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125-640: The Sprengelburg lies on an outlier of the Königsberg between Eßweiler and Oberweiler im Tal immediately next to the Landesstraße 372. The boundary of the two municipalities runs through the castle terrain. Base on what is left of the castle, the Sprengelburg may have been built in the 13th century. The castle was erected at the narrowest point of the Talbach valley and guarded the road that used to run below it in

250-625: A butcher 's shop, two manicure - pedicure salons and one inn . Schooling experienced a general upswing beginning in the time of the Reformation , but no later than the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), it had fallen by the wayside. About the beginnings of organized education in Oberweiler im Tal itself, very little is known. It may be assumed, though, that schoolchildren from Oberweiler originally attended classes in nearby Hinzweiler . When no teacher

375-551: A chapel of ease to Hirsau's parish church. This actually brought about competition between the two churches in the time that followed for the function of parish church. As early as 1526, the Duchy of Palatinate-Zweibrücken introduced the Reformation into the church of the Oberamt of Meisenheim, replacing Catholic belief with Martin Luther 's teachings so that bit by bit, church services in

500-636: A nursing association. In the past, agriculture was the main livelihood in Oberweiler im Tal, although working alongside farmers were many kinds of craftsmen, particularly linen weavers . Even as far back as the 19th century, the mine directories kept by the Kingdom of Bavaria , to which Oberweiler belonged after the Congress of Vienna , listed three limestone galleries within Oberweiler's limits. The mill in its heyday had an overshot waterwheel and one run, for gristmilling, and this could then only be used when

625-572: A "zayan" (spirit). She joined other spirit maidens (some 350 of them), who haunt fiancés on their wedding day, bewitching them with their beauty and dragging them to the netherworld. In the village of Koprivica near Zaječar there is a legend about a ghost of a woman in a wedding dress that walks around at night scaring people. This ghost is most commonly referred to as the Dead Woman in White (Serbian cyrillic: Мртва Жена у Белом). There are two stories about

750-562: A Lord Cratz von Scharfenstein. This lordly house exercised in the centuries that followed much the same function as the Lords of Mühlenstein, choosing as their seat, however, the so-called Oberhof ("Upper Estate") near the Hirsauer Kirche . The Counts of Veldenz , as feudal lords over the dale's "poor people" (as of 1444, this was instead the Counts Palatine of Zweibrücken) chose as their seat

875-462: A White Lady's Meadow and White Lady's Lane, and St Athan also has a tradition of Y Ladi Wen. The "Suscon Screamer" is a woman dressed in white that many believe they have seen and/or heard on Suscon Road in Pittston Township, Pennsylvania . Suscon Road is long state route that goes on for miles and turns into Thornhurst Road and Bear Lake Road. Many say they could hear bloodcurdling screams in

1000-503: A bus stop at its junction with the main street is called Vésenaz , La Dame . Some two and a half kilometers to the South in the municipality of Vandœuvres another street is named Chemin de la Blanche . The neighbouring municipality of Choulex still bears the name of the family, whose lineage Humbert as the first lord of the castle was from and which was first mentioned in a document almost nine hundred years ago. In late September 2019,

1125-471: A chief indented of three Or and gules Or issuant from base a castle embattled with a tower likewise, above which a scourge, all of the second. This heraldic composition is drawn from old court seals. The charge in base is meant to be the Sprengelburg, a now ruined castle that was built about 1300 and once held sway throughout the Eßweiler Tal . The arms have been borne since 1983 when they were approved by

1250-452: A church to shelter from the heat, and Peter took a photo of ill Diane sitting in a pew inside, with a vague image of a woman in old-fashioned white with a bonnet sitting behind her. After that, she recovered from her illness. An old ballad is sung about a ghost, that is haunting Okehampton Castle : "My Ladye hath a sable coach, with horses two an four. My Ladye hath a gaunt blood-hound, that goeth before. My Ladye's coach hath nodding plumes,

1375-618: A document from about 1400 in the Veldenz cartularies . In this, its first documentary mention, the name was rendered hof zu Nydeckin ("estate at Nydeckin"). Neidecken's location is also described as lying on the Bornberg between Graulsdell and Zährenberg. On an 1843 map, Neideck was marked as Kratzerhof (perhaps after the Counts Kratz von Scharfenstein, successors to the Mülensteins' lordship over

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1500-441: A family. One night the parents woke to their boy screaming, "The White Lady!" By the time they arrived at his bedside, she had vanished. However, the boy reported that the lady had been angry and tried to take him away after he refused to accompany her to a box of gold buried in the vaults below. She could not rest while it was there. The same events took place the following three nights. When the child began sleeping with his parents,

1625-601: A female dubbed "the woman in the white dress" or "an bhean bhán" (the white woman) in an abandoned house next to the white river in Dunleer , Co. Louth. The White Lady is the name of a female ghost that lives in Verdala Palace in the small forest of Buskett , Rabat, Malta . Legend has it that many years ago, the niece of Grand Master de Rohan, was engaged to be married to a suitor whom she did not love. Her father told her that she must always do as her fiancé said. The wedding day

1750-624: A girl was killed after her prom night on the road. This is probably why the young woman allegedly is seen wearing white to this day. The girl is oftentimes called the Suscon Screamer. Many say if you honk the horn of your car three times at night in the area of the old railroad bridge, you could hear the screams of the Screamer and might even catch a glimpse of her. A White Lady is said to haunt Durand-Eastman Park in Rochester, New York . Also known as

1875-437: A hidden cauldron, changing physical characteristics, and a chastising morality. Here, a spirit was long said to wander the area until a man finally approached her. When such a man eventually did so, the spirit led him to a treasure (a cauldron filled with gold) hidden under a heavy stone within the old tower of Ogmore Castle and allowed the man to take half the treasure for himself. However, the man later returned and took more of

2000-551: A hill covered with trees. Only the name am alten Schloss and the remains of the neck ditch , which was partly built over by the L372, hinted at what was hidden underneath. From 1976 onwards, excavations were carried out on the site by students of the University of Maryland under the direction of Professor Higel. The remains of the outer walls, a rectangle measuring 20 by 15 metres, and a round tower, 8 metres in diameter, were uncovered. In

