Isabella Mueller Baroness of Stainton le Vale
For centuries, the city of Leipzig has been a magnet for trade, art, culture, and music. Countless myths and legends surround this city, which is over 1,000 years old. One of them is about a ghost in love. Since the founding of the university in 1409, the second oldest in Germany, Leipzig has been considered a university city that attracted many students even back then. This included a young man who had rented a small room on Neumarkt. One night, his room was so brightly lit that it was as if it were daytime, and he could see everything despite the lights being off. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an old, floating woman appeared and tried to pull him out of his bed. The student was terrified and tried to push the woman away, who only let go when their noses touched. With a loud sigh, she disappeared. The next morning, when the student woke up, he thought he had just had a bad dream. That evening, he came home late and on his way to his room, which was next to the otherwise locked basement door, he noticed that a coal fire was burning there, but didn’t think anything of it. When he got to his room, he went to bed, where shortly afterwards the same haunting as the night before befell him. Once again, the old woman tried to drag the student out of bed and kiss him, but as on the previous night, he rejected her and she disappeared. The following evening, the student brought friends to his room, not only to play cards with them, but also to protect himself from the ghost of the old woman. But at exactly the same time as always, the ghost appeared while his friends had fallen into a deep sleep. The old woman once again ensnared the young student, who again did not respond to her advances, whereupon the ghost vanished into thin air. From then on, the student was afraid of the old woman’s nocturnal appearances, so he moved out so that he could sleep peacefully at night again. The old woman, on the other hand, is said to have continued her mischief and looked for young students until they also rented a new room. Such is the legend of the love-crazed ghost.
