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HALLOWEEN

Stockholm’s shocking take on Halloween

American Bill Schacht missed the spooky outfits, family feasts and charity events he associated with Halloween when he moved to Sweden. So he did something about it. The Local meets the founder of the capital's annual Shockholm parade.

Published: 30 October 2014 10:53 CET

For ten days, Globen is transformed into a giant pumpkin. Photo: Shockholm

Halloween is a relatively young tradition in Sweden, with few people celebrating it until the 1990s.

But the festival is gradually becoming an annual event here as Swedes slowly embrace scary costumes, cobweb decorations and group get-togethers.

"The potential for Halloween to grow in Sweden is huge but you can't compare it to how it's celebrated elsewhere just yet," American Bill Schacht tells The Local.

Originally from New York, Schacht is a huge Halloween enthusiast who has experienced his home city's annual Village Halloween Parade many times over. The parade has been running for forty years and draws a crowd of two million spectators.

Missing the autumn party atmosphere, Schacht started Shockholm in 2011 – the first Halloween parade around the Swedish capital, with residents invited to dress up and join the procession.

Held on November 1st, this year it starts at Kungsträdgården (the King’s Garden) at 3pm and continues around the city for two hours. Schacht says the parade is this season's answer to the Pride Parade held in the summer.

As well as the costume-packed walk there will be entertainment on stage. Schacht doesn't want to reveal exactly what the latter will involve but says he has high hopes for it being even better than in previous years.

The audience will get to vote on the best costume of the competition, which will be announced at the end of the parade when a prize ceremony will be held for the lucky winner.

The parade in Kungsträdgården 2013
A glimpse into last year's celebration at Kungsträdgården in Stockholm. Photo: Shockholm

Schacht says the concept combines charity, creativity, and sociability. This year's lead charity partner is Barncancerfonden (Child Cancer Fund), with representatives set to make an appearance at the Shockholm Ghost Toss.

In addition, Herr Stor Pumpa balls have also been created to be sold at the Halloween Pop Up store in Kungsträdgården. They cost 50 kronor ($6.78) and twenty percent will be donated to the charity.

"If we bake all that into a holiday, it becomes real special. We have the chance to define a tradition that can really last," he says.

Halloween started out as a religious event thousands of years ago in Britain and other parts of Europe.

The pre-Christian Celtic Festival of the Dead was held at the end of summer, when people believed the barrier between earth and another world where spirits and ghosts lived started to thin and evil creatures could end up coming into contact with humans.

Later, the day became known in the Christian calendar as All Hallows' Eve – the day before All Saints' Day on November 1st.

Irish immigrants to the United States raised the popularity of Halloween in the 19th century and the festival eventually turned into a family event and a huge commercial enterprise there.

Critics of Halloween argue that it is wrong to joke about ghosts and spirits and that the festival spreads an anti-Christian message.

Schacht says he prefers not to dwell on the more gruesome side of Halloween and says people should focus on the cultural and charitable aspects of the holiday. In the US, Halloween is a time for giving.

"There's so much going on in the world which is unpleasant, which is why we don't focus on the horror aspect of Halloween – we focus on happy horror and extreme creativity."

Two thousand people took part in the event in 2013 and each year the number of attendees doubles.

"I purposely built it word-by-mouth because I wanted people who cared to be involved from the beginning. Now I open it up to everyone else to enjoy and co-create with us," says Schacht.

Founder Bill Schacht at the Shockholm Parade 2013
Founder Bill Schacht at the parade last year. Photo: Shockholm

Kulturhuset, Stadshuset, Kungsträdgården, and Globen are some of the partners Schacht is working with. Kulturhuset (the House of Culture) is a cultural hub, vital to the city of Stockholm, hosting contemporary cultural events such as photo exhibitions, stories for kids, concerts, literary discussions. Without the approval of Stadshuset (the City Hall), Schacht wouldn't have been able to initiate Shockholm.