2125-688: A kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate , Germany . It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde Lauterecken-Wolfstein . In the south at the municipal limit with Eßweiler stands a ruined castle , the Sprengelburg, which was built about 1300. Oberweiler im Tal, in the North Palatine Uplands , lies in the Eßweiler Tal (dale) at an elevation of some 205 m above sea level against

2250-503: A local young man living in nearby Oreston , but being forbidden by her family. Despite this, she took a boat one night onto the lake whilst wearing her white clothing. The boat supposedly capsized, with the White Lady disappearing under the water. Others have claimed the Lady's lover was in the boat with her when it sank. Since then, many have told of supposedly seeing the White Lady sitting beside

2375-510: A motorcyclist picking up a female hitchhiker on the same stretch of road. A few miles later, the motorcyclist, upon turning around, noticed the passenger had vanished. In one instance, a car crashed into a tree, killing 6 people. It is rumored to be the white lady's curse. In another story, a White Lady is seen retracing her steps; she was said to have jumped off the Portchester Castle while trying to retrieve her fallen child. Her spirit

2500-435: A secondary occupation, four linen weavers were counted, along with one stocking weaver, three wainwrights, three tailors, two bricklayers , one blacksmith, one shoemaker, one cooper , one carpenter , one cabinetmaker and the miller. Fundamentally, this occupational structure remained in place well into the 20th century. Nevertheless, these traditional crafts have since disappeared. Now, most villagers must seek work outside

2625-483: A series of Veldenz documents between 1377 and 1439. It seems likely that the Mühlensteiners lived as robber barons in the 15th century, for according to one of Johannes Hofmann's reports, their trade-hindering activities got them into a feud with the city of Strasbourg . "The oft-named Mühlsteiner Junkers," reads one account, "have become foes of the city of Strasbourg ... who in a hostile way have struck over

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2750-496: A sixteen-year-old during the French occupation of Geneva at the beginning of the 19th century to shoot some animals for dinner with his widowed and impoverished mother. He was hit by an ice-cold breath of air, which made him shudder, his blood clot and his hair stand on end. In the darkness, a white shadow came out of the tower uttering hollow groans. It touched him and disappeared. The young man tried to flee but could not lift his feet from

2875-477: A specific person (e.g. Elizabeth Báthory ). Indonesian version of the white lady is called kuntilanak . In Charles Fort (Ireland) , there is the story of a white lady, the ghost of a young woman that died on her wedding night. Her death was a suicide which followed the death of her husband at the hand of her father. She came back as a ghost to search for her father, and now every year on her marriage night you can hear her scream. People also report sightings of

3000-509: A wedding in Eßweiler. The Strasbourg merchants took advantage of this, disguised themselves and were mistaken by the castle garrison for the Mülensteins. The merchants captured the castle, plundered and destroyed it. Attracted by the noise, the real lords of the castle returned, saw that they could do nothing more, and fled. They were caught by the Strasbourg merchants in front of Hinzweiler . One of

3125-471: A white lady haunts the remains of a monastery in the forest of the Uhlberg near to the famous Altmühltal with its limestone-underground and many potholes. In Hungarian mythology , a white lady was the ghost of a girl or young woman that died violently; usually, young women who committed suicide, were murdered, or died while imprisoned. The ghost is usually bound to a specific location and is often identified as

3250-510: A white lady. The castle was built in 1260 and demolished in 1896 with only an old tower remaining. According to legend, a duchess named Jakobine and her lover were murdered by her jealous husband. Her ghost was said to be seen before each of a series of fires that plagued the castle. Friedland in Brandenburg is claimed to be haunted by a white lady, supposedly the daughter of a baronet cursed by her father for not giving him an heir. According to

3375-507: A woman in white at the scene. A medium claimed that this was a vengeful spirit named "Dao" or "Deuan" who was after them and took their lives. Thirteen tales within England also suggest that the White Lady may be a victim of murder or suicide who died before she could tell anyone the location of some hidden treasure. Around 2019, the castle of Blenkinsopp in Northumberland was occupied by

3500-431: Is also home to another White Lady story. Archival evidence suggests that the forest was once home to a castle farm that was built in 1396. In the 17th century (estimated 1667), this site was burned down killing the daughter of Lord Lambert Reynart . This historical event has spawned a few variations on a White Lady ghost story based around the death of the woman who burned with the castle farm. The most common versions of

3625-591: Is also included in the Ancient Bohemian Legends . The most famous white lady of Estonia is said to reside in Haapsalu Castle . According to the legend, a canon fell in love with her, so she hid in the castle disguised as a choir boy, but she was discovered when the Bishop of Ösel-Wiek visited Haapsalu and subsequently immured in the wall of the chapel for her crime. To this day, she is said to look out of

3750-411: Is an accidental or impending death, murder, or suicide and the theme of loss, betrayed by a husband or fiancé, and unrequited love. In popular medieval legend , a White Lady is fabled to appear by day as well as by night in a house in which a family member is soon to die. They also appear within photos just before or after death. According to The Nuttall Encyclopædia , these spirits were regarded as

3875-406: Is characterized in various ways including being a terrifying ghost who may ask for help if you speak to her. Y Ladi Wen is also associated with restless spirits guarding hidden treasures, with perhaps the best-known example of this at Ogmore , Bridgend . The Ogmore apparition story is also noteworthy for containing many of the archetypal aspects common to such Celtic and Welsh stories, including

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4000-413: Is prefixed the element Ober— , meaning "upper", which relates to the village's location, which is higher up than where Hinzweiler lies. Thus, the name means "Upper Homestead". Oberweiler's first documentary mention names the village as Oberwiller . The spelling used today first cropped up in the historical record as early as 1588. The tag "im Tal", German for "in the dale" was added in the earlier half of

4125-452: Is said that there is an underground passage from the ruined castle which leads under the Königsberg to Wolfstein . It has yet to be found. However, until the 1950s, mercury and barite were actively mined in the Königsberg, so there are many tunnels in the area. Oberweiler im Tal Oberweiler im Tal is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde ,

