The Dead Bride

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Lauf Castle, which is usually called Neu-Windeck, is said to have been uninhabited for a long time before its destruction, as its hauntings could be heard day and night. During that period, a young knight who was foreign to this region sought hospitality in this castle. He had difficulties with finding the entrance during the darkness of the night. The courtyard was covered by tall grass, and his shouts echoed eerily between the lonely walls. Finally, he saw a light in one chamber of the castle, and climbed the stairs towards it. In the old great hall, a young woman was sitting at a table and seemed to be so preoccupied with her thoughts that she didn’t notice him as he entered. She was beautiful, like an angel, but the redness of her cheeks seemed to have paled as if from sorrow. When the knight greeted her, she looked up and nodded with her head. When he conveyed his request for hospitality, she rose up, fetched wine and venison as well as all sorts of poultry, and indicated to the stranger that he should enjoy the meal. Bread and salt were missing, but he did not have the courage to ask for these, for the whole situation seemed entirely uncanny — especially since the maiden had not uttered a single syllable so far. But soon, the wine lifted the spirits of the knight, and he started a conversation:

“You must be the daughter of this house?”

She nodded with her head.

“And your parents?”

She indicated a few portraits on the wall, and spoke with a quiet voice: “I am the last of my line.”

The beautiful maiden appealed to the young knight considerably, and, since he indulged with his tankard eagerly, his heart opened more and more. He was poor, and thought to himself that he might make his fortune here.

After a few speeches, he took her hand and asked her if she was still unbound.

She affirmed this with another nod of the head, and the knight proposed marriage to her. Her face lightened up. She rose up, took two rings and a rosemary wreath from a drawer, and stuck the latter into her black curls of hair. Then, she waved to the knight to follow her. He obeyed, not without dread, and would have liked to go back on this word. But at this moment, two venerable, festively dressed old men entered who took him and the maiden into their midst and led them to the castle chapel. There, several tombs were located, and on one of them there was a cast iron bishop in full priestly regalia. The maiden touched the iron figure, which quickly rose up and stepped in front of the altar, where the candles lit up on their own. The iron countenance of the bishop seemed to come alive, his eyes shone like a star peeking through light fog, and he spoke with a deep, hollow voice:

“Kurd of Stein, speak whether you want to marry the maiden Bertha von Windeck, and make her your wife?”

The knight quavered like the leaves of an aspen in the wind, the word died on his tongue, and his senses started to fail him. Then, the crowing of the rooster on a nearby farming estate became audible, the whole congregation vanished, and a terrible whirlwind tore through the chapel which seemed to pull the castle into the depths. The knight fell unconscious, and when he revived, he was lying in the tall grass of the courtyard, and his loyal horse was next to him.

Source: Schreiber - Sagen aus den Gegenden des Rheins und des Schwarzwaldes Zweite Auflage, p. 190ff

caption Note: This story was published in the book Sunken Castles, Evil Poodles Volume 01: Lurkers at the Threshold. Get the book for further context and explanatory commentary!