Fredriksten Fortress, Halden

Østfold · Norway · Fortress

The White Lady drifts over the grass without touching the ground, turns at the forest edge and waves — she has done so in Halden for two hundred years.

Fredriksten's most attested figure is Den hvite dame, the White Lady. On light spring and summer nights she is said to glide about the commandant's house and the bell tower in white or grey, arms still at her sides and her feet never visible — she does not touch the ground. At the forest edge she turns and waves before vanishing. Soldiers in the nineteenth century described a beautiful but pale face with sorrowful eyes, and a figure passing straight through the gates towards the Place d'Armes. Legend says she is searching for a lieutenant killed in a drama of jealousy; one version makes her his fiancée from Trøndelag around 1820, who threw herself from the tower. In 1926 a skeleton was found beneath the bell tower. At this same fortress Charles XII of Sweden was struck in the head by a projectile on 30 November 1718 — the question of who fired has never been settled.

FAQ

Where is Fredriksten Fortress, Halden located?

Fredriksten Fortress, Halden is in Østfold, Norway.