Germany lends itself well to ghost stories. It’s not just all the ruined castles and long autumn nights. Sometimes, the very forests themselves can seem, well, forbidding (check out the Grimm Brothers’ original tales, for proof that they agreed). And though not everyone appreciates that creepy feeling you get on the back of your neck when entering a haunted house, some people do. If you’re one of them, then one of these places might just be for you!

Haunted Castles in the Pfalz Forest

If you’ve been in Germany for long, you probably know that autumn hikes can turn from tranquil to terrifying in the blink of an eye. Or, more accurately, in the setting of a sun. Once the shadows start to come out, then the woods can feel full-on Hansel and Gretel.

That goes double for the castles in and around the Pfalz Forest, all of which are located an easy day trip away from the KMC. While nearly every castle in Germany has a ghost story of some kind (granted, there was an unfortunate amount of torturing, killing, and imprisoning in medieval German castles), here are three good places to start.

Burg Nanstein in Landstuhl is easy to access and has quite the bloody history. Franz Von Sickingen, a notable 15th century German knight, was crushed to death under a pile of rubble after unsuccessfully picking a fight with the Archbishop of Trier and his cannons. Burg Beilstein, which is just south of Kaiserslautern, makes for a perfect late afternoon autumn hike. You can arrive just as the shadows get long, and reflect on the legend of a 12th century girl and her ghost companions who thwarted a pair of forest bandits. Finally, Burg Bewartstein, an hour south of Kaiserslautern on the French-German border, bills itself as a legendary robber baron castle…and lives up to the billing. It only accepts cash (proper for any robber baron), has a castle ghost (of medieval origin, naturally), and has tons of dark nooks and crannies.

Ghost Tour Through Stuttgart’s Old Town

Many people think that the most horrifying thing about Stuttgart is the traffic. While traffic in the lovely Baden-Württemburg city to the south can be daunting, the city also abounds in specters.

Fortunately, thrill seekers have a great way to get the inside scoop about Stuttgart’s ghosts, thanks to the Stuttgart Ghostwalk Tour. The tour is well worth the €15 (€10 for children ages 6-16). Checking in at around 90 minutes, the tour winds by the Old Castle, the Market Hall, and the Collegiate Church. Get ready to learn about headless horsemen, bad monks, and twilight ghosts.

More information is available at https://stuttgarter-geister.de/

Haunted Munich

It makes sense that Munich might seem haunted, especially once Oktoberfest fades to a close and all those jolly people become frowning shadows of their former festive selves.

Jokes aside, Munich offers one of the best ghost tours in Germany (the “Munich Ghosts and Spirits Evening Walking Tour”). You’ll learn about Munich’s supernatural side (who knew there were so many ghosts there?), as well as its historical dark side. The tour can be pricy (around €50 per person) but actually provides pretty decent value, especially since it doubles as a two-hour city tour with an excellent guide and three shots of, well, liquid spirits.

Ghastly Nuremberg

Even at the best of times, Nuremberg can be a little spooky. Old buildings, a checkered history, that gnarly medieval dungeons museum? Oh yeah. Definitely haunting.

And once late October hits, things get even spookier. One of the best ways to learn all about Nuremberg is to sign up for the Nuremberg Ghosts and Gallows tour. It takes place at night, is led by a professional guide, and covers a very wide range of scary stuff (from supernatural to extraterrestrial to the terrible stuff that humans can do to one another). It will be an evening you won’t forget, guaranteed.

The Devil’s Bridge

This one is kind of a stretch, in many ways. It’s a long way from Kaiserslautern (7 hours by car). And it isn’t exactly haunted, at least not in the traditional sense.

But, dang. The Rakotzbrücke (Devil’s Bridge), located in Gablenz, mere kilometers from the Poland border, is awesome. As in, awesome in every way. Structurally, it’s a marvel. When the water beneath it is clear, it forms a perfect circle with the reflection.

And the legend behind its creation inspires awe, as well. Allegedly, the engineering was so difficult that the devil had to be brought in to help finish the bridge in the early 1860s. Rather than take a cut from the subpar architects who couldn’t get the job done, the devil got the soul of the first poor person to walk across it. No word on who that was. But if you do visit, you should be safe!

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