, during this time about 280 people found a fierce death on the scaffold - mainly on charges of witchcraft and kidnapping of children, who were allegedly sacrificed during the satanic sabbaths at the notorious Blockulla. The largest trial took place in Thorsoker parish in 1675: all the defendants - 6 men and 65 women - were found guilty and executed within one day.
And yet the evidence that Blo Jungfrun is the same Blokulla is clearly insufficient today. Something supernatural is happening here, of course - researchers from Destination Truth, known to domestic TV viewers as "The destination is true", even visited the island. They did encounter a number of paranormal phenomena, including floating lights and mysterious voices, which they even managed to record on tape. However, the journalists failed to make out the message from the other world, alas. Blo Jungfrun is now a national park open to the public every summer.
The only thing tourists are warned about before sailing to the island is not to take stones from there - they are cursed and bring bad luck. If you disobey, remember that you can stop the black streak only by putting it back in place. They say that the park's management receives several parcels a year from those who risked leaving a pebble for themselves. Often they are accompanied by letters detailing the misfortunes that befell the poor fellows upon their return from Blo Jungfrun.
THE SECRETS OF THE WARBERG FORTRESS
In the south-west of Sweden, just 70 km from Gothenburg, not far from beautiful white sand beaches, is the town of Varberg. Its main attraction is a medieval fortress, about which there are many legends. The construction of the majestic castle began in 1286 by the Danes, or rather, by the Duke of southern Jutland, who was hiding here from charges of the murder of King Eric V Clipping, who was stabbed to death in a dream. In the 17th century, the fortress was significantly expanded and rebuilt - more than 1000 workers worked daily for 30 years to turn Varberg into the most protected citadel in all of Northern Europe.
It was visited by the kings of Sweden and Denmark, the highest nobility, generals. In the 18th century, the fortress came under the control of the Swedish army, and soon a prison was placed there. Executions of especially dangerous criminals were carried out here, and their remains were immediately buried. Varberg was notorious until 1931, when the prison was transferred to Halmstad. Soon the fortress was given the status of a historical landmark and a museum was opened here. However, visitors did not always leave the picturesque fortress with happy faces - many complained of discomfort, anxiety and anxiety caused by the excursion.
It is especially difficult to be near the walls of ancient dungeons and on the territory of the cemetery. Often, museum workers and tourists saw ghosts here - disembodied figures of prisoners, as well as the shadow of a decapitated horseman. However, a team of researchers from the American TV show Ghost Hunters International, which, armed with all sorts of equipment, spent the whole night in Varberg, came to the disappointing conclusion: nothing "paranormal" is happening in the historical territory. The TV people did not ignore the main exhibit of the museum at the fortress.
We are talking about a man from Boksten, whose remains were found in the peat bogs near Varberg in 1936. For six hundred years they were kept in marsh moss, which not only contributed to natural mummification, but also made it possible to perfectly preserve alongside the poor fellow from the Middle Ages, consisting of a cloak, a hood, stockings and shoes. At the moment, he is considered the best example of European clothing of the 14th century. A recent scan of the mysterious red-haired man's belongings revealed that he belonged to the Order of the Holy Spirit and was probably a recruiter into its ranks.
Death, according to research, occurred as a result of three strong blows to the head with a blunt object (presumably a club), which led to damage to the lower jaw and skull: someone deliberately killed him. But the most shocking thing about the Boksten man is that he was also pierced through the heart and liver with two wooden stakes: one made of oak, the other of beech. According to local legend, the stakes were needed several years after the murder. They were used by residents from the surrounding villages, who swore that the dead began to come to them at night.
However, to this day, he did not finally rest. Workers at the museum, where the Boksten man is kept, complain of a mysterious whisper from time to time from the glass box in which the mummy is trapped; sometimes they could hear their names in this whisper. However, the ghost hunters from Ghost Hunters International are sure: it's because of poor soundproofing - the caretakers hear the distorted hum of voices of visitors from other rooms, nothing more.
Perhaps cryptozoologists might be more fortunate in Varberg than parapsychologists. It is said that a sea monster lives in the moat around the castle - a mini-copy of the Scottish Nessie with a tail only 40 cm long. It first appeared in the headlines of Swedish newspapers in the 1980s. The monster was last seen a long time ago, in August 2006. Then a group of tourists was lucky to watch as the monster emerged to the surface and swallowed the duck whole! In the same autumn, divers carefully examined the moat - not a trace. Maybe a mysterious creature sailed into the open sea?
GHOSTS OF BORGWATTNET
The priest's house in Borgwattnet, a small village in Jämtland province in the northeast of the country, is the number one paranormal site in Sweden. They started talking about him in 1947, when an article by Pastor Eric Lindgren, who served in this parish for two years, appeared in one of the local newspapers. In the house that he temporarily occupied as a parish priest, the most inexplicable things happened - Lindgren even kept a diary, where he wrote down each of the "events" that became part of his daily life.
