Prague Ghost Stories

Perchta´s tale was a sad one. This 15th-century noblewoman married (actually, was forced to marry) another member of a wealthy, noble family. Her husband, Jan von Lichtenstein, was a violent, brutal man, who lived with his equally reprehensible mother and sister, all of whom tormented Perchta constantly. Perchta wrote to her brother begging him to take her away from her misery, and even King Jiří z Poděbrad acted as mediator in the troubled marriage. Eventually, Perchta was able to return to her home and family. She would never smile again. She only saw Jan once more, as he lay dying. When Perchta refused to forgive Jan for the wrongs he had done to her, he placed a curse on her.

Another White Lady haunts Krumlov, on the hill opposite the castle. This sad specter is the ghost of a young woman, who lived with her father, in a Gothic house, one of six houses that once stood on the site of what is now the Hotel Růže. When the young woman´s father refused to allow her to marry the man she loved, she threw herself from the cliff nearby. Since that time, she has appeared in the building that became the hotel, and continues to visit it even now. Startled guests have sometimes asked the hotel reception, “Who was that woman in our room last night?”

Týnský dvůr is haunted by the ghost of a Turk who became engaged to a young Czech woman, then returned to his homeland to ask his parents‘permission to marry her. The Turk was gone for a long time, and his fiancée, hearing nothing of him, began to believe that he had died, or that he had forgotten her. The Turk returned to Prague only to find that the young woman had just been married, and was celebrating with her family. She disappeared that night, and was found some time later, decapitated. The courtyard is haunted by the Turk, who offers passersby a glimpse into the box he holds – which contains the young woman´s head.