Haunted Chateau de Chillon - Switzerland

Haunted Chateau de Chillon – Switzerland
Paul Dale Roberts, HPI’s Esoteric Detective
Halo Paranormal Investigations
www.cryptic916.com/
Email: [email protected]
HPI Schedule: jazmaonline.boards.net/thread/1748/hpi-schedule-2021
Sacramento Paranormal Haunted Hotline: 916 203 7503

One of the main reasons why I joined the Army was to see the world. When the Army asked me where I wanted to be assigned, I always told the recruiter…”send me overseas!” When I was stationed in Nurnberg, Germany, there were so many nearby countries to visit and I was able to see these countries on cheap military discounts. One of the places that was on my bucket list was to see the Chateau de Chillon in Switzerland. This gorgeous fortress was built on the island of Chillon. The Chateau was built as a strategic military site, since the time of the Romans. The fortress was used as a Roman outpost and in the 9th century a Roman tower was built at the fortress. The Romans knew the value of the fortress, because it overlooked the important St. Bernard Pass which could take you to Germany and France from the North and Italy to the South. Many battles were fought at this outpost. The fortress may be beautiful to behold, but it has a very dark past. Some of the residents that lived in the Chateau were Thomas I of Savoy and Charles III of Savoy. The Chateau was at one point of history, used as a prison. In the dungeons there were many hangings of political foes. In 1342 the area was inflicted with the Black Death. Many people died from this epidemic. In 1382 a very cruel and vicious tyrant lived in this fortress, his name is Sir Raoul de Monthenard nicknamed “The Breaker”. This guy was so evil that he kidnapped a married woman named Erdelinde and discovered she had a baby with her husband. Monthenard was so furious that she had a baby, that he threw the baby out the chapel window into the lake below. Erdelinde was in shock and ran after the baby. She jumped out of the chapel window to retrieve the baby, while doing so she dropped into the lake and drowned with the baby. With so many deaths at this fortress, you would think it was the end of it, but on September 26, 1613, 27 witches were executed.

There are two things I like. I love history and I love the paranormal. This fortress had it all. I hear now that they have escorted ghost hunts at the Chateau. I wish they had that in 1975 when I visited, but our tour guide was pretty thorough. He provided the history and of course, I was asking about the “haunts”. According to the tour guide, he has heard screaming coming out of the fortress late at night. Other locals have heard blood curdling screaming also. Locals and tourists have made claim that they have seen Erdelinde’s ghost walking near the lake and actually in the lake looking for her baby. The tour guide said he once heard a woman crying at the lake. When the tour guide went to the area where he heard the crying, the crying stopped and there was no one at that area. Sir Raoul de Monthenard is sometimes seen roaming the hallways. A tourist was terrified when seeing Monthenard, because he had a maniacal look on his face and a warped evil smile on his face. Locals and tourists have told the tour guide that they have been touched, heard strange whispers and heavy footsteps throughout the fortress. A lady tourist claimed she was pushed into a wall and a male tourist claimed his beard was yanked violently by an unseen force. Moaning has been heard in the dungeons. When I was walking around the fortress, I felt a feeling of dread. I am not a psychic, but I felt the negativity in the air of this fortress. I felt relieved when I was finally back outside and a lady tourist next to me said that she was creeped out while inside the fortress. The tour guide said there is another ghost that he actually encountered, that he calls “The Man in Rags”. The Man in Rags came out of a wall and his clothes were literally in rags. The tour guide said he had his mouth wide open and saliva was dripping from his mouth and there was blood everywhere on his body. The tour guide said when he saw this apparition, he almost quit. The apparition appeared only once and for a short time. The tour guide said a maintenance worker once encountered The Man in Rags and quit his job immediately, it was too much for him.

While I was at the fortress, I didn’t run into any ghosts, but I sure felt the depression in various areas of the Chateau. Towards the dungeon area, it felt sad. Like I said previously, I was happy to go outside and that the tour ended.