A linden tree planted to commemorate a mass grave of plague victims in the Aargau Valley in Switzerland has become a notable monument. However, it is said that at night the spirits buried under it crawl out of the ground to scare people as a warning of upcoming tragedies.
High up on a peaceful ridge in the Canton of Aargau, between the whispering forests and gentle slopes of the Swiss countryside, grows a tree unlike any other. The statuesque, historic and impossibly wide Linn lime tree – or Linner Linde – is probably around 800 years venerable. It is not only one of the largest and oldest trees in Switzerland; it is a living legend, a relic of both unimaginable tragedy and incredible mystery.
This is the legend of this lovely village in the canton of Aargau, handed down by Ludwig Rochholz (1836–1892). It is said that during the long nights of autumn and winter, the dead rise, cross the fields and return to their venerable village.
Linden tree of a plague victim
Linner Linde, sown after one of Europe's darkest chapters, the Black Death, is said to have grown out of grief and memories. Around 1350, when the plague ravaged the continent and swept through the remote Alpine valleys, the miniature village of Linn was not spared. Or maybe it was actually later, when the plague attacked again and again? Some say it was planted in the mid-16th century in memory of the victims of the plague epidemic. Sources say different things.
The disease spread like a shadow across the country, taking out entire families in a matter of days. According to local lore, after the plague claimed all the souls in the village, there was only one survivor left.
Grief-stricken and utterly alone, this unnamed survivor dug graves for the dead – perhaps his family, friends and neighbors – and buried them in a mass grave in the heart of Linn because there was no way to get them all to the cemetery. To mark the resting place and honor the memory of the fallen, he planted a linden tree. As the story goes, he prayed that the tree would stand guard over the village and protect future generations from the same fate. This tree, now over 650 years venerable, still spreads its colossal branches over the village, its twisted trunk reaching a circumference of almost 11 meters, and its presence is both grave and majestic.
Haunted linden tree
But while Linner Linde is revered for its protective symbolism and deep roots in local history, its spooky associations run just as deep. On foggy evenings or moonless nights, villagers talk in hushed tones about strange happenings under the branches. Lanterns flicker without wind. Footsteps echo when no one is walking. Soft, sorrowful whispers – some saying prayers, others saying they are crying – come from the ground where the plague victims are buried. Passers-by often claimed to have seen pale figures sitting silently on nearby benches, disappearing like dew in the morning lightweight.
Legends say that the souls buried under the tree are restless – not malicious, but bound to the earth by the trauma of their death. Some even believe that the linden itself absorbed their sadness, giving it an otherworldly aura that attracts both the curious and the bereaved. During some village festivals, elders insist on offerings of bread, wine and flowers at the base of the tree, in mute communion with the unseen.
However, not all stories are bleak. Some say the tree whispers wisdom to those who sit alone beneath it. It became a place of solace, reflection and even romance. Marriages were made under its branches, children were blessed at its roots, and venerable villagers decided to take their last walk in its arms. It is both a grave marker and a guardian, a sanctuary and a ghostly portal.
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