The legends of the Lößnitz: ghost and haunting stories

The first month of the new year is named after the Roman god Janus, who, according to ancient mythology, has two faces. It was said that he was able to see into the past and the future at the same time. January was therefore regarded as the link between the old and the new, Janus as the god of entrances and exits, doors and gates. It is no coincidence that the Raunächte extend into January - the time of open borders between this world and the hereafter. It was also known as the snow moon or ice moon, but also as Hartung, because it was considered the "hardest" month. A farmer's saying went: the frostier January, the friendlier the whole year. The dark season with its long, icy winter evenings also brought people together in Lößnitz by candlelight and fireside, where they told each other ghost stories. The editors of the magazine "Elbaue" (1924) saved two of them from being forgotten and they are reproduced here.

The haunting at the "Golden Anchor" in Kötzschenbroda

The Gasthof zum goldenen Anker in Kötzschenbroda was haunted. There is a hollow space in the wall in the courtyard which cannot be opened. It is said to contain the body of a girl who died there in a great fire (1707?). However, the girl cannot be seen, but during the night an invisible something often opened the doors and windows in the inn, so that nobody could sleep peacefully.

The spooky picture at Kaditz

In the village of Kaditz, near Dresden, there is an ancient church with a life-size statue of its patron saint and an oil painting of the former priest Böhme in its porch. The latter tells the legend that he hanged himself and was carried into the Elbe by his own people, so that it is believed that he drowned in it. Every time on the church consecration day of the place where the clergyman committed suicide, this ghostly image begins to sweat, as if the fear of death is dripping down its forehead.

Maren Gündel, City Archive

Published in: Radebeul Official Gazette, January 2021