One day, sitting in the living room with his wife, the pastor heard the front door slam, someone entered the hallway, threw his coat on the floor and walked with a heavy gait to the kitchen. Fru Lindgren thought the maid had arrived early, but the kitchen was completely empty. Together with her husband, they went around the whole house: no one! On another late Sunday evening, Lindgren was feeding her two-month-old son in the kitchen, when the same story repeated: someone entered the house and went straight to the kitchen, but the door was closed, and the mysterious guest stopped in front of her.
At the same moment, strange music began to play softly. Holding the baby to her breast, the pastor's wife went to the door, but as soon as she took the handle, complete silence reigned in the house. Fru Lindgren opened the door - no one; frightened, she hastily slammed it shut, and immediately the sounds of music played on an unknown instrument were heard again. After hesitating for a minute, the woman ran out of the kitchen and went up to her husband's bedroom. Together they returned downstairs and closed the door behind them: the pastor could not believe his ears - music really started playing in the hallway!
In the article, Lindgren admitted that he did not feel the slightest fear when such "devilry" took place in the house. Only once did the soul sink into his heels when an invisible force threw him out of the rocking chair. After reading the prayer and coming to his senses, the pastor tried to sit down again in the chair - and again found himself on the floor. It was decided to sell the obstinate rocking chair. It's funny, but in the 1960s, it appeared in the studio of the popular Swedish talk show Hylands Nota as a lot in an impromptu TV auction.
But back to Pastor Lindgren, who managed to find evidence of paranormal activity from other priests who served on Borgwattnet before him. The house itself was built in 1876, but no one told anything unusual about it until in 1927 the vicar Niels Hedlund moved in here. In one of the letters, he tells how one day, being completely alone, he was cleaning the waiting room when he heard someone's heavy steps. It seemed as if someone was climbing the stairs. Hedlund decided to check whether a stranger had entered the house, and, trying not to betray himself, also went upstairs.
Even in the morning he hung out linen in the lobby of the second floor - now everything was scattered and crumpled on the floor, and at the same time there was not a living soul around! The priest went around all the rooms in the hope of finding the one who decided to play a trick on him - in vain! But Pastor Rudolf Tengden, who replaced Hedlund in 1930, was lucky enough to even see a ghost: a lady in a gray dress slowly walked past him, reading in the corner of the living room, and disappeared without a trace into the study. The most striking story comes from Inge Flodin, a church official who stayed overnight in Borgwattnet in 1941, during the period when Bertil Tunström served as head of the parish. She woke up at about four in the morning, sensing a foreign presence in the room.
Opening her eyes, Flodine saw three women sitting silently on the sofa opposite and looking at her. The woman turned on the light - the ghosts had not disappeared anywhere, and although their faces were blurred, a mournful expression was read on each. So she lay, not moving with horror, until she fell asleep - in the morning the ghosts evaporated. In 1946, due to the deplorable state of the house, the parish church abandoned it, and it remained empty until 1970, when a mini-hotel and a cafe were opened here - for lost tourists and ghost hunters.
Many guests have experienced paranormal activity on Borgwattnet. They not only heard someone's whisper and footsteps, felt invisible touches on themselves, lost and found various objects in unexpected places, but also saw a female phantom with their own eyes. Some believe that this is the ghost of a maid who got rid of an unwanted child by burying him alive near the priest's house. Others blame Pastor Per Hedlund, who served at Borgwattnet from 1900 to 1909. Rumor has it that he could not come to terms with the loss of his wife, who died in the delivery of their eleventh child. Without waiting for the funeral, the priest took her corpse from the morgue and kept it hidden in the house for a long time. Since then, the spirit of Fru Hedlund has not left its walls.
PALACE WITH GHOSTS
Hardly anyone in Stockholm knows who Hans Petter Schaeffler was, but everyone has heard of the mansion he built in the 1690s, which still bears his name. However, the townspeople often call this attraction simply Spokslottet - "Palace with ghosts", and there are many legends about it. So, one of its owners, Jacob von Balthasar Knigge, appears in them as a truly demonic figure (1718-1796). He was suspected of having killed his own wife by locking her in a basement and leaving the country for some time. Of course, many of the mysterious phenomena that take place in Scheffler's palace are attributed to the tricks of her restless spirit.
About Knigge himself, they said that he was in alliance with the devil, and when the murderer suddenly disappeared, eyewitnesses were immediately found who claimed that he had left on a black carriage, like a raven's wing. Of course, it was driven by a coachman with horns and a tail! Another famous tenant of a bad house, the opera singer Gus-taf Sandstrom, committed suicide in 1875. It was rumored that this ill-fated palace drove the artist crazy. Every night there were strange knocks and groans, windows and mirrors were broken by themselves. Once a priest was even invited here to perform an exorcism and finally get rid of evil spirits, but as soon as the pastor crossed the threshold, an invisible force pushed him back, he fell and broke his leg.
Stockholmians avoided the park laid out near Scheffler's palace. An ancient cemetery was supposedly located at this place, and it is better not to disturb it. Rumor has it that the devilry is going on in the "Palace with ghosts" to this day. True, it is not possible for parapsychologists to study it. Since the 1920s, the building has been owned by Stockholm University and houses an impressive collection of classical European painting, including works by Tiepolo and Brueghel. However, you can see them only by appointment.