Before a state-of-the-art apartment convoluted was built in its place, the area around the St. Johann once belonged to the order of the Crusaders of St. John. Tales of knights parading in armor, the tormented cries of children coming from wells, and ghosts in the elderly Ritterhaus have haunted this place for centuries.
Hidden in the winding streets of elderly Basel, where antique walls clung to the restless Rhine and a ghost story lurked around every corner. This is especially true for the St. District. Johanns, a former working-class district where people have lived since the Celts founded the settlement that became the city of Basel.
Among other things, it is worth seeing the historic St. Johanns-Tor, one of the three remaining entrances to the elderly medieval city and now a symbol of the St. Johannes district. Johann. Among the charming streets full of shops and cafes you can find much older things that still haunt the streets.
An armored horseman in the Johanniterkommende Basel
Before the collapse, the entire area belonged to the Order of St. John, which was built after the capture of Jerusalem by the troops of the First Crusade in 1099.
The unit of the Hospitallers, first documented in Basel in 1206, was the so-called commandry. The Order devoted itself to the care and support of pilgrims, the ailing and the needy. The entire district is now named after this order. At the time of its foundation, the walled convoluted consisting of a church, cemetery and commandery was located approximately 300 meters northwest of the walled elderly city of Basel on the Rhine.
Equally talked about was the specter of a knight in full armor, with his visor lowered and his sword raised, who was said to have ridden across the courtyard in the middle of the night, his ghostly horse's hooves leaving no traces on the stone.
This would come from the Knights of St. Command. John, which used to be located where St. John is now. Johanns-Vorstadt 84 to 88. The area around the Ritterhaus in particular, right by the river, was said to be haunted by armed knights riding through the courtyard.
Today, the Ritterhaus, or Knights' House, does not exist because it was demolished in 1929. A state-of-the-art apartment building was built in its place. Did the ghost go with the building? We know little about the commanderies because their archives mostly disappeared in the 19th century.
A child in a sod well
For centuries, passersby reported hearing the unmistakable sound of a child's desperate scream echoing from the depths of one of the district's elderly sod wells – a type of covered well that abounded throughout the city. The source of the crying was never discovered, although gruesome rumors circulated and the legend of the crying child ghost continued.
It is said that a well was also located near the elderly Ritterhaus, although the exact location is unknown. However, there aren't many elderly sod wells left in the city and the question is, has the ghost of the crying baby disappeared too?
A man with a pale face and a lady in black
In the shadowy rooms of the Ritterhaus, other apparitions carried out mourning celebrations, as well as outside. A diminutive white dog with eyes that glowed in the dim scampered through the halls, disappearing behind the walls as if chasing a long-dead master.
But it was the appearance of a man with a deadly, blank face, his features waxen and devoid of all life, that filled residents and visitors alike with a primal fear. He appeared without a sound, his dead gaze focusing on the living before fading into nothingness.
Even more disturbing was the lady in the black cloak, a theatrical figure who was said to glide silently through the rooms, her face hidden in deep shadow.
Although the Commandery of St. Jana is long gone, and its stones are scattered and changed, the legends stubbornly cling to this place like fog. Does something still haunt this place?
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Knightly spirits haunting St. Johanns-Vorstadt on the Rhine
Before a state-of-the-art apartment convoluted was built in its place, the area around the St. Johann once belonged to the order of the Crusaders of St. John. Tales of knights parading in armor, the tormented cries of children coming from wells, and ghosts in the elderly Ritterhaus have haunted this place for centuries.
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E. Nesbit's shadow mark
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Hauntings and ghosts in elderly Basel
History of the Order of Saint John – Wikipedia
The arrival of Saint John in Basel – Wikipedia
Image Source: Pixabay.com
