Isabella Mueller Baroness of Stainton le Vale
On the eastern edge of the historic center of Hemmingen in the district of Ludwigsburg stands Hemmingen Castle, also known as Varnbüler Castle. This name is due to the fact that the castle has been owned by the Varnbüler family since 1649, to whom it was ceded as a result of Johann Konrad Varnbüler’s dedicated efforts in the negotiations for the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. This stately castle is shrouded in a legend involving Baroness Natascha von Varnbüler and her late father-in-law, Württemberg Minister of State Karl von Varnbüler. The baroness regularly held spiritualist séances at the castle to communicate with the dead and supernatural beings. Her séances caused quite a stir in Hemmingen, because when she held them, harp music could be heard from the castle tower throughout the village and a violent storm blew around the buildings. With her séances, she tried to communicate with her deceased father-in-law, which she succeeded in doing. Since then, he rose from his grave every evening and rode in a carriage to the castle to check that everything was in order. If he encountered thieves, they were immediately thrown out by the guards he had alerted. He also supervised the estate’s operations. Thanks to the introduction of newer methods in agriculture, the estate was flourishing, and he wanted to keep it that way. After completing his rounds, he was picked up punctually at midnight by a carriage, which drove him back through the black castle gate and took him to his grave, where he lay down again. This continued until the baroness’s death. After that, the haunting stopped. However, one evening, young women observed a light phenomenon in the cemetery that approached them like a violent hurricane. One of the women suddenly cried out: “If you are from God, shine upon me! If you are from Satan, then begone!” And so it came to pass that the eerie apparition dissolved into a thousand tiny sparks. This was the legend of the baroness and her haunting father-in-law, which is still passed down from generation to generation today.
