Not long ago I hiked deep into a forest in Germany near the small town of Ramsen to find the ancient “Stump Forest Court” which dates all the way back to the 6th-century. During my hike, both there and back again, I experienced very strange (aka scary as hell) phenomena, some potentially explainable, and some of it, well, not-so-much. This trip shook me up. Especially when I realized there was an animal’s skull hanging on a tree I passed, twice!
I actually physically jumped in shock while watching the video back!
Beware of Spoilers
Details in this post are spoilers to the video but they help clarify what happened. If you would prefer to watch the video first, scroll down and watch it now.
I filmed nearly the entire hike so all except one event are caught on video with the exception of some sounds that were either too far away or too soft for the mic to catch. Of course, the entire hike is not on the final cut as the video would have been hours long. I got the video down to 26 minutes which is still a bit long for my liking, but it was an eventful experience and I wanted to share as much as I could.
Why I Went to the Ancient Stump Forest Court
For years I had heard about an ancient site in the woods near Ramsen. People I met on my adventures often recommended the location because I love visiting ancient and unique places, and more recently, I was told (dared) if I was really interested in experiencing phenomena, I should go there.
Well, I did go to the Stump Forest Court and, holy MoG, yes, I did experience something.
I’m sincerely glad I did not go at night, as I’ll explain. I’m never going to go in those woods alone at night, so don’t even think about suggesting it. No. Stop. Don’t do it. I’m very easily influenced.
What the Stump Forest Court is
As you’ll discover in the video it was a bit confusing how old the Stump Forest Court location is, or rather, how long ago it was first used. I originally read that it was used from the 8th-century to the 13th-century, but then when I visited the monument it had different dates on it.
When I got back and checked the historical record, I discovered yet even older dates that state the court was in use as early as the 6th-century. Talk about waaaaay back!
Interestingly, in the video when I panned the center monument, I did catch in the upper right corner the numbers 6. – 15. Which means 6th-century to the 15th-century. That’s a LOOONG time for one place.
The Stump Court was a court for 9 forest communities. It’s where issues of all kinds were settled, it’s also where people were, according to locals, killed, and even, sacrificed!
I have so far not found any historical record confirming sacrifices, but it’s not hard to believe considering the area was used by Germanic and Celtic tribes. Death verdicts were a reality. Imagine 9 centuries worth of death sentences in one place.
In 1933 a monument was erected with 9 stone chairs in honor of the ancient court on the exact spot where it once existed. And that, my friends, is where I went.
What I Experienced in the Forest
I filmed nearly every major event I experienced in the forest. I was very lucky in that respect. However, one event, which chilled me to the bone, occurred when the camera was off, and I had begun my long hike back to civilization.
Last Warning About Spoilers (I recommend reading them for this video)
Again, the spoilers are worth it, but I give you fair warning in case you prefer to watch the video raw first.
There are a few things in this video that are not obvious during the initial walk, and when I say not obvious, I mean that for you the viewer watching the video for the first time, and for me too, when I shot the video.
1. Where is Everyone?
One of the strangest experiences I had in the forest is that there was literally no one around, anywhere! I saw one other person the entire time and that was early on.
However, as I drove to the location several of the parking spots for the hiking trails were packed, even one had several people on horseback. But just a few hundred yards away, where I parked, no one else parked and no one was in the part of the forest where the monument was. It was eerie and I think you realize it rather well in the video.
2. Animal Skull
Starting about the 3:40 mark an animal’s skull comes into view hanging on a tree, it’s just to the left of the yellow pole marker. You’ll see it very clearly at the 4:12 mark. I had no idea the skull was there because I was only looking through the camera’s viewfinder.
I think it’s interesting (and disconcerting) that I began to have something of a panic attack in this area and it resolved a few minutes later when I walked away. And then, I had a similar experience on my hike back, which is also captured in the film, at nearly the identical location at the 21:20 mark. I don’t think this was a coincidence.
3. Recent Rituals?
Something I did not pay attention to while I was at the location, and I wish I had, was that someone had recently placed twigs and other items in formations around the monument and even on the main large stone in the middle. A friend who helped me with putting the videos together pointed them out.
Apparently, someone had done some sort of ritual at the Stump Forest Court just before I arrived, either the night or day before, as the formation on the ground is still in perfect condition when I arrived.
Who knows, maybe whoever put them together was still around somewhere, hiding. If you know what the rituals mean, let me know!
4. Someone Unseen There?
At one point (8:17 mark), I hear several people walk up behind me while I am filming. It freaked me out and I spun around only for no one to be there.
I’ve tried to tell myself since it happened that it must have been the wind kicking up leaves. But you can see when I spin around there are no leaves flying around. The sound was barely picked up by the camera’s microphone for a second and I react almost instantly.
5. Disembodied Voice: BRYAN!
When I was leaving the monument, I had turned my camera off and began my hike back, when I heard someone say my name, in what I can only describe as a stern male voice. It was as clear as day. The voice had a strange guttural sound to it, as if it was trying to pronounce my name through an ancient dialect.
It really got to me and I turned the camera back on and started filming again, and I filmed most of my hike back to the car. At that point I was starting to become concerned.
6. Thrown Rock?
At the 23:25 mark I am panning around and when I turn you can hear something thrown and hit the tree directly behind me. That you can hear this on the camera’s microphone is a testament to how hard the object was thrown at me.
The camera’s microphone has difficulty picking up sounds several feet away, much less behind me with the camera pointed in the opposite direction. However, if you listen closely when I have the camera close to my chest you can hear my heartbeat—it was pounding in my chest!
What’s even more creepy is that unbeknownst to me, I had just passed the animal’s skull again. I was only about 20 or 30 feet away from it when this happened. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
If there had been someone out there messing with me, and maybe there was, I think it would have been exceedingly difficult for them to hide from my camera’s pans, and not to mention they could not have remained silent walking through the dead leaves and branches on the ground. You can hear my steps loudly crunching when I walked through just a small portion off of the path when I found the monument.
***Although I have uploaded some videos on Youtube I have not shared