The ghost stories in Stockholm

I have a whole week in Stockholm, my first night was on the historical boat, as I’d like to experience the atmosphere, the tiny cabin on the boat…and it was really tiny! Next morning after breakfast, I moved to the Old Town – Gamla Stan and as the days grow darker, the weather chillier I start to explore the town after dark…

The Royal Palace 

Most tourists are familiar with the Royal Palace, located right in the Old Town (Gamla Stan). It served as the royal residence and symbol of the monarchy for centuries, one of the largest palaces in the world, with a total of 1,430 rooms, i.e plenty of room for some ghost action.The palace is said to be haunted by the White Lady and the Gray Man.

The White Lady, the ghost of Agnes of Orlamünde, a German noble lady from the 13th century reported to keep herself very busy haunting several castles in Europe, also a harbinger of death and she appears just before one of the members of the royal family die. The White Lady is always in white dress (!) and bears a long white veil, her hands wrapped in dark gloves and clutching a chain of keys. Many people claim to see her walking through the halls, the clink of her keys causing a shock of dread.

In 1971, Princess Eugenie saw her three days before Queen Louise’s death. More than 50 years before, she appeared as Princess Margaret lay dying. The princess wasn’t dead yet, but the flag at the palace was lowered to half mast and a guard allegedly saw her on the roof. Two hours later, Margaret was dead.

And the Gray Man is said to appear before every ruler at least once in their reign. Some say he is the ghost of Birger Jarl, the founder of Stockholm, who built a 13th century fortress on the spot where the Royal Palace is now.

The Old town (Gamla Stan)

Gamla Stan is very mysterious during the nightfall. To be honest I’d love to walk around the Old Town, to discover those tiny alleys at night, but they are so quiet, so scarily empty, sometimes I feel like I’m the only soul there…with my shadow!

The Ghost walk is a popular night tour for visitors, you will hear different scary tales from the past of the Old Town – the murder, the assassination, the disease to the ghosts stories and one of the most gruesome is “the Stockholm Bloodbath”, a momentous event in Swedish medieval history, it took place after Danish King Kristian II invaded Sweden in 1520, when 92 members of the Swedish nobility who opposed the Dane, were beheaded or hanged in the Old Town’s main square.

These days, some say that people can see their blood flowing across the square’s cobblestones around November 7th- 9th. Should one of the 92 white stones in the red building (on the left but not visible on the above photo) near where the nobles were murdered—which represent the slain men—be removed, the ghost of the person represented will rise from the dead and haunt the streets of Stockholm for all of eternity.

The Stockholm subway 

Even Stockholm’s subway isn’t safe from urban legend. If you’re standing at one of Stockholm’s metro stops and a silver-colored train slowly grinds past – don’t get on. It is called the Silver Arrow or ‘Silverpilen’, heading to an abandoned station in the middle of the forest and is carrying the souls of the dead. Those who get on never return.

The silver arrow is a silver aluminum train that used to operate from 1960s to 1996 as a backup train, sometimes the train would run without passengers to the depot without a single stop. These days, people report seeing the train in mysterious circumstances. Some say it’s been seen in abandoned tunnels. Others say that it runs after midnight in full speed, never stopping, the train is completely empty — or perhaps only carrying one or two ghostly passengers.

So, if you happen to get down to the Stockholm subway at night, please avoid the silver train on the blue line at any cost, otherwise once you get on, you will never return!