The knight Heinrich Walther von Ramswag rode out with King Rudolf of Habsburg against Ottokar, King of Bohemia, and saved his lord’s life at the Battle on the Marchfeld on 26 August 1278. For this he was royally rewarded: he received five hundred marks of silver, the estate of Kriessern together with Blatten Castle, the estates of Bernhardzell and Sitterdorf, and the imperial bailiwick in Thurgau.
But such great good fortune made the Ramswag family overbearing. In the time of wild living that followed, a great feast is said to have been held at the castle, attended by the king himself. In the castle courtyard, they are said to have amused themselves with golden balls and golden skittles.
During the Appenzell Wars, Knight Rudolf died an ill-fated death at Ramswag, and his possessions thereafter passed into other hands. But on dark and terrifying stormy nights, Rudolf’s spirit wanders deep below in the cellars of the former castle site; others appear with him, and then the golden skittles are brought out once more. Anyone who listens closely can clearly hear the rolling of the balls and the falling of the skittles, and, between them, the moans and groans of the castle spirits.
I. Weber.
