Is Hohenzollern Castle Haunted?
Certainly, with a history as long and complex as Hohenzollern Castle's, it might not be so surprising to learn that many consider the fortress to be haunted.
Some report that there is a "Lady in White" who haunts not only the castle but also the royal family. As the story goes, Albrecht von Hohenzollern, the Duke of Prussia and son of Frederick IV, was in a relationship with Countess Kunigunde von Orlamonde. The widowed countess was a mother of two children.
Albrecht and the countess were enamored with each other, but his parents opposed the marriage. Albrecht told his love that "if it were not for four eyes between us," then he'd marry her. The countess took the phrase "four eyes between us" to mean her children, and so she murdered them by poking their eyes out with a golden needle.
Of course, Albrect was horrified that the countess could commit such an action, and broke things off with her. The countess fled to the Vatican to find forgiveness, and the Pope ordered her to build a monastery and commit her life to prayer.
It's said she became the abbess of a Cistercian convent where she stayed until she died in 1351. Coincidentally, the habit worn by the Cistercian Order is pure white.
After the countess's death, legend has it that she began haunting all the castles belonging to the Hohenzollern dynasty. As an apparition seen in flowing white robes, she brought bad luck and even death to anyone who saw her.
As ghost stories go, it's a doozy. Although, it's likely not true. Historians insist that Countess Kunigunde von Orlamonde was, in fact, childless.
Nonetheless, the history of Hohenzollern castle is certainly a checkered one, with or without ghost stories.
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