4250-485: Is said to haunt the castle. At Worstead Church in Norfolk , there are stories of ghostly woman in white. Her story is diverse, from being a good ghost to a ghost who brings death to people. She is known locally as "White Lady" and her stories are said to have been around since the 1830s. Said that she often appears during Christmas Eve . The most famous case occurred in 1975, when Peter Berthelot and his wife Diane visited

4375-515: Is the ghost of Perchta of Rožmberk at Rožmberk Castle . Perchta of Rožmberk (c. 1429–1476) was a daughter of an important Bohemian nobleman, Oldřich II of Rožmberk . She married another nobleman, Jan of Lichtenštejn (John of Liechtenstein ) in 1449. The marriage was quite unhappy. One reason may have been that Perchta's father was reluctant to pay the agreed dowry. During her married life, Perchta wrote many letters to her father and brothers with colourful descriptions of her unhappy family life and

4500-460: Is the nearest railway station , which lies on the Lautertalbahn . White Lady (ghost) A White Lady (or woman in white ) is a type of female ghost . She is typically dressed in a white dress or similar garment, reportedly seen in rural areas and associated with local legends of tragedy. White Lady legends are found in many countries around the world. Common to many of these legends

4625-624: Is told to haunt Berry Pomeroy Castle (near to Totnes in Devon) as a harbinger of death to everyone to see her in the dungeon of the St.Margaret-tower. Matilda is said to have been starved to death by her sister in that dungeon. Edward Montague created a novel titled "The Castle of Berry Pomeroy". Within Radford , the white Lady of Radford is a young woman from the Harris family. Her legend tells of her wishing to see

4750-480: Is undisputed that Christmas Eve is said to be her preferred timing. On some occasions, the whole castle and its former inhabitants were reportedly resurrected in its old glory for the night. La Dame Blanche herself is rumoured to be of striking beauty and wearing a diadem . In a version from 1870, which was published in 1902, a certain Jean Bahut told the story that he went out to the castle ruins on Christmas Eve as

4875-435: The Eßweiler Tal on Landesstraße 372, which runs north–south along the brook's left bank here. Oberweiler is a linear village (by some definitions, a "thorpe") with a few sidestreets branching of the main street up into small side dales, and with rather loosely spread building, although the built-up area towards the north end is a bit more tightly packed. Here, during the 19th century, a small residential area grew up over on

5000-549: The Eßweiler Tal ), north of which lay a field named Hofstatt. The estate might have been fortified rather like a castle The old Hirsauer Kirche was originally the spiritual hub for all villages in the Eßweiler Tal . When it was that a church was first built in Hirsau (not to be confused with Hirsau in Baden-Württemberg ) cannot be determined today. It can be assumed nonetheless that there had been an earlier church standing at

5125-727: The Eßweiler Tal , too, began to be conducted in accordance with the Reformation. The Offenbach Monastery, to which the Hinzweiler church was subject, at first opposed Reformist efforts. In 1555, though, the Rhinegraves of Grumbach, too, introduced the Reformation, and in 1588, the Offenbach Monastery was dissolved. After the Counts Palatine of Zweibrücken had become absolute fiefholders over the Eßweiler Tal in 1595, worshippers then had to convert to Calvinism in line with developments in

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5250-458: The Eßweiler Tal . It is highly likely that, as in Hundheim's case, Huntwilre was the seat of a Hun , or an Unter vogt , who exercised some lordly function throughout the dale. It is not only likely but quite certain that there was a place within what are now Oberweiler's limits called Neidecken. Johannes Hofmann wrote about this place in 1595: "Between the two grounds of Kraulsbach and Zörnberg on

5375-685: The Geneva Chamber Orchestra performed a series of five concerts in the inner court of the castle ruins. The collaboration by four Geneva-born and/or -based artists, included a video installation and was titled Qui a Peur de la Dame Blanche? : "Who is afraid of the White Lady?" In Thailand, there is a story of teenagers going into a deserted house in Thawi Watthana , a suburb in Bangkok to look for ghosts and afterwards died from accidents. In each case, there were claims to have been sightings of

5500-712: The Glan formed the boundary between the Departments of Sarre and Mont-Tonnerre (or Donnersberg in German ). Oberweiler im Tal passed to the newly founded Mairie ("Mayoralty") of Eßweiler, which itself belonged to the Canton of Wolfstein, the Arrondissement of Kaiserslautern and the Department of Mont-Tonnerre. After the victory over Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna awarded a territory on

5625-510: The Hirsauer Kirche . Dependence on a great number of lords in the dale afforded greater freedom than in other areas where united power and governing relationships prevailed. Legal matters within the Eßweiler Tal were governed by a whole range of Weistümer (singular: Weistum – cognate with English wisdom – this was a legal pronouncement issued by men learned in law in the Middle Ages and early modern times), which were already in force in

5750-620: The Knights Hospitaller commandry at Sulzbach, the Church of Zweibrücken , the Church of Sankt Julian , the Church of Hinzweiler, the Stangenjunker of Lauterecken, the House of Blick von Lichtenberg, the Lords of Mauchenheim and the Lords of Mickelheim. Obviously, each fiefholder held a different administrative seat. The Waldgraves and Rhinegraves, as holders of high jurisdiction, resided above

5875-611: The Modern High German word for "dog" might be folk etymology ; Heim is still German for "home" today). Sometime before 1222, Prüm Abbey lost its holdings in the Glan valley, the circumstances under which this happened now being unknown. What is known, however, is that after that year, it was never again mentioned in Prüm Abbey's documents. The highest feudal lord now became the Electors of

6000-683: The Palatinate who at first enfeoffed the Waldgraviate -Rhinegraviate with the high court jurisdiction, and all together 14 feudal lords with rights in the Eßweiler Tal who exercised special rights in the Eßweiler Tal and could rightfully take a share of the tithes , namely the Junker Mühlenstein von Grumbach as the Rhinegraves' vassal , the County Palatine of Zweibrücken , Offenbach Abbey, Remigiusberg Abbey, Tholey Abbey , Enkenbach Abbey,

