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The White Lady - A Berlin Ghost Story

The Nikolaiviertel has many stories to tell—not only about real people such as Lessing and Mendelsohn, but also legends and ghost stories. One of these is the subject of the 15th panel of the historical trail in Poststraße: Carl Gause & belief in ghosts. It is the haunting story of the white lady.

Anyone walking from St. Nicholas’ Church to the banks of the Spree and looking at the red sandstone of the Kurfürstenhaus would never guess that this building owes its name not to its builder or architect, but that it hides a truly spooky story.

Carl Gause, who built the part of the Kurfürstenhöfe facing the Spree between 1895 and 1897, created a magnificent commercial building in the German Renaissance style. On its other side, the complex extends to the plot at Poststraße 4. It was expanded again in 1927 and is now a listed building. By the way, Gause was one of the great architects of his time—he also designed the Savoy Hotel, the Bristol, the Borchardt wine shop, and, completed after Gause’s death, the old Adlon in Berlin.

However, the Kurfürstenhaus bears its name because of a Hohenzollern, Elector Johann Sigismund, who wanted to escape a haunting in the castle—but was unsuccessful.

The ghost he wanted to escape is the most famous figure in Berlin mythology: the White Lady, the Hohenzollern family ghost, messenger of death, and essentially a shadow of the dynasty. The origins of this legend date back to the Middle Ages, and three people are associated with it. One is Bertha von Rosenberg, who is said to have died of a broken heart in the 15th century. The best known is Kunigunde von Orlamünde, whose story tells of tragic misunderstanding and unfulfilled love. She is said to have lost her children out of longing for Burgrave Albrecht der Schöne and to follow the Hohenzollerns as a restless spirit. And finally, the most recent figure is Anna Sydow, the “Beautiful Caster,” mistress of Elector Joachim II, who was imprisoned in Spandau Fortress after his death and died there. She is said to have appeared as a warning shadow to the adulterer shortly before his end.

When the Hohenzollerns moved to Berlin and built the City Palace, the White Lady followed them to the Spree. People claimed to have seen her in the chambers, on the stairs, in dark corridors. It was said that she always appeared shortly before the death of a family member. Superstition mingled with courtly fear, and soon the haunting became part of Berlin’s chronicles. Elector Johann Georg is said to have seen her on New Year’s Day 1598 – a few days later he was dead. And a courtier under the Great Elector is said to have fallen down the stairs after encountering her.

But hardly any event shaped the reputation of the White Lady as much as the death of Elector Johann Sigismund in 1619. The elector, weakened by a stroke and severe gout, feared her appearance more than all his illnesses. Legend has it that he saw the White Lady in the castle, gliding wordlessly through the walls, her robe vibrating like cobwebs in the breeze. Horrified, he fled—out of the halls of power across the Spree, into the narrow alleys of the Nikolaiviertel.

He sought refuge in Poststraße, in the home of his valet Anton Freytag. The building, a simple town house overlooking the church, was the exact opposite of the castle. Here, he believed he could escape the ominous messenger and death. A month earlier, he had already handed over power to his son and now he hoped to gain a few weeks of peace. But the White Lady, he feared, would find every Hohenzollern, no matter where he turned.

On December 23, 1619, Johann Sigismund died in his servant’s house, surrounded by family and confidants. Above his deathbed, Anton Freytag later had a bronze plaque installed, which recorded the time of his master’s death in Latin script. But in the city, people told a different story: the White Lady had found him…

When the Berlin Palace was rebuilt or extended with the dome added in the 19th century, and the Nikolaiviertel district also changed, the sightings continued. Newspaper reports from the 18th century mentioned the white lady, and romantic writers of the 19th century took up the legend again. She was believed to have been seen in the palace, on the Spree Bridge, and even in the Spandau Citadel. And, of course, in the alleys of the Nikolaiviertel—always dressed in white, always silent, always shortly before death.

And so today, the Kurfürstenhaus on the banks of the Spree and the Kurfürstenhöfe in Poststraße stand as silent witnesses to a story that has become established over centuries—a legend that interweaves architecture, politics, and superstition. The house owes its name to an attempt by a member of the Hohenzollern family to escape a haunting at this location, and since then, people in Berlin have said, “The White Lady finds everyone.”

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Before the world wakes up, Moraine Lake reveals its true magic. The iconic Ten Peaks catching the first golden alpenglow, the perfectly still turquoise waters reflecting the giants above, and that crisp alpine air. Banff National Park at its absolute finest.

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Julian Cano

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The Mantell UFO incident was among the most publicized early UFO reports. The incident resulted in the crash and death of 25-year-old Kentucky Air National Guard pilot, Captain Thomas F. Mantell, on January 7, 1948, while in pursuit of a supposed UFO.

Historian David Michael Jacobs argues the Mantell case marked a sharp shift in both public and governmental perceptions of UFOs. Previously, mass media often treated UFO reports with a whimsical or glib attitude reserved for silly season news. Following Mantell's death, however, Jacobs notes "the fact that a person had dramatically died in an encounter with an alleged flying saucer dramatically increased public concern about the phenomenon. Now a dramatic new prospect entered thought about UFOs: they might be not only extraterrestrial but potentially hostile as well." (Jacobs, 45)

Mantell was an experienced pilot; his total flight history consisted of 2,167 hours in the air, and he had been honored for his part in the Battle of Normandy during World War II. [1]

On 7 January 1948, Godman Army Airfield at Fort Knox, Kentucky received a report from the Kentucky State Highway Patrol of an unusual aerial object near Maysville, Kentucky. Reports of a westbound circular object, 250 to 300 feet (91 m) in diameter, were made from Owensboro, Kentucky, and Irvington, Kentucky.

