Are you a fan of the Twilight Saga, Bram Stoker’s Dracula or just like scary places? Take a look at these “vampire dens” in the Czech Republic!
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Vampire Princess of Český Krumlov
Our first stop will be the beautiful Bohemian town of Český Krumlov, a home to a princess who, according to Rainer Köppl, inspired Bram Stoker to write the story of Dracula. Eleonore von Schwarzenberg was a princess from the Lobkowitz dynasty who lived in the second half of the 17th century and the first half of the 18th century. She was an influential woman well-known in her part of the country for her love of hunting. This was a highly unusual hobby for a woman of her status at that time and of course, this was a very fertile ground for gossip. Her favorite animal was the wolf, often associated with vampires. She had a shelter for wolves and a kennel, the whole town could hear the howling that came from the Krumlov castle and the princess was believed to be a follower of black magic. Eleonore received the nickname Vampire Princess while she was still alive.
The princess gave birth to one daughter and years later and after a miscarriage to a son after years of drinking wolf milk which she believed could help her get pregnant again. This only intensified people’s believed that she was an affiliate of the dark arts and a devil’s follower. After she died, her heart was taken out and a large tumor discovered right under. The doctor believed her blood was poisoned by a vampire virus, her heart was pierced with a stake and her funeral was secret. According to her wish, her tombstone said “Hier liegt die arme Sünderin Eleonora. Bittet für sie. Obiit die 5. may A. 1741″ which means “Here lays the poor sinner Eleonora. Pray for her. Died on May 5, 1741”. This statement is a proof of her piousness for some, of her “vampirism” for others.
The truth is that Eleonore was a very emancipated woman who liked to hunt and smoke and do what she liked which was already suspicious in her time. Moreover, she tried to cure her fertility problems with alternative cures and healers which made her even more suspicious in the eyes of the church. Her tombstone didn’t say any surname and the Schwarzenberg dynasty into which she married, didn’t want to be affiliated with her.
Burial Ground in Čelákovice
The Central-Bohemian town of Čelákovice became famous for the finding of the bone remains from the 13th-15th century from a burial ground that is one of its kind on the Czech territory but also very rare in Europe.
In 1966, during the excavation works for the water pipeline in a field in the area called Mrchovláčka, an old burial ground was discovered. The 14 bodies (13 men and one whose sex wasn’t determined) in 11 graves were placed in strange positions, with their hands behind their back, legs bent, some decapitated and one with a wooden stake in the shoulder area. One of the bodies had an extra set of molars. Many people, historians even, though this could be antivampiric measures applied in the Middle Ages. However, other experts claim that the remains could as well be of criminals who weren’t supposed to be buried with dignity.
In 2016, a team led by the Brasilian expert Cicero Moraes reconstructed the face of one of the men.
Although we know nowadays that the remains belong to mortal men, the town continues to attract mystery hunters.
Cursed Cemetery of Mikuleč
Mikuleč is a small town on the way from Svitavy to Litomyšl. In 1932, we re-modelling the local morgue and found remains with tied hands and a circular wound in the center of their fronts. Prof. Červinka from the Research Institute of Prague was the archeologist in charge of the investigation and he was helped by the renown prof. Häller from Vienna. While prof. Häller came to the conclusion that the remains belonged to the victims of the Thirty Years’ War, prof. Červinka believed they were victims of the inquisition’s quest against vampires and witches. To settle the dispute, an archeologist called Petr Černý was called to used the modern technology to solve this and he concluded that prof. Červinka was right about the witches trials and vampire hunt lead by the inquisition.
This is not where the mystery of Mikuleč ends. Prof. Häller died in 1936 in his apartment, his face reflected the horror from whatever he saw before he died. Prof. Červinka died only a month later. The last archeologist, Petr Černý, died in 1947. Supposedly, all of them died under similar circumstances and on days of full moons.
Evil Castle Administrator of Žďár nad Sázavou
The administrator of the castle estate of Žďár nad Sázavou wasn’t a good man. Johann Alois Ulrich was cruel and liked to use his power to deprive people of their land. When he died of fever in 1817, the locals were relieved. Little did they know that this was the beginning of something much worse. His ghost started attacking people and he was even seen in a fiery carriage pulled by headless horses. The town commissioned an executioner from Jihlava to open Ulrich’s grave – there were no signs of decomposition of his body – and apply antivampiric measures. The man was also decapitated and his mouth was filled with poppy seeds. The locals believed the town would have gotten rid of the tormenting ghost for as many years as there were seeds.
Dancing Vampire of Levín
The town of Levín near Litoměřice (Ústí nad Labem region) lived a horror in 1344. An unknown lady died and after she was buried, she became undead, choked many people and danced over them. She also supposedly ate half of her veil. When stabbed, she bled, although this didn’t help as she always arose and continued tormenting people. When people decided to burn her, the wood didn’t catch fire and the only wood that would was the one from the church roof. Only after she was burnt, the torment stopped.
Other “vampire dens”
In 1998, the remains of a man were discovered in Žatec, north-western region of the country. His skull was asymmetrical and there were metal buckles in the grave. In Kopidlno, several bodies were discovered decapitated and with their skulls placed between their legs and Lochenice is famous for the skeleton of a woman who was buried face down and nailed to the casket.
