November 6, 2024, 6:04 am | Read time: 11 minutes

When it comes to excursion destinations in Germany, most people think of vibrant cities, lots of nature, and historic old towns with impressive buildings. But in addition to the classic sights, our home country is also home to dark legends and mysterious locations. From abandoned sanatoriums and eerie castle ruins to spooky villas – Germany has plenty of spooky places to offer that will make even the bravest visitor shudder.

11 spooky places in Germany

Hotel Waldlust – a place of spooky phenomena

The Hotel Waldlust in Freudenstadt was once a luxury hotel for aristocrats and film stars. Today, it is an abandoned, spooky place that is said to be haunted. In its heyday, the hotel was run by Adele B., also known as “Adi”. Since her violent death in the hotel in 1949, she is said to have been haunting the place. In addition to being converted into a military hospital, the hotel experienced many changes of ownership, vacancies and finally ruin.

As early as the 1960s, former employees and guests told the first ghost stories. Paranormal phenomena such as shaking glasses, cold shivers, and unexplained noises led scientists to investigate in 2005. However, they found no concrete evidence. Some phenomena could be attributed to outdated building technology, others remained mysterious.

Despite the lack of scientific evidence, the Hotel Waldlust continues to attract artists, photographers, and filmmakers who are fascinated by the abandoned building and its haunted stories as one of the spookiest places in Germany. It has already served as a backdrop for horror films and is a popular destination for “lost places” photo tours.

The Nuremberg Hole Prisons – Germany’s medieval horror prison

The Nuremberg Hole Prisons under the town hall were long regarded as a spooky as well as one of the cruelest places in Germany. In the 14th century, prisoners were held there in tiny, dark cells under inhumane conditions, often chained up and without light. The prisons were barely two by two meters in size and were mainly used as a final resting place for prisoners on remand and death row inmates. Often, two people had to share one of these holes.

Today, the Hole Prisons are a museum that offers guided tours. Visitors learn about the terrible prison conditions and the historical events that make this place a symbol of fear and one of the creepiest places in Germany.

St. Ursula is the eerie bone church of Cologne

The Basilica of St. Ursula in Cologne is another one of the spooky places in Germany. Just 700 meters from the cathedral, it is home to the “Golden Chamber”. This is the largest ossuary north of the Alps. The bones of over 10,000 people are stacked in the chamber, some of them several meters high, and arranged on the walls to form a macabre work of art. According to legend, these are the remains of St. Ursula and her eleven companions, who were killed by the Huns in the 4th century. In 1106, a large burial ground was discovered during excavations, which at the time was believed to be the resting place of Ursula and her companions. Today, however, it is clear that the bones come from people who died over 2000 years ago.

Despite these findings, the belief in the legend persisted. This was not least due to a translation error, which incorrectly turned eleven companions into 11,000. In 1643, the cult of St. Ursula reached its peak with the construction of the “Golden Chamber”. Although the basilica was damaged in the Second World War, the chamber remained intact. To this day, it is one of the most important collections of baroque relics in the world and one of the creepiest places in Germany. The “Golden Chamber” is open to visitors, but only during limited opening hours.

The legend of the White Lady in Berlin Palace

The White Lady is a legendary ghost from the late Middle Ages who is said to haunt several German palaces and castles, including Berlin Palace. The ghost is said to have appeared, especially before the deaths of noblemen, usually in the form of a woman in a white robe. This is where her title, “Death Messenger of the Hohenzollerns,” comes from.

Many legends say that the White Lady is the Countess Kunigunde von Orlamünde. The legend of the White Lady was passed on for centuries in various German castles, particularly in Berlin Palace, where she haunted between the 15th and 18th centuries. The legend was revived with the reconstruction of the palace and the opening of the Humboldt Forum in 2021. Whether the White Lady also haunts the newly built Berlin Palace remains unclear.

Germany’s witches’ castle with a gruesome past

Penzlin, a small town in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, was a center of witch-hunting in the Middle Ages. Around 25,000 people, mainly women, died as a result of this madness. Penzlin Old Castle played a central role, as a torture dungeon, the so-called witches’ cellar, was built there in 1560. Many suspected witches were tortured in this dungeon in order to force confessions.

Today, the castle houses a museum of everyday magic and witch hunts. Despite its dark history, the castle is used for events such as medieval festivals and witch dances. It attracts around 20,000 visitors every year. This is despite the fact that the instruments of torture still remain on display, which were used to torment numerous people at the time and make this place one of the scariest in Germany.