At about 1:45 p.m., Sgt Quinton Blackwell saw an object from his position in the control tower at Fort Knox. Two other witnesses in the tower also reported a white object in the distance. Base commander Colonel Guy Hix reported an object he described as "very white," and "about one fourth the size of the full moon … Through binoculars it appeared to have a red border at the bottom … It remained stationary, seemingly, for one and a half hours." Observers at Clinton County Army Air Field in Ohio described the object "as having the appearance of a flaming red cone trailing a gaseous green mist" and observed the object for around 35 minutes.[2] Another observer at Lockbourne Army Air Field in Ohio noted, " Just before leaving it came to very near the ground, staying down for about ten seconds, then climbed at a very fast rate back to its original altitude, 10,000 feet, leveling off and disappearing into the overcast heading 120 degrees. Its speed was greater than 500 mph in level flight."[3]

Four P-51 Mustangs of C Flight, 165th Fighter Squadron Kentucky Air National Guard[4] already in the air—one piloted by Mantell—were told to approach the object. Sgt Blackwell was in radio communication with the pilots throughout the event.

One pilot's Mustang was low on fuel, and he quickly abandoned his efforts. Air Force Captain Edward J. Ruppelt (the first head of Project Blue Book) notes that there was some disagreement amongst the air traffic controllers as to Mantell's words as he communicated with the tower: some sources[5] reported that Mantell had described an object "[which] looks metallic and of tremendous size," but others disputed whether or not Mantell actually said this.

The other two pilots accompanied Mantell in steep pursuit of the object. They later reported they saw an object, but described it as so small and indistinct they could not identify it. Mantell ignored suggestions that the pilots should level their altitude and try to more clearly see the object.

Only one of Mantell's companions, Lt. Albert Clemmons, had an oxygen mask, and his oxygen was in low supply. Clemmons and a Lt. Hammond called off their pursuit at 22,500 feet (6,900 m). Mantell continued to climb, however. According to the Air Force, once Mantell passed 25,000 feet (7,600 m) he blacked out from the lack of oxygen (hypoxia), and his plane began spiraling back towards the ground. A witness later reported Mantell's Mustang in a circling descent. His plane crashed at a farm south of Franklin, Kentucky, on the Tennessee-Kentucky state line.

Firemen later pulled Mantell's body from the Mustang's wreckage. His wristwatch had stopped at 3:18 p.m., the time of his crash. Meanwhile, by 3:50 p.m. the UFO was no longer visible to observers at Godman Army Air Field. The Mantell Incident was reported by newspapers around the nation, and received significant news media attention. A number of sensational rumors were also circulated about Mantell's crash. Among the rumors were claims that Mantell's fighter had been shot down by the UFO he was chasing, and that the Air Force covered up evidence proving this. Another rumor stated that Mantell's body was found riddled with strange holes. However, no evidence has ever surfaced to substantiate any of these claims. In 1956, USAF Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, the supervisor of the Air Force's Project Blue Book study into the UFO mystery, would write that the Mantell Crash was one of three "classic" UFO cases in 1948 that would help to define the UFO phenomenon in the public mind, and would help to convince Air Force intelligence specialists that UFOs were a "real", physical phenomenon. (Ruppelt, 30)

Mantell was later buried at Zachary Taylor National Cemetery.[6] [edit] The Venus Explanation

The Mantell Crash was quickly investigated by Project Sign, the Air Force's new research group which had been created to study UFO incidents. Though Project Sign's staff never came to a conclusion, other Air Force investigators ruled that Mantell had misidentified the planet Venus, and, wrongly believing that he could close in to get a better look, had passed out from the lack of oxygen at high altitude.

However, this conclusion was later changed, because although Venus was roughly in the same position as the UFO, astronomers working for Project Sign ruled that Venus would have been nearly invisible to observers at that time of day. The cause of Mantell's crash remains officially listed as undetermined by the Air Force. [edit] Skyhook Balloon Explanation

Dr. J. Allen Hynek, a professor of astronomy and a scientific consultant to Project Sign, suggested Mantell had misidentified a US Navy Skyhook weather balloon. Others disputed this idea, noting that no particular Skyhook balloon could be conclusively identified as being in the area in question during Mantell's pursuit. Despite its shortcomings, others thought the Skyhook solution was plausible: the balloons were a secret Navy project at the time of Mantell's crash, were made of reflective aluminum, and were about 100 feet (30 m) in diameter, perhaps consistent with Mantell's description of a large metallic object, and may furthermore be consistent with the motions reported by the other UFO witnesses. Since the Skyhook balloons were secret at the time, neither Mantell nor the other observers in the air control tower would have been able to identify the UFO as a Skyhook. Furthermore, later research by Project Sign and UFO skeptics would show that multiple Skyhook balloons had been launched on 7 January 1948 in Clinton County, Ohio, approximately 150 miles (240 km) northeast of Fort Knox. UFO skeptic Philip Klass would argue that wind currents at that time would have blown the balloons close to the area of the Mantell Incident.

If a Skyhook balloon was involved in the crash of Mantell's aircraft, the Air Force would have been loath to admit the presence of the balloon for more than mere reasons of security since it would have also meant admitting that a DoD program caused the dispatch of a Kentucky Air National Guard aircraft with fatal consequences for its pilot. [edit] Inexperience with the P-51

Researchers[7] have also noted that while Mantell was an experienced pilot, he was rather new to the P-51, and that this relative inexperience could have been a factor in the crash.