6125-562: The Philippines . White Ladies are often used to convey horror and mystery to young children for storytelling. Sightings of White Ladies are common around the country. The most prominent one is the White Lady of Balete Drive in Quezon City . It is said that it is the ghost of a long-haired woman in a white dress who, according to legend, died in a car accident while driving along Balete Drive. Most stories about her were told by taxi drivers doing

6250-512: The canton of Geneva . It centers around a woman without a name, supposedly the first wife of the knight Humbert de Choulex , under whose leadership the castle was constructed in a swampy area at the beginning of the 14th century. He reportedly repudiated her when she did not give birth to a son. The ghost has been linked to the disappearance of people and deaths from unexplained causes. It is unclear whether such supposed appearances occurred rather during moonless nights or full moon . However, it

6375-555: The primary school pupils must go to the school in Rothselberg . Running through Oberweiler im Tal is Landesstraße 372, which links Rothselberg with Offenbach-Hundheim and also links Oberweiler to nearby Hinzweiler . To the east runs Bundesstraße 270. The nearest Autobahn interchanges are the ones at Kusel , 18 km away, and Kaiserslautern , 25 km away. At the Reckweilerhof, an outlying centre of Wolfstein ,

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6500-413: The 19th century to distinguish the village from the other place in the same district with the same name . A village called Huntwilre , which is named in a document from the latter half of the 14th century, might have lain within what are now Oberweiler im Tal's limits. According to researchers Dolch and Greule, this village's name may have been applied for a time to another, now also vanished, village in

6625-471: The 312 inhabitants, 257 were Protestant (the Lutheran and Reformed Churches had by now united), 37 were Catholic and 18 were Jewish. In 1962, the village had 240 inhabitants, of whom 219 were Protestant and 40 Catholic. For a few decades, a rather sharp drop in population figures has been noticed. Along with this has come a rise in the villagers' average age. The following table shows population development over

6750-429: The 8.5-metre-high tower, an iron spiral staircase, was added at that time. This leads to an observation deck , although the view from the deck through the surrounding forest is quite limited. The following stories about the castle have circulated: Johannes Hofmann writes the following words about the castle's destruction in his "Beschreibung des Eßweiler Thals 1595": The Lords of Mülenstein, two brothers, were once at

6875-653: The Baptistery's window and grieve for her beloved man. According to legend, she can be seen on clear August full-moon nights. White Ladies are called Witte Wiwer in northern Germany and Weiße Frauen in Standard German . Stories of white lady ghosts are associated with residential castles of the Hohenzollern family. Two women are supposed to be the historical basis of a ghost haunting the Plassenburg. According to legend,

7000-914: The Calvinists, and Jews came to settle in the late 18th century, as they also did in the neighbouring villages of Eßweiler and Hinzweiler . The council is made up of 6 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman. Oberweiler im Tal's mayor is Harry Kelemen. The German blazon reads: Unter gold-rotem Zickzackschildhaupt in Gold, über einer roten Zinnenburg mit rotem Zinnenturm im Schildfuß, eine rote Geißel. Another source yields this form: Unter goldrotem Zickzackschildhaupt in Gold, über einer wachsenden roten Zinnenburg mit rotem Zinnenturm eine rote Geißel. The municipality's arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Below

7125-705: The County Palatine. Likewise in the late 16th century, Count Palatine Johannes I of Zweibrücken decreed that all his subjects were to convert to the Reformed faith according to John Calvin . Beginning in 1601, Hinzweiler became the temporary parish seat, but already by 1610, it once again had to yield this function to Hirsau, only to get it back after the Thirty Years' War . This structure remains in place to this day. In earlier days, Oberweiler's inhabitants were mainly Reformed , according to John Calvin 's teachings. As minorities, there were Lutherans , who in 1824 merged with

7250-441: The Kingdom of Bavaria became the Free State of Bavaria. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Nazi Party (NSDAP) became quite popular in Oberweiler im Tal. In the 1928 Reichstag elections , 2.4% of the local votes went to Adolf Hitler 's party, and by the 1930 Reichstag elections , this had grown only slightly to 2.7%. By the time of the 1933 Reichstag elections , though, after Hitler had already seized power , local support for

7375-432: The Königsberg, called auf der Huben , years ago copper coins were found, and a field there lies full of pieces of burnt or hewn stone, that may well be supposed to have been a great building that stood there." It cannot be ruled out that a Gallo-Roman times villa rustica once stood there. In 1290, Oberweiler im Tal had its first documentary mention. Oberweiler to a great extent shares its mediaeval history with all

7500-454: The Lady in the Lake, the 19th-century White Lady wanders the park area, obsessively looking for her daughter's body. The latter was slain by a boyfriend or group of hoodlums, depending on the story you hear. Legend has it that the human White Lady either killed herself in grief, or died alone and heartbroken. "The Lady in White" or the "White Lady of Avenel" is the most commonly reported apparition at Avenel (Bedford, Virginia) . The apparition

7625-427: The Lords of Mühlenstein (later Cratz von Scharfenstein) who resided near Hirsau Church ( Hirsauer Kirche ) and at the Springeburg (or Sprengelburg ; the ruin still stands today between Eßweiler and Oberweiler im Tal). The name is commonly taken to mean the seat over a Sprengel , a word meaning "parish". Johannes Hofmann used the name form Springeburg for the castle. Hermann and Johann von Mühlensteiner are named in

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7750-452: The Middle Ages, although they were not actually set down in writing until the early 16th century. These documents are still preserved, and are said today to be prime examples of mediaeval jurisprudence. One deals with the court and borders, one is a Kanzelweistum (promulgated at church; Kanzel is German for " pulpit "), one is a Huberweistum ( Huber were farmers who worked a whole Hube , which roughly corresponds to an " oxgang "), and one

7875-399: The Nazis had swollen to 87.5%. Hitler's success in these elections paved the way for his Enabling Act of 1933 ( Ermächtigungsgesetz ), thus starting the Third Reich in earnest. Since 1946, Oberweiler has been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate . In the course of the 1968 administrative restructuring in Rhineland-Palatinate, the Ortsgemeinde of Oberweiler im Tal

