There was once a castle on the site of today's Nydegg Church. Stories of ghosts haunting the vintage Nydegg Castle and the steps leading up to it still circulate. One of Bern's most infamous and feared ghosts is Burgträppe-Balzli.
High above a bend in the Aare River in Bern, where old cobbled streets wind through the heart of the Old Town, lies Nydegg, an vintage quarter with centuries-old bones and whispers of things best left in the past.
Although the area today brims with the charm of the medieval city center, one shadow remains darker than the rest: Burgträppe-Balzli, a ghastly plague that is said to haunt the ruined steps of the once mighty Nydeggburg Castle.
The castle is lost but not forgotten
Nydegg Castle stood on the eastern edge of Bern's Zähringerstadt, the city's oldest district, founded in 1191. Built as a fortress to guard the Aare River and secure Bern's eastern flank.
In 1268, Nydeggburg Castle met a mysterious and decisive end, destroyed with little fanfare or records. The Bernese demolished the castle to make way for the district of Nydegg and to prevent any claims by other noble families after the conquest of the Zähringen family. By a statute of January 16, 1274, Habsburg King Rudolf I forgave the city of Bern for the destruction of the castle.
In its place were houses, workshops and busy water mills that soon filled the air with the rasp and creak of early industry. The Nydegg Church was also built on the site.
The macabre ghost of Burgträppe
The locals call him Burgträppe-Balzli and his story is whispered from generation to generation and he is probably one of Bern's more famed ghosts. He is no ordinary specter and is said to be strange, bitter, and even brutal. Balzli seems to choose his victims carefully. According to legend, it does not hunt women at all, but men walking on the stairs claim that they were beaten by some imperceptible force.
But who is this ghost that is said to still lurk on the stairs? Did it have connections to the castle that once stood there? Did something terrible happen on the stairs that he's now trying to revisit?
Whatever the truth, his rage is eternal. On frosty winter nights, passersby near the steps report hearing echoing thumps like fists hitting stone and the sudden appearance of bruises on the bodies of those who dared to get too close.
Spooky builders at night
Balzli is not alone in his hauntings of the area around Nydegg and the place where the castle once stood. Witnesses report hearing ghostly craftsmen from old times. You can hear them hitting the hammer, pulling the stone and dismantling the imperceptible walls. These phenomena appear on frigid winter nights when the fog over the Aare is bulky.
According to legend, these spirits are the restless spirits of the workers who destroyed the castle in 1268, cursed to repeat their destruction forever.
So if you're hiking Nydegg at night, be careful with stairs. Avoid shadows clinging to stones. And if you hear footsteps on the stairs behind you, don't stop and don't turn around.
Just keep going
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Castle World – Nydegg – Switzerland
Castle of the city's founders – historic Bern
The ghost city of Bern – SWI swissinfo.ch
These ghosts haunt the streets and houses of the city
Image Source: Pixabay.com
