Many Alsatian legends mention the White Lady. This ghostly woman is said to haunt the ruins of castles or ponds, rivers, laundries; usually near water. He is actually a ghost, not always the ghost of a woman, and often has to atone for a mistake (such as greed or infanticide) or refuses to disappear completely out of hopeless expectation (the return of a lover, his children). , For example). The torture he endures condemns him to wander between the world of the dead and the world of the living.
Remember that on the evening of Samhain, today known as Halloween, the veil between the world becomes thinner and sometimes torn. But the White Lady isn’t necessarily there to scare you; she often cries and laments. Sometimes She also wants to be rescued. Because she is often doomed. But from what? Maybe from himself?
This is the case of the White Lady of Schwartzenbourg, this castle located on the border between the municipalities of Griesbach-au-Val and Munster. Long ago a sick old woman sent her daughter to fetch a doctor from Munster. Little Gretel was surprised by a terrible storm and took shelter under an arch in Schwartzenburg. Suddenly a scream was heard and Gretel lost consciousness. When he came to, a monk wearing a white robe was watching him. He said to him: “Do not be afraid! You will receive the reward that heaven has planned for you.” He led her to a room filled with gold bars, diamonds and pearls. “All this wealth belongs to you. To have this gold, these pearls and these diamonds, you must remain a virgin and never marry.” Gretel to Munster She ran, brought the doctor, and her mother was cured. Gretel, now extremely rich, built a magnificent palace on the site of the Schwartzenburg ruin.
Lady Marguerite was very cunning. A few years later a knight requested hospitality at the castle. After a big party the lady of the place asked him to stay at the castle, her steward was old and she would be happy if a good soldier replaced him. She agreed, and a few months later we learned, scandalously, that she was engaged to her housekeeper. On the wedding day, Lady Marguerite walked to the altar on the arm of the person she chose from her heart, and as soon as she said her vows, a thunderclap broke out in the deep blue sky. Marguerite fell white as a stone. His fiancee had disappeared. In his place, a monk dressed in white knelt and recited prayers for the dead. Since then, the White Lady has been wandering inconsolably at night among the ruins of Schwartzenburg Castle. He laments endlessly about his broken oath.