8000-401: The Plassenburg is the unfortunate widow Bertha of Rosenberg from Bohemia, overthrown by the heathen Perchta . A white lady ghost, said to be a harbinger of death and misfortune, was claimed to be seen in the Berliner Schloss in 1598 shortly before the death of John George of Brandenburg , and again in 1618, 1625, up until 1940. The castle is the residence of the kings of Prussia , and

8125-407: The Rhine to the Kingdom of Bavaria , the Baierischer Rheinkreis ("Bavarian Rhine District"), later known as the Bayerische Rheinpfalz ("Bavarian Rhenish Palatinate"). In 1816, after a transitional period, Oberweiler belonged within this territory to the Canton of Wolfstein and the Landkommissariat (later Bezirksamt , and later still Landkreis or District) of Kusel. After the First World War ,

8250-429: The White Lady no longer disturbed him, but he never again traveled through the castle alone for fear of her. The White Lady (also known as the "Running Lady") of Beeford , East Yorkshire resides on the "Beeford Straight," a stretch of road between Beeford and Brandesburton . Motorists have reported her apparition running across the Beeford Straight toward the junction of North Frodingham . Anecdotal tales also report

8375-406: The White Lady. Many sources have said a reporter manufactured this legend in the 1950s as a combination of multiple stories from the area. One are from Balangiga Ladies dressed in White which were massacred together with the Male Population of it, along with an Old Church, sigthings reported at Pagsanghan, Samar too. "The Maidens of Uley" is an East Siberian legend of the west Buryad people from

8500-422: The adjective wit means "white", it may originally refer to the Germanic word wid , related to English "wit" and "wise", and so might be better understood as "wise women", as they are known in Germany, where they are connected to the Völva . They are believed to dwell in tumuli , the Hunebedden and on the moors. Wisps of mist and fog banks are sometimes called witte wieven . The Schinveldse Bossen forest

8625-401: The area right near the village was inhabited as far back as the Bronze Age and the Iron Age , and perhaps even as early as the New Stone Age . Currently, nothing is known about definite finds within Oberweiler's limits. In Roman times, too, the area was settled. In Johannes Hofmann's 1595 description of the Eßweiler Tal , it says: "In the Oberweiler municipal area, on the right side against

8750-445: The area. The term is a Dutch adaptation of the French "La Madame Blanche." It is now protected as a cultural-historical site. In popular culture, Dutch singer Joep Rademakers mentions this ghost in his song: "t Sjilves Paradies". Dutch symphonic black metal band Carach Angren also has a full concept album dedicated to this version of The White Lady. White Ladies, indigenously known as kaperosa, are popular ghost story topics in

8875-406: The backdrop of the Königsberg to the east, up from a narrowing in the dale where the water from the Jettenbach flows down a steep slope onto the flatter land on the floor of the dale. Within Oberweiler's limits, the 568-metre Königsberg's outliers reach heights of more than 500 m above sea level. The hills on the dale's left bank, which rise up towards the Herrmannsberg , a 536-metre-high hill to

9000-468: The bad treatment by Jan of Lichtenštejn. Some 32 of these letters had been handed down. Legend has it that as her husband was dying, he asked for her forgiveness for his treatment of her. Perchta refused, and her husband cursed her. After her death, she returned as a ghost to her family holdings. According to legends, the ghost was most apparent in the settlements of Rožmberk , Český Krumlov , Jindřichův Hradec , Třeboň and Telč . The story of White Lady

9125-407: The brook's right bank. All together, there was little or no expansion of the village's built-up area in the 20th century. Former farmhouses often still bear the features of an Einfirsthaus ("house with a single roof ridge"), also known as a Quereinhaus (a combination residential and commercial house divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street). The graveyard lies in

9250-455: The brothers was stabbed to death. At this place a cross was later erected, which the name of the field An den Kreuzäcker ("By the Cross Fields") commemorates. The other Mülenstein escaped to Grumbach . There is a story that if you are on the road between Oberweiler im Tal and Eßweiler in the evening or at night, you may suddenly feel a heavy load on your back that almost pushes you almost to

9375-454: The centuries for Oberweiler im Tal, with some figures broken down by religious denomination: The village's name, Oberweiler, has the common German placename ending —weiler , which as a standalone word means " hamlet " (originally "homestead"). With the one exception of Hundheim , every village in the Eßweiler Tal bears this same name ending, which makes it rather difficult to determine their founding dates with any certainty. To this ending

9500-720: The collapse of the old feudal order in the course of the French Revolution . Between 1700 and 1789, mercury was mined within Oberweiler's limits. During the time of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era that followed, the German lands on the Rhine 's left bank were annexed by France beginning in 1797. The French thereby swept away all borders that had hitherto existed and established their own administrative entities. Roughly,

9625-415: The countess Kunigunda of Orlamünde murdered her two children because she believed this could enable her to marry Albert of Nuremberg, who married Sophie von Henneberg († 1372) instead of her. She became a nun and died as an abbess of the monastery Himmelskron. A white lady ghost reportedly appeared in 1486, 1540, 1554 and 1677 as a harbinger of misfortune. A variation of the tale holds that the white lady of

9750-445: The countryside and in the towns, robbed them violently, brought them great damage and markedly hindered them in their mercantile activities and other dealings, as they have now done the city of Strasbourg great disruption and harm." According to one of Hofmann's later reports, the citizens of Strasbourg through cunning managed to thrust their way into the castle and destroy it, supposedly sometime before 1415. The Sprengelburg might thus by

9875-456: The death of this woman: The first states that she died in the 70s in a car accident while going on her honeymoon while the second states that she hung herself after her fiancé left her right before their wedding. She is apparently also seen stopping cars on the road between Bor and Zaječar. In August 2011, two brothers from Bor, inspired by the legend of the Woman in White, decided to prank drivers on

