Our resident English student abroad, Amy Edwards, sent us the following dispatch from Sweden.
Apparently I can’t get enough of Glimmingehus Castle, known as Scandinavia’s best-preserved medieval manor, because I’ve already managed to visit it twice.
The multiple outings weren’t intentional. Somehow, however, I went on two separate field trips to two different Swedish locales that squeezed in a Glimmingehus visit along the way. Built as a safety fortress in 1499, with the foundation laid by Danish knight Jens Holgersen Ulfstand, Glimmingehus has evolved from housing 17th century Danish nobles to hosting modern-day rearchers, interested in studying the archeological and building history of the former residence. Archeaological excavations have been conducted in the area since 1935, and many scholars kindly refer to Glimmingheus as "archeaologists’ favorite fortress."
Once part of the Danish empire, Glimmingehus became part of Sweden’s Skåne province when the area fell from Denmark. Glimmingehus ghost stories are popular in the area, and the guide on my first visit shared one of the castle’s most famous tales. He presented the “mistress' bedroom," where the original mistress of the castle stayed with her children, and explained that a woman was once killed in the room. This woman, not of noble descent, was placed inside the wall as a punishment for some sort of unbecoming activity, but those who imprisoned her removed a brick from the wall so she could breathe. She eventually starved to death, but if you reach into the hole from the missing brick, the guide said you can still feel her remains, comprised of brittle bones and hair.
"I'll reach in," announced a German student on the tour, ready to display his courage. “I'm not scared!"
But then our guide revealed the story was just a rumor that has traveled through Sweden for quite some time. In fact, the stone was merely removed years ago by a researcher, and he never put it back. Nobody ever died in the wall. The manor hasn’t even seen any wars. People prefer ghost stories, though, so the rumors of Glimmingehus, just like the manor’s maintenance, have been well-preserved for years.
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