Trumpeting behind the fence: Why did a terrifying orchestra play in Prague after dark?
The nooks and crannies of the Czech metropolis represented a perfect breeding ground for the creation of rumors and mysterious stories since the time of the chronicler Václav Hájek from Libočany, who added a whole series of places and stories to the area of Vyšehrad and Podskalí, which lies between today’s Jiráské and Železniční most. It is even possible that before the hammer of sanitation fell on the City of Prague, you would meet a ghost in its winding passageways Duriankathe murderer from the time of the princes, as he wanders the places where he himself ended his life, has no peace even after death.
A terrifying wail
However, ghosts arose not only from fairy tales of loving chroniclers. Serious press also wrote about some of them in the 19th century, and the Czech police organized large-scale raids on them. At that time, strange sounds reminiscent of children’s trumpets, sometimes also horns and other instruments, began to be heard from the wooden enclosure “at the Turks” in Prague’s Podskálí. The locals initially peered at the enclosure curiously, trying to find out what was going on. But when they saw no obvious source of the strange noises, curiosity gave way to dread. Despite the fact that the so-called Podskalská ghost had no material form and practically did not harm anyone, the locals closed themselves in their homes around eleven o’clock in the evening, when the strange concert in the enclosure always started, and lit up the small houses.
Someone probably the whole mystery and the authorities, because he relied on his Austrian fortitude and the security forces of the city of Prague. The police threw folded wood around the enclosure in an attempt to find the prankster, but in several enclosures they only scared away snarling cats.. It is still not certain whether they were behind the “revival” of the nights at the end of 1874, but after this intervention, the law enforcement heard a number of comments and jokes addressed to them from Podskalák. We know from the accounts of witnesses and their descendants that the haunting did not stop after the intervention of the police, but disappeared by itself only a little later.
Counting monks
The very secret of the origin of the Podskalský haunt remains shrouded to this day. There were rumors that they were behind the scary sounds monks from nearby Emmauswho were supposed to be after the property of the lumberman Procházka, to whom the land with the enclosure belonged. Others claimed that the monks simply wanted to show people their power.
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Although the Prague clean-up mainly targeted Josefov, the Jewish ghetto and the area in the western part of Nové Město near the Vltava river, due to floods and other reasons, Podskálí was also captivated and significantly affected its originality and character. The house “at the Turks” disappeared with its enclosure and with it the evidence of the sighting of the ghost. All that was left were rumors picked up by writers Ignat Herrmann AND Cinderella Biliánová. However, when it gets dark in Podskálí, its inhabitants whisper to each other that the ghost still wanders around and disturbs the peace of the night from time to time to this day.
Aeolian harp
In an attempt to come up with a rational solution to the whole mystery, certain experts presented theories according to which an unknown prankster (probably one of the oarsmen, floating wood down the river) should have placed in the enclosure a so-called Aeolian harp. This instrument consists of a narrow hollow box over which several strings are stretched. If you place it vertically against a stronger draft or wind, it will start to emit various melodies and tones. However, this theory is contradicted by the fact that the sounds are heard only in the evening – after all, the wind blew during the day. Moreover, no one has ever discovered the doleful object.