10000-401: The driver hath no head. My Ladye is an ashen white – as one who is long dead. "This lady is said to be a Howard-lady of the 17th century, who has murdered several husbands and children of hers. Her curse is to collect grassblades in the castle ruins until the end of time. No historical event or person could be found to correlate. The ghost of a Pomeroy-lady called Matilda (also called Margaret)

10125-438: The early 15th century have been a ruin. In 1977 and 1978, however, under American historian Thomas E. Higel's leadership, the ruin was unearthed and surveyed. Professor Higel, from the University of Maryland , and his team stumbled on a young woman's skeleton ; she might have died in the castle's destruction. They also found jewellery . Yet another of Hofmann's reports stated that the last Mühlensteiner's still young widow wed

10250-545: The eastern and northern parts of the Netherlands. Sometimes referred to as witte joffers ("white maidens"), they can have a benevolent and malevolent nature. Often related with witches and/or ghosts, they show many similarities with the banshee , the fairy , and the elf . Understood as malevolent beings, they abduct or switch newborns , abduct women, and punish people who have mistreated them. As benevolent beings, they may aid in childbirth or offer good advice. Indeed, though

10375-567: The following families crop up in Oberweiler: Hanstall, Rheinheimer, Weißgerber, Weber, Vinzensen, Preuel and Laufersweiler. In 1609, the count was back up to 145 inhabitants in 34 households. The people earned their livelihoods mainly by working the land . As was generally true of such villages, there were also craftsmen to be found alongside the farmers, such as blacksmiths , shoemakers , wainwrights , tailors and millers . Furthermore, several families worked at weaving . Some men went to

10500-424: The free Imperial domain around the royal castle at Lautern ( Kaiserslautern ). In the 9th century, likely shortly before 870, the nobleman Hererich was enfeoffed with the Eßweiler Tal and shortly before his death he bequeathed it to Prüm Abbey . This area's ecclesiastical hub was at first Hirsau Church , an old country church, now no longer used, that still stands near Hundheim. Hundheim at this time, still bore

10625-421: The ghost is related to the violent deaths of young white women who were murdered by their fathers or husbands in an "honor" killing . The most frequent reasons for these honor killings were adultery (actual or suspected), denial of sex, or abuse. Monteiro Lobato in his book Urupês describes a young woman starved to death by her husband because he suspected she was in love with a black slave and only gave her

10750-628: The ghosts of deceased ancestors. Called Dama Branca or Mulher de Branco in Portuguese , the Brazilian Lady in White is said to be the ghost of a young woman who died of childbirth or violent causes. According to legend, she appears as a pale woman in a long white dress or a sleeping gown. Although usually speechless, she will occasionally recount her misfortunes. The origins of the myth are not clear. Luís da Câmara Cascudo's Dicionário do Folclore Brasileiro (Brazilian Folklore Dictionary) proposes that

10875-498: The graveyard shift, such as when a taxi crosses Balete Drive, and a stunning woman is asking for a ride. The cabbie then looks behind and sees the woman's face was full of blood and bruises, causing him to abandon his taxi in terror. In other instances, it is said that when solitary people drive on that street in the early morning, they briefly see the face of a white-clad woman in the rear-view mirror before she quickly disappears . Some accidents on this road are blamed on apparitions of

11000-503: The ground. The climb becomes more and more difficult. But once you pass the "old castle", the weight suddenly disappears. What is going on? According to the legend the hunchbacked dwarf, who lives in the old castle ruins, has hitched a lift on your back and been carried home. Another legendary phenomenon is the White Lady , who appears to passers-by from the tower of the castle and tries to tempt them to follow her by waving and shouting. It

11125-471: The ground. While the White Lady rewarded his commitment to his mother with a treasure of gold and silver, she punished his wealthy and greedy relative one year later in a deadly way by tricking and locking him into the vaults. A dirt road through the fields next to the ruins is named Chemin de la Dame Blanche . In addition, a street about one kilometer to the North of the ruins bears the name Chemin de la Dame ,

11250-560: The lake in her ghostly form. As a result of this story, a nearby street towards one of the entrances of the park was named "White Lady Road". In Welsh tradition , Y Ladi Wen ( The White Lady ) or Dynes Mewn Gwyn ( Woman in white ) is a common apparition in the Celtic Mythology of Wales . Dressed in white, and most common at Calan Gaeaf (the Welsh Halloween), she was often evoked to warn children about bad behaviour. Y Ladi Wen

11375-459: The legend, her ghost haunts the castle and surrounding forests, strangling anyone who talks to her. Lahneck Castle is the site of a legend of a white lady ghost claimed to be stalking the castle. It is said that the ghost is Idilia Dubb (the main character of a novel, The Diary of Miss Idilia ). There is a legend about an adulterous nobleman's wife in the civil parish of Batenhorst, Rheda-Wiedenbrück , Westphalia . The legend originates from

11500-532: The lower jurisdiction), while the other lords named still otherwise held their tithing rights in the various villages. In 1614, Duke Johannes II of Zweibrücken traded his serfs in Teschenmoschel for some in the Eßweiler Tal belonging to Baron Johann Gottfried von Sickingen in Schallodenbach . Oberweiler also suffered in the Thirty Years' War . Details are, however, unavailable. Another fundamental shift in

11625-419: The middle of the day in summer" and this harvest also failed, they finally gave up and the castle terrain became overgrown over in the following years. This eclipse after the third clearing could have been the solar eclipse of 1441. After the unsuccessful attempts to cultivate the castle terrain, it became completely overgrown. Until the 1970s, no building remains could be found, the castle was slumbering under

11750-403: The mills farther upstream, at Eßweiler , saw fit to release enough water. Today, farming is still an important part of the economy, but most villagers in the workforce must seek work elsewhere, commuting to jobs outside the village. Nevertheless, there are a few businesses in the village itself, such as a bus and taxi company, a shop catering to those whose interests lie in shooting sports ,

11875-412: The name Glena or Glan , and was perhaps "Neuenglan" ( Nieuwen Glena ) as opposed to the place still called " Altenglan " ( Gleni ). This Glena was Hun's seat, Hun being an administrator of sorts who oversaw the whole dale for the actual lords. His name gave the seat lying at the mouth of the Talbach ("Dale Brook"), where it empties into the Glan , its name, Hundheim (the first syllable's resemblance to