Sophienheilstätte – the sad decline of Thuringia’s “creepy clinic”

The Sophienheilstätte is a former sanatorium for lung patients near Bad Berna – and one of Germany’s spooky places. Its isolated location is due to the fact that tuberculosis patients were treated there, and strict hygiene regulations were necessary due to the highly contagious disease. While the abandoned house still looks the same from the outside, looted rooms bear witness to vandalism and decay. This is a so-called “lost place”, which attracts not only urban explorers but also ghost hunters. Due to the dark stories of the many patients who have suffered and died there, some are convinced that this spooky place is haunted.

Cologne’s creepy villa, ‘Haus Fühlingen’

The dilapidated Villa Oppenheim, also known as Haus Fühlingen, is located in Cologne’s Chorweiler district and is famous for its spooky ghost stories. Originally built by Eduard Freiherr von Oppenheim in 1884 as a magnificent country residence, the site was the scene of a bloody battle back in 1288 in which numerous soldiers died. Later, during the Nazi regime, the villa was used as a dormitory for Polish forced laborers. A tragic love story led to a murder and other mysterious deaths surrounding the house.

The villa fell into disrepair over the following decades, and the city of Cologne had parts of the property demolished, and the building sealed off in 1967. This only reinforced the myth of the haunted house, as visitors reported oppressive feelings and discovered alleged supernatural phenomena in photos. In 2007, the house once again caused a stir when young people found the body of a man who had apparently hanged himself in the villa.

The ossuary in Oppenheim – the creepy chapel of death

In Oppenheim, around 20,000 citizens were laid to rest in an ossuary between 1400 and 1750. The main reason for this was a lack of space. This led to the dead being moved from their graves to such ossuaries after a certain period of time. The need for the ossuary was also a result of numerous wars, epidemics, and famines.

Until 1750, the ossuary continued to receive new remains, which were piled up again and again during renovations. Today, visitors can take a look at the macabre piles through a barred door, while a golden skull, a movie prop, is particularly eye-catching. In fact, it is a real human skull with a golden coating. The ossuary in Oppenheim continues to grow today, as historical skeletons are discovered during construction work or excavations and brought there.

Frankenstein Castle – the creepiest ruin in Germany

The Frankenstein Castle rises up near Darmstadt, an approximately 750-year-old building that is steeped in numerous legends and myths. In particular, the story that Mary Shelley’s visit to the castle inspired her famous novel “Frankenstein” attracts many mystery fans. Although experts argue about the exact connection, Shelley’s diary entries prove that she stayed near the castle. Another legend revolves around the alchemist Johann Konrad Dippel. He was born in the castle and is said to have tried to create a new human being from corpse parts. Many believe him to be the living model for Shelley’s Professor Frankenstein.

Not only is the castle famed for its tales, but the surrounding area boasts enigmatic sites like Ilbes Mountain, reputed to hold magnetic stones and revered as a significant sanctuary for witchcraft. In the past, Frankenstein Castle has also been the subject of formats such as “Galileo Mystery” and “Ghost Hunters International”, with the legends surrounding ghosts and witch cults remaining alive to this day. The region remains a magnet for visitors in search of the mysterious and the supernatural.

The Beelitz-Heilstätten – Germany’s spookiest clinic

The Beelitz-Heilstätten in Brandenburg is a dilapidated former hospital that once served as a flagship facility for combating tuberculosis. From 1898 to 1930, the complex clinic offered space for up to 1,200 patients and was equipped with modern facilities. After the First World War, the clinic was used as a military hospital for wounded soldiers, and during the Second World War, it served as the largest Russian military hospital outside the Soviet Union. Since 1994, the site has been largely unused and has fallen into disrepair, which has led to vandalism and illegal parties.

In view of the decay and the dark past, visitors report eerie experiences, such as noises in the corridors and doors opening. Among the mysterious stories are two murders that took place near the sanatoriums. The haunting, ghost stories, and dark history attract people who like to explore spooky places.

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Waldsassen Basilica: Germany’s spookiest church?

One of the most unusual church treasures in the world has been on display in the basilica of the Cistercian monastery in Waldsassen since 1775: the so-called “holy bodies”. These full-body relics, made from the bones of alleged Christian martyrs, are opulently decorated and draped in magnificent robes adorned with precious stones. The relics, which were brought here directly from the Vatican in Rome between 1688 and 1756, are displayed on impressive gilded altars and in display cases.

The origin of these relics goes back to the discovery of large catacombs in Rome in 1578. Hundreds of thousands of people were buried there. The Catholic Church declared the bones found to be the remains of martyrs, which triggered a veritable hype in the churches of Northern Europe. Many monasteries and churches bought these relics to increase their importance and attractiveness. In Waldsassen, the “holy bodies” were wrapped in baroque robes by a talented monk. They have been on permanent display in the basilica since 1765. Each year, the “Holy Body Festival” on the first Sunday in August commemorates the arrival of the tenth “Holy Body,” paying homage to the relics’ significance to the church and cementing its reputation as one of Germany’s most haunting sites.