And in Stars and Stripes - We Have Ghost Stories!!!

Arty HQ haunted by noises that some think may be ghosts®

By JACK BAUMANN

Staff writer

December 5, 1974

BABENHAUSEN, Germany (S&S) A ghostly, unauthorized visitor has been disturbing the peace and quiet of the early-morning hours at a headquarters building here.

The men who guard the 41st Field Arty Group Hq have heard mysterious sounds of footsteps, movement of furniture, creaking floors and flushing toilets from the tightly locked fourth and fifth floors. 

According to Sgt. Robert A. Weaver, "There's definitely something up there. "During the middle of August I was on duty and around 4 a.m. I heard a loud bang, like something was dropped," said Weaver. "Then I heard footsteps walking across the floor. They have wooden floors up there, and I could hear the wood creaking, "I checked it out, but there was nobody up there," Weaver said.

On other occasions, while he was pulling guard duty in the headquarters building, Weaver has heard what sounded like "furniture being moved around." Whenever anyone approaches the fourth and fifth floors to investigate, the noises cease. The furniture always remains stationary when the rooms are examined.

Maj. Roy A. Highsmith, 41st Group adjutant; has also had some strange experiences in the building. "One night I was , working late, and I kept feeling this sensation that someone was staring at me outside in the hall," said Highsmith. "The door opened several times, but it probably the wind. I lifted my head several times because I thought I saw someone walk by the door. No one was there when I went out to look. I could have sworn I heard someone walking down the hall," Highsmith said.

Like the majority of those who have pulled guard duty in the building, Highsmith has heard the sound of footsteps originating from the top floors. Sgt. Michael Wilson believes that some" unnatural thing haunts the fourth and fifth floors of the building. During the daytime, these floors are used as Babenhausen's education offices.

Wilson said he was on duty one night when he heard what sounded like "somebody running around on the top floor.""Between 1:30 and 2 a.m. I heard the steps coming from above, so I went upstairs to check it out. "It was very distinct. There wasn't anybody up there, so I came down again. Two or three minutes later it happened all over. As soon as I got up to the fourth floor it stopped. So I went down again. "I heard the noises for a third time, but I didn't bother with It. From 2 until 5:30 a.m. I heard the toilets flushing, desks being pushed around and running sounds. It was really strange”, Wilson said.

Of course, there are skeptics among the GI’s who discount the weird sounds and inexplicable noises. Capt Benny Dever attributes the poltergeist rumors lo pure imagination. "On two of three occasions I've heard doors opening and closing up there — and footsteps, too. But I think I made myself believe in this ghost business because I've heard so many stories about it.'' These people don't know what the wind sounds like," said S.Sgt. John R., Seals. ''This building isn't haunted."

Another soldier claims that the noises are merely caused by the "settling of the foundation," M.Sgt. Richard J. Soska said, "Until I heard It myself, I didn't believe in it," But between 3 and 3:30 a.m. on Monday, Soska said he heard someone walking the length of the third floor, directly above his guard duty position. "It was loud and clear, like someone was walking with boots or-heavy shoes," he .said. Upon investigation, nothing unusual was observed, and the hallway door remained locked and bolted.

Muffled voices also were heard on the same night by an officer, who did not want to be identified. Naturally, the possibility of a hoax does exist. But on two occasions, a group of skeptical off-duty Stars and Stripes staffers spent the night in the building.

Before starting the ghost watch, we thoroughly examined the fourth and fifth floors, fastening every window and locking every door. Each hallway is locked and bolted, and an armed guard stays on the second floor. The only access to the top floors, aside from the main hallway, is a fire escape on-the fourth floor. If a prankster did pull off a hoax, it's difficult to see how. 

The first night proved worthless for the ghost watchers, but the second occasion was far more productive. From 1 to 1:15 a.m., distinct footsteps were heard coming from the floor above. Various scraping and bumping sounds were also heard, but these could have been noises front water pipes .and the high winds that night;" At 2:15, five more steps were heard. Until 2:43 a.m. rather vague noises echoed through the halls from upstairs. One very distinct scrape was heard from the east end of the building. We investigated the noise immediately but found nothing. After 3 a.m. the only sounds came from the streets outside. Apparently, 2,a.m. is prime ghost time. Nearly all the people interviewed mentioned that it was between 2 and 2:30 a.m. when the footsteps were heard. Only one person — Capt. Norman R. Cherry — actually has seen anything unusual so far, but he isn't exactly sure what he saw. "I came up here one night to pick up some papers. It was about 9: 15 p.m. On the way out of the office I turned the lights out, walked down the hallway, locked the (hallway) door and glanced over my shoulder," said Cherry. “I saw a shadow walking down the hall towards me." Cherry says the "shadow" may have come from the headlight of a passing car or plane, but his office is located on the third floor.

The history of the town of Babenhausen also lends a supernatural aura to the tales dealing with the casern. During the 17th century, 50 women were executed as suspected witches. The women were imprisoned in the town's Hexenturrn (witch tower) and burned alive in. the market place. One of the victims of the witchcraft hysteria was Frau Muller, accused of killing three men through sorcery.

In 1843, a woman supposedly related to Frau Muller was stoned to death during another witchhunt. Twenty-four hours after her death, her boyfriend died without any explanation, a history of the town claims. A young soldier who jumped from the fifth floor of the headquarters building in June 1920 was planning to marry a woman who worked on the casern. Her last name was Muller. Following the suicide she was never heard of again, the town’s history relates.

The headquarters building was constructed by the Germans during 1900 and 1901. Since that time the casern has been occupied by the French, the Hessian Police, the Freiwillige Arbeitsdienst (volunteer work service) and the Wehrkreis Rdt und Fahrschule (District Army Riding and Driving School). After World War II, the United States took over the casern as a discharge camp for German POW’s.

According to legend, a young German soldier committed suicide by jumping from the fifth floor. During the investigation, the bodies of five missing men were discovered in the attic. Their deaths remain a mystery. Poltergeist is a German word that means a spirit (geist) that creates a noise (polter), Many people classify these spirits along with leprechauns, elves and werewolves.

Tell someone that you believe in ghosts, and they'll usually label you a weirdo! But not in Babenhausen.

Used with permission from Stars and Stripes. ©1974,2013 Stars and Stripes