12000-530: The now defunct Rheinhessen-Pfalz Regierungsbezirk administration in Neustadt an der Weinstraße . The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate 's Directory of Cultural Monuments: Oberweiler im Tal holds its kermis (church consecration festival) on the third weekend in September. Oberweiler im Tal has a singing club, a countrywomen's club, a fire brigade promotional association and

12125-753: The ore mines, quarries, collieries and limestone pits in the surrounding area to earn income. Within Oberweiler's own limits was a quicksilver mine. In the 19th century, Wandermusikanten – travelling musicians – arose in Oberweiler as they also did elsewhere in the dale, plying their trade throughout the world (see the Hinzweiler article for more about this). Founded in Oberweiler was a piano -building firm named Eichler, although this later moved its workshops to Hinzweiler. According to 1743 statistics, there were only free men heading families, and no Hintersassen (roughly, "dependent peasants"), whereas in 1590, four serfs had been named. Among craftsmen, who only farmed as

12250-584: The other side of the Hermannsberg lies a great estate on which the old Mühlensteiner Junkers of Springenburg had a farm and a depository, named Neydeks . The old walls where this estate stood one can still see there in the hedges." Clearly, the Knights of Mülenstein (a variant of the noble house's name) who had owned the estate of Neideck (also a variant) had by then forsaken it; it was no longer being worked and had fallen into disrepair. The estate's name also appears in

12375-456: The power structure came in 1755, when Duke Christian IV transferred to Offenbach Abbey the villages of Hundheim , Nerzweiler , Hinzweiler , Oberweiler im Tal, Oberaschbach and Niederaschbach (now vanished) and also the Hirsauer Kirche to the Rhinegraves of Grumbach, who until 1595 had exercised high jurisdiction in these villages. Oberweiler thereafter remained in the Rhinegraviate until

12500-576: The proceedings, both parties affirmed, however, that Ludwig was not to pay any damages in money, but rather was to hand over Schloss Bundenbach (a palatial residence) and Hahnweiler to the Count vom Stein as fiefs . As early as 1526, the Reformation was introduced into the Eßweiler Tal . In the course of the 16th century, the Plague raged in the Eßweiler Tal , depopulating the villages. In Oberweiler im Tal itself, only 15 people were left by 1575. With regard to

12625-494: The raids. The exact date of its destruction is not known. Lichtenberg state scribe ( Landschreiber ) and surveyor, Johannes Hoffmann, wrote in his "Description of the Essweiler Valley in 1595", however, that the castle estate was cleared and cultivated several times by local farmers after its destruction, but the harvests had always failed because of wet and cold summers. When after a third clearing "a great darkness had come in

12750-418: The road towards Zaječar by having one of them put on a wedding dress and approach drivers while the other filmed it. The incident was reported to the police who managed to identify the brothers however they couldn't be charged with anything since they technically didn't break any laws. A popular legend has been associated for centuries with the ruins of Rouelbeau Castle in today's municipality of Meinier in

12875-563: The ruling class, this brought about a shift in power in 1595 as the high jurisdiction, hitherto held for some 250 years by the Waldgraves and Rhinegraves, was transferred to the Dukes of Zweibrücken . In return, Count Palatine Johannes I of Zweibrücken transferred the village of Kirchenbollenbach near Idar-Oberstein (nowadays a Stadtteil of that town) to the Rhinegraves. Lordship over the blood court thereby ended up in new hands (which already held

13000-447: The same spot centuries before the one that still stands now was built (about 1100); it may have been wooden. Churchgoers came from throughout the dale to attend services, all weddings were held there, and so were all funerals and burials. It was also the thingstead , and on certain days, market was held there, too. Hirsau lost this central role when in 1451 the church in Hinzweiler was built, although originally this only functioned as

13125-507: The stewed meat of his corpse for food. White Ladies are called Dames blanches in French. A popular legend claims that the surroundings of Montmorency Falls near Quebec City are haunted by a white lady. It is said to be the spirit of a young French-Canadian woman whose fiancé was killed while fighting against the British in the Battle of Beauport . The young couple allegedly used to meet near

13250-482: The stories associate the lady with several historical figures, most notably Anna Sydow, the paramour of Joachim II of Brandenburg (father of John George), who bore him two extramarital children. Sydow was imprisoned in the Spandau Citadel after Joachim's death by John George, despite his promise to care for her. She died in 1575 without regaining her freedom. The castle of Düsseldorf is claimed to be haunted by

13375-556: The summer of 1978, the skeleton of a woman was also discovered inside the castle. After the excavations were completed, reconstruction work was carried out, initiated by the Department of Monuments in Speyer . The outer walls and the tower were rebuilt, and a round-arched gate was inserted into the outer wall at the rear of the complex as the entrance. Some of the stones found during the excavation were used for this purpose. The modern ascent to

13500-427: The tale involve the woman having two fighting lovers or of the site being burned on her wedding day by a jealous nobleman. However, all versions claim that she now wanders the forest like a ghost in a long white dress, some saying she only appears at midnight, and others saying she only appears on nights of the full moon. The site of the former castle farm is referred to as Lammendam after the ghost who supposedly haunts

13625-417: The time of the Thirty Years' War . According to the story, the nobleman encased her in the cellar of his manor Haus Aussel to assure she could not betray him while he went away to war, but he never returned, and her spirit supposedly haunts the premises forever afterwards. During recent renovations to the manor, workers found no human remains that might give factual basis to the legend. According to legend

13750-460: The top of the falls. Accordingly, the grieving woman is said to have chosen the site to end her life by throwing herself in the raging waters while wearing the wedding dress that she had recently ordered to be made. A smaller waterfall in the vicinity now bears the name Chute de la Dame Blanche (White Lady Waterfall) in reference to this legend. The best-known White Lady of the Czech Republic

