When the porter's daughter died in the Rhine, his only wish was to be buried next to her in the cemetery. Because everyone believed his death was a suicide, he was denied burial in consecrated ground. Now he is forced to hide in the shadows, and this is the only way to visit her grave.
The elderly city of Basel was once bristling with gates and towers and guards on the bridges, streets and walls that kept the medieval city safe and sound. None was more vital than the Rhine Gate on the Grossbasel side, a fortified passage controlling access to the age-old Rhine Bridge, a vital link between Gross and Kleinbasel. The gate itself was demolished in 1839, but one of its most tragic stories hangs over the city like fog over a river.
The Mittlere Brücke, or middle bridge, is one of the oldest bridges on the Rhine, dating back to 1223 and today has become a symbol of Basel, connecting Grossbasel (Greater Basel) and Kleinbasel (Little Basel).
Legend has it that a silver bell once hung on the towers of the Basel cathedral. After the earthquake of 1356, the towers collapsed and the bell sank into the Rhine, only now calling the river spirits to prayer at midnight under the full moon. It is said that the bell can only be raised once the pastor becomes a Catholic church again. It is said that if you look closely and listen from the banks or bridge, you will see a silver glow and hear the lackluster sound of a bell.
The legend of the ghostly gatekeeper
In the 17th century, a drunken porter served at the Rhine Gate on the Grossbasel side of the river. He was a man with a weakness for alcohol and a disreputable reputation in the city, yet there was one radiant, innocent lithe in his bleak life – his beloved four-year-old daughter.
Tragedy struck one afternoon as the little girl was playing near the edge of a bridge, close enough for her father to see her, but far enough away to pose a danger. How too often he was buried in his cups. And although he was clear enough to see the horror unfolding before him, he was too drunk to save her when she fell.
It was the boatmen from the guild house on the bridge who reacted first, jumping into their boats and chasing the fast-moving current. They managed to pull the girl from the water near the church of St. Jana, but it was too delayed. The child is gone.
The Phantom of St. Martin's
She was buried in the church of St. Martin, or Martinskirche, the oldest parish church in the city, on the Cathedral Hill, or Münsterhügel.
The doorman was crushed and filled with enormous guilt. During the girl's burial at the cemetery of St. Martin stood still at the grave long after the others had left. He carried his guilt heavily, a man tormented by life.
A few weeks later his body was found floating near the corner tower of Klingental on the Rhine. Either from despair or from drinking, he slipped into the water. And because suicide was suspected, he was refused burial next to his daughter in consecrated ground. Instead, his remains were buried in the elderly secular cemetery in Klingental, where plague victims, beggars and outcasts were sent.
However, his soul found no peace. Even decades, maybe even centuries later, depending on when it actually happened, he still haunted the cemetery. During the time of Reverend Theodor Falkeysen (1725–1815), people whispered about a ghostly figure seen standing in the churchyard of St. Martin on moonlit nights. Described as stiff and bent, dressed in the torn doorman's clothes, with empty eyes fixed forever on the child's grave.
-
The restless guardian of the Rhine gate in Basel
When the porter's daughter died in the Rhine, his only wish was to be buried next to her in the cemetery. Because everyone believed his death was a suicide, he was denied burial in consecrated ground. Now he is forced to hide in the shadows, and this is the only way to visit her grave.
-
Visiting the ruins of the Nes church in Norway
The mysterious ruins of Nes Church in Norway have attracted ghost hunters and legends for centuries. But what really lurks among the elderly stones after gloomy?
-
The ghost of hay in Hvítárvellir on the white floor
The night before the wedding, the girl was tracked down by a spirit sent to kill her. Who was behind the haunting and where did the spirit go after meeting them?
-
The Ebenrain slave trader: a tortured ghost in the shadow of Sissach
Ebenrain Castle, which was supposed to be a silent summer residence in Sissach, near Basel, Switzerland, has turned into a haunted castle after one of its former residents continues to haunt it.
-
The eerie and haunting story of Toronto's elderly City Hall
Said to be haunted by numerous ghosts, the Old City Hall in Toronto, Canada is now known as one of the scariest buildings in the city. Ghosts of the building are said to remain, from strange creatures attacking judges' robes on the steps to the country's last executed prisoners.
-
The ghostly monk of Spittelsprung (Münsterberg) in Basel
Back when the Münsterberg hills in the really elderly part of Basel, Switzerland were called Spittelsprung, it was also said that a monk haunted the streets. Slipping in and out of houses, scaring children, he paid no attention to the world of the living, always immersed in prayers. The question is: what to pray for?
-
The haunting of the Gray Lady in the Søndre Brekke estate
For centuries, rumors have circulated about the ghost of a gray lady haunting the Søndre Brekke residence in Norway. A presence so mighty that even exorcisms did not aid.
-
Half-dead Írafells-Móri, haunted for generations
Though not quite dead, the unfortunate boy was resurrected as undead by a sorcerer to avenge his entire family. For generations, Írafells-Móri harassed, harassed, and cared for the family he was destined to destroy.
-
Hindelbank's Ghost Shoes: A Mother's Journey Beyond the Grave
When her husband forgot to bury her in her shoes, the woman came back to haunt him, doomed to wander the land of the dead barefoot.
-
Disturbing encounters with ghosts from the Tranquille Sanatorium in Canada
Tranquille Sanatorium near Kamloops is considered one of the most haunted places in Canada. Once a tuberculosis hospital, later a center for the mentally ill, it has a history full of secrets, tragedy and an incredible atmosphere that continues to this day. Visitors report ghostly sightings of ghostly figures wandering the grounds and warning whispers in the gloomy corridors.
-
Knightly spirits haunting St. Johanns-Vorstadt on the Rhine
Before a newfangled apartment complicated 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.
-
Dearg Due – Irish vengeful vampire of flesh and stone
Stories have long circulated about Dearg Due, Ireland's bloodthirsty vampire. But how true is the story about the vampire and has it really been told since age-old times?
Hauntings and ghosts in elderly Basel
Mittlere Brücke (Basel) – Everything you need to know in 2025
You don't believe in Gaischter? Are you kidding me? Are you stern? Basel is full of them. | barfi.ch
Trip description «Legend Walk» Place 1: Claraplatz and Rebgasse
Image Source: Pixabay.com
