Franklin Castle

Infobox Paranormalplaces
Place_Name = Franklin Castle


Image_Caption = Front of Castle
Grouping =
AKA = Tiedemann House
Country = United States
Region = Ohio
Terrain =
Owner = Michelle Heimburger
Status =

Franklin Castle (also known as the Tiedemann House) is a historical house on Cleveland's west side located at 4308 Franklin Blvd. [http://www.housefront.com/PropertyDetail.aspx?propertyID=1989692 HouseFront] ] The building has four stories and more than twenty rooms. It is purported to be the most haunted house in Ohio. [cite book |last=Willis |first=James A. |authorlink=James A. Willis |title=Weird Ohio: Your Travel Guide to Ohio's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets |publisher=Sterling Publishing |date=2005 |pages=56 |isbn=1402733828]

Early history

The house was built in 1865 by architects Cudell & Richardson for Hannes Tiedemann, a German immigrant. [cite book |last=Belanger |first=Jeff |authorlink=Jeff Belanger |title=Encyclopedia Of Haunted Places: Ghostly Locales From Around The World |publisher=Career Press |date=2005 |pages=128 |isbn=1564147991] On January 16, 1881, Tiedemann's 15 year old daughter Emma succumbed to diabetes. The house saw its second death not long afterwards when Tiedemann's elderly mother, Wiebeka, died. During the next three years the Tiedemanns would bury three more children, giving rise to speculation that there was more to the deaths than met the eye.

To distract his wife, Luise, from these tragedies, Tiedemann began extensive construction on the home, adding secret passages, concealed rooms, hidden doors and a ballroom which runs the length of the house. Also during this building, turrets and gargoyles were added to the edifice's facade, giving the house an even more pronounced "castle" appearance.

It is rumored that these hidden rooms and passageways were used for bootlegging during Prohibition. In fact, one of these rooms still holds a liquor still. One of the rooms was found to hold at least a dozen baby skeletons. The medical examiner ruled out foul play, though it remains unknown from whence the bones originated.

Luise Tiedemann died from a liver disease on March 24, 1895 at the age of 57. Hannes sold the house to the Mullhauser family, and by 1908 he and the entire Tiedemann family were dead, [cite book |last=Mueller |first=Werner Diebolt |authorlink=Werner Diebolt Mueller |title=To Cleveland and Away: Of Muellers, Reids, and Others |publisher=W.D. Mueller |date=1993 |pages=156 |isbn=] leaving no one to inherit his considerable personal wealth.

Rumors of crimes committed in the house by Tiedemann (including sexual indiscretions and murder) have contributed to Franklin Castle's reputation as a haunted house.

Middle years

In 1913 the Mullhausers sold the house to the German Socialist Party, though it was said that the Socialists were, in reality, Nazi spies.

The house remained largely unoccupied until January 1968, when James Romano, his wife and six children settled in the long abandoned building. The Romano family reported several encounters with ghosts in their new home, and attempted exorcisms and even had a now defunct ghost-hunting group (the Northeast Ohio Psychical Research Society) investigate the castle. By 1974, the Romanos decided to leave the house, and sold it to Sam Muscatello, who planned to turn the castle into a church. [Citation |last=Kercheval |first=Nancy |title=Church to Occupy Haunted Castle |url=http://www.forgottenoh.com/Franklin/fc-mansnj-jun8-76-pg5a.gif|accessdate=2007-08-28] To raise money for the church, tours and overnight stays at the castle were offered.

Recent history

Ownership of the castle has changed frequently in the past thirty years. In 1999 a vagrant set a fire which badly damaged the castle. [Citation |last=Vishnevsky |first=Zina |title=Franklin Castle Risks Demolition |url=http://www.forgottenoh.com/News/franklinrisks.html |accessdate=2007-08-28]

References

External links

* [http://www.prairieghosts.com/oh-frank.html Franklin Castle: The Most Haunted House In Ohio?]
* [http://www.deadohio.com/franklincastle.htm Franklin Castle]
* [http://cleveland.about.com/od/clevelandhistory/ss/hauntedclev_3.htm Haunted Cleveland]
* [http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=TH1 Encyclopedia of Cleveland History]
* [http://www.mysterymag.com/weirdamerica/index.php?subID=123&artID=487&page=article Franklin Castle Haunting]