13875-455: The treasure. This angered the spirit, who, with her fingers turning into claws, attacked the man as he returned home. The man became gravely ill but only died once he had confessed his greed. After that, an ailment known as Y Ladi Wen's revenge was said to befall any person who died before disclosing hidden treasure. Welsh topography inspired by sightings and tales of Y Ladi Wen can be found throughout Wales. The village of Ewenny has both

14000-549: The valley bottom. The castle lords ( Burgherren ) were the knights of Mülenstein, vassals ( Lehnsmänner ) of the Rheingrafen family in Grumbach . Whether they had the castle built is unclear. The Mülenstein family is recorded from 1317 to 1451. The Lords of Mülenstein were robber knights and inflicted serious losses on the merchants using the road. Consequently, the castle was destroyed by Strasbourg merchants in retaliation for

14125-478: The village of Nerzweiler, which between 1350 and 1451 was always named in documents as the seat of the Nerzweiler Amt . Count Friedrich III of Veldenz granted his wife Margarethe of Nassau-Saarbrücken this Amt as a widow's estate . After 1451, Hundheim once again appeared as the only administrative seat. Hinzweiler itself got its own church in 1451, and became the parish's hub in the Eßweiler Tal instead of

14250-466: The village of Ulei (or Ungin), Irkutsk Oblast , Russia. The legend tells about a young lady, Bulzhuuhai Duuhai, who did not want to marry. She kept running away from her husband, who treated her disrespectfully and locked her in a black yurt , instead of a traditional white one. Bulzhuuhai then hanged herself in a barn after singing and dancing at someone else's wedding for eight days and eight nights, feeling unwanted and unloved. After her death, she became

14375-548: The village's north on the left side of the road. To the south, west of the road at the brook's steep bank and partly within Eßweiler 's limits, stand the ruins of the Sprengelburg (also called the Springeburg), a castle that was once the seat of the Lords of Mühlenstein, vassals to the Rhinegraves of Grumbach. Going by the many prehistoric archaeological finds in the broader area around Oberweiler im Tal, it may be assumed that

14500-449: The village. As to ecclesiastical structure in days of yore, there was a time when most villagers belonged to the Reformed faith as taught by John Calvin . Of the 34 families (164 inhabitants) living in Oberweiler in 1743, 29 were said to be Reformed, while 4 were Catholic and 1 was Lutheran . In the late 18th century, Jews also moved into the village. Statistics from 1825 show that among

14625-411: The villages in the Eßweiler Tal , which in many respects form a unit. Besides Oberweiler itself, these were originally Hundheim (Neuenglan), Hachenbach , Nerzweiler , Aschbach , Horschbach , Hinzweiler , Elzweiler , Eßweiler and the now vanished villages of Letzweiler, Niederaschbach, Nörweiler, Mittelhofen, Zeizelbach, Füllhof, Neideck and Lanzweiler. It is certain that these villages lay within

14750-447: The west, reach heights of some 350 m above sea level within Oberweiler's limits. The municipal area measures 461 ha, of which 108 ha is wooded and roughly 10 ha is settled. Oberweiler im Tal borders in the north on the municipality of Hinzweiler , in the east on the municipality of Aschbach , in the south on the municipality of Eßweiler and in the west on the municipality of Horschbach . Oberweiler im Tal lies in

14875-509: The winter, when farm families had a bit more time to spare) with payments in money and kind. Back then, villages seldom had their own schoolhouses, and lessons were taught at private houses, or sometimes on premises owned by the municipality. The village's first schoolhouse was built in 1860, and another one in 1905. Today, Hauptschule students attend school at the Hauptschule in Wolfstein , while

15000-408: The woods and see a non moving bright light in the street. Sometimes people even see a young woman dressed in a white dress appear. These even typically take place by "the black bridge", an old railroad bridge that was demolished in the 1980s. Even though the bridge was demolished people could still hear and see things. According to legend, either a young bride hanged herself nearby after being married or

15125-564: Was a municipal Weistum ( Gemeindeweistum ). In 1481, Oberweiler was mentioned in connection with a dispute that Duke Ludwig I pursued with Count Johannes vom Stein. Ludwig had waged several wars against Elector Palatine Friedrich , bringing hardship and woe even to lands not then in Palatinate-Zweibrücken 's immediate ownership, like the Eßweiler Tal . It goes without saying that both Oberweiler and Sankt Julian were destroyed in this dispute. The Count vom Stein demanded damages. In

15250-508: Was available to teach lessons in Hinzweiler in the late 16th century, the pastor had to take over the teaching duties. It is likely that a candidate for a pastoral post was hired as a teacher. Records from 1762 show that Hinzweiler had not only a Reformed (Calvinist) school but also a Lutheran "main school", that is to say, a school with year-round classes, supported by villages in the area that had Lutheran winter schools (schools geared towards an agricultural community's practical needs, held in

15375-613: Was grouped into the Verbandsgemeinde of Wolfstein – formed on 1 January 1972, the same day that the Bürgermeisterei ("Mayoralty") of Eßweiler, which had been responsible for Oberweiler, was dissolved – in the Kusel district . Oberweiler im Tal was throughout the Middle Ages a small village whose very existence was threatened in times of war and Plague . After the Plague of 1564, Oberweiler had only seven inhabitants left. In 1595,

15500-666: Was killed by her lover after being forced to marry another man. Many have claimed to see this spirit, always after eight o'clock in the evening. She usually appears to children under eight years old, heart-broken teenage boys, and elderly men. While she tells the children goodnight and bids them to return home, she advises the teenagers to "find another" or to join her and become a part of her "shadow" (her ghostly followers). She also attempts to lure elderly men into her "shadow". Vrouwen in wit (plural of vrouw in wit ), or " Witte Wieven " as these women are called in local dialects, are mythical creatures of Low Saxon origin and so most known in

15625-527: Was soon upcoming, but just before the ceremony, she committed suicide by jumping off a balcony. She was wearing her wedding gown when she died. This is why she is still known, to this day, as The White Lady. It is said that she haunts the Verdala Palace and many people who attend the August moon ball confirm that the apparition does appear in the palace. According to another Maltese legend, the White Lady of Mdina

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