For three years, Schacht has been trying to turn Globen, one of Stockholm's iconic landmarks as well as the world's largest spherical building, into a giant pumpkin. And he has now succeeded, after Stadshuset approved his request earlier this year.

"It's nothing more than spreading positive energy to the city. The project, Herr Stor Pumpa, is an indication for everyone to get creative for the parade on Saturday."

Chefs and restaurants are also getting involved this weekend, serving Halloween-themed foods designed to showcase how creative and tasty Stockholm can be. There is an exhibition held at Hallwylska Museum, this year displaying over 50 pieces from 12 different creative individuals.

"We need a holiday and a celebration to look forward to – we have enough cold, dark, and gray Saturdays," says Schacht.

Words by Mimmi Nilsson

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Halloween: Five of Germany's most haunted places

To mark Halloween, we’ve identified five little known haunted places in Germany – and the figures said to haunt them.

The last witch – Festung Marienberg, Würzburg

The Marienberg fortress looms above the beautiful city of Würzburg like a particularly squat bird of prey. Once the seat of the prince-bishops of the region, it has also played an important role in several major historical events as a demonstration of power.

However, the ghost of the fortress isn’t some stern noble, or soldier – it’s a vengeful nun, accused of witchcraft.

Maria Renata Singer von Mossau was born in 1679, and as a daughter of a lesser noble, became the prioress of the Unter Zell convent, close to the Czech border in Bavaria. Most of her tenure as the prioress was uneventful, even if many of the nuns thought she was a very strict leader.

That all changed in 1746, when one of the nuns began to have fits of convulsions, screaming and meowing like a cat. The phenomenon spread throughout the convent until almost all of the nuns were experiencing similar symptoms.

Maria was then placed under investigation, and searches allegedly turned up occult objects. A series of ‘interviews’ then turned up a confession – Maria told her interrogators that she had been pledged to Satan since childhood, and had been poisoning nuns and causing trouble for decades.

As late as the eighteenth century, the punishment for ‘witchcraft’ was execution, and on the 21st of June, 1749, she was beheaded near the fortress and her body burned. This verdict, when published in broadsheets, shocked Europe, and helped lead to the end of ‘witch’ persecutions across the continent.

This was a little too late for Maria, however – her angry spectre is said to roam the halls of the fortress, in addition to the convent at Unter Zell, expressing her displeasure. Not something you want to come across in the small hours of the night!

The family ghost – Plassenburg & Residenz Ansbach, Burg Hohenzollern & Berliner Schloss

It seems that in Germany you aren’t a respectable noble unless you have your own ‘Weisse Frau’ – a ghostly woman, dressed in white, who appears to herald the death of a member of the family. Think banshee, but for the rich.

By far the most famous ‘Weisse Frau’ in Germany is that attached to the Hohenzollerns, the family that would become the emperors of Germany in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

According to legend, this ‘Weisse Frau’ is the ghost of the 14th century Kunigunde von Orlamünde, who fell in love with Albrecht von Hohenzollern. Albrecht, a powerful noble, told Kunigunde that he would marry her if ‘four eyes weren’t in the way’. By this, he meant his parents, who were seeking a more suitable match.

Unfortunately, Kunigunde is said to have thought this meant her children. Much like the ‘La Llorona’ legend of Mexican folklore, she is said to have killed her children, and was later damned to haunt the Hohenzollerns forever.

The only problem is that the historical Kunigunde didn’t have any children. Never mind, there are plenty of other candidates in the family history for the ‘Weisse Frau’s’ real identity.

Lurk long enough around the Plassenburg in Kulmbach, the Residenz Ansbach or the Berliner Schloss and you might just see her – although you might want to let the family know she’s arrived.

If you want to see a depiction of her, she’s included as part of the murals in the library at Burg Hohenzollern, south of Stuttgart.

The ‘Weisse Frau’ of the Hohenzollerns as depicted in a 19th century illustration. Photo: Wikipedia

The family feud – Düsseldorf Castle

We’re used to watching family squabbles turn deadly in shows like ‘House of the Dragon’ – but did you know George R. R. Martin’s work is heavily influenced by European medieval and early modern history?

One story worthy of the Targeryens is the sad fate of Jakobea von Baden. A lively and beautiful young woman, Jakobea was pledged to marry Duke Johann Wilhelm of Berg, who ruled the area around Düsseldorf in the late 16th century.

Unfortunately for Jakobea, Duke Johann had a mental health condition and was quite often violent. In fact, he was so afflicted, a council ruled in his stead. Her sister-in-law Sybille was also a real piece of work, suspecting Jakobea of trying to take over the duchy.

When the Duke died, Jakobea thought that she may at least be able to improve her condition, while also working at improving the lot of her subjects. However, before she could act, she was found dead in her room in a tower of the Düsseldorf Castle on September 3rd, 1597.

Sybille claimed that Jakobea had died of a stroke, but those who attended her funeral would often comment on the bruises around her neck for years afterwards.

Today the castle’s tower is the only part that remains, and this is where Jakobea has been seen floating around the top of the Turm – quite a terrifying sight if you think about it!

Duchess Jakobea von Baden and the Schlossturm where she died. Photo: Wikipedia

The heartbroken teen – Frauenkirche, Munich

The twin towers of the Frauenkirche are one of the landmarks dominating the Munich skyline, and have done so for over 500 years. It’s also the site of a horrific tragedy that involves one of Germany’s literary giants.

Fanny von Ickstatt, who hailed from a wealthy family, was 17 when she met the dashing Franz von Vincenti, eight years her senior, during a trip to Ingolstadt. She was infatuated with him, and he was her, but Fanny’s mother, Franziska von Weinbach opposed the union.

Franziska did everything she could to oppose the union, telling Fanny she was not to see Franz. Depending on which version of the story you hear, Franz may have ended up seducing Franziska. Nevertheless, Fanny was heartbroken – she felt that she couldn’t go on.

On the 14th of January 1785, she climbed to the top of one of the Frauenkirche’s towers, and when her servant’s back was turned, she threw herself from it, dying instantly. The entire city was horrified at this act, with the tragic case being the subject of discussion for months.

When her house was searched, a copy of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s The Sorrow of Young Werther was found on Fanny’s bedside table. This novel, while immensely popular, had a somewhat sinister celebrity – the tale of a heartbroken young man taking his own life was allegedly linked to a rash of suicides across Europe. Goethe himself would visit the site next year – he didn’t have much to say, other than he’d visited it.

The possessed – Gottliebin-Dittus-Haus, Möttlingen

To finish, we have a tale with something approaching a happy ending.

In the 1840s, in the small village of Möttlingen, on the edge of the Black Forest, near the town of Calw, lived young Gottliebin Dittus.

This star Sunday school pupil seemed destined for a life of quiet piety, when the departure of her favourite pastor seemed to set her off.

By this, we mean that things took a rather supernatural turn – all pointing to her. While she shrieked and convulsed, and there were ominous rumblings heard around town.

Ghosts were allegedly seen flitting around her small cottage, and there are even reports of her throwing up nails and metal objects.

It was at this point that the new pastor, Johann Christoph Blumhardt took control of the situation and proceeded with a series of exorcisms that lasted a whole two years, from 1841 to 1843.

Eventually, when things seemed to be reaching a crescendo, and Gottliebin’s two siblings seemed to be starting to succumb to the same ‘possession’, the supernatural activities abruptly stopped. .

Gottliebin would go on to marry, have three children, and work for the church, living another thirty years. For the rest of her life, however, there were many questions for her about her experiences – and what exactly she thought had possessed her.

If you visit Möttlingen today, there’s a small memorial and museum devoted to Gottliebin at her former home. It’s perfectly safe to visit by day, but who knows what happens after dusk – to this day, the area has a reputation for strange supernatural occurrences.

Do you have a favourite German local legend or ghost story? Email [email protected] and you may see it covered in a future article

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