Haapsalu Castle
Haapsalu Castle
Haapsalu Castle, built in the 13th century, has been the focal point of Haapsalu for centuries, both in terms of its size and importance. Stretching over three hectares, Haapsalu Castle is one of the largest forts in Estonia and served as the centre of the Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek for nearly 300 years.
The oldest part of the fortress is the cathedral, which was probably built in 1279, when Haapsalu received its first town privileges. In addition to its superb acoustics, the cathedral is also known for having one of Estonia’s most famous ghosts, the White Lady, who manifests on the window of the baptismal chapel on full moons in August. While the White Lady is probably a mirage of light designed by the builders of the chapel at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, local folklore provides its own explanation for the apparition of the lady. The legend of the White Lady, under the title of ‘The Walled-in Lady’, was first written down in the middle of the 19th century by Carl Russwurm, a school teacher and inspector in Haapsalu County School. The legend has been an inspiration to many. Since 1979, an open-air performance of ‘The White Lady’ has been performed in the courtyard of the castle during the full moon.
The first open-air performance took place already in 1937 under the auspices of the Swedish Folk Dance Society and Swedish-speaking Finn Helga Blees, wife of Nikolai Blees, the Estonian secretary for the Swedish minority. The libretto was written by Professor Waldemar Langlet (Sweden), the composer was Ludvig van Raiter (Hungary) and the artist Bertil Damm (Sweden). The libretto was based on a 1928 version of the legend featuring a low-class Swedish woman and a local knight whose parents want to keep them apart. The play was performed on only two evenings – one night in Estonian, the other in Swedish. Elfriede Gross played the lead role in the Estonian performance, which attracted a few thousand spectators, while S. Blees played the lead role in the Swedish performance, which was attended by 500 people.
The castle courtyard, site of the open-air performance of the White Lady, has also been the venue of the Song Festival of the Estonian Swedes. The first Song Festival of the Estonian Swedes was held in the castle courtyard on 2 July 1933 with ten choirs made up of 200 Estonian Swedish singers.
Tales
Walled-in lady
Back when the castle was under the rule of the bishops of Saaremaa, one of the canons brought a young and beautiful maiden to the castle, even though they were all required to live by the austere monastic law. This remained a secret for a long time, as the maiden wore boys’ clothes and her manner and conduct raised no suspicion.
One day the bishop visited Haapsalu Castle again. Rumours of a gross misconduct now reached his ears. At the request of the canons in the church, the bishop unexpectedly ordered a search of the living quarters of the accused would-be-boy. Instead of a young choirboy, they found a slender and pale maiden dressed in women’s clothing.
The Cathedral chapter was quickly convened. It was decided that the guilty canon was to be starved to death in prison, while the maiden was to be bricked into the wall of the church chapel under construction. The poor girl was given a piece of bread and a mug of water, and quickly enclosed with masonry. Her heartbreaking cries could be heard only for a brief time, while the silhouette of a white maiden has been sighted on moonlit nights for many years.
Black dog that guards the treasure
A treasure is said to be buried in Haapsalu Castle, guarded by a black dog. A few brave men have tried and failed to get their hands on this treasure. Some searchers have had their torches blown out, others have been spooked into giving up and running away.
Story has it that a Swede came to Haapsalu from Bisholm (Vööla) in 1773, and got a job as a night watchman. One time, when he went to the castle at midnight, he saw a big black dog with burning eyes as big as saucers, lying on top of a big coffer. Nobody knows what he said to the dog, or what was hidden in the coffer, but from that day on he became a very rich man. He immediately opened a shop, bought town houses, and became a major creditor, with many peasants bringing their money into his hands. Finally, after some time had passed, he went into the woods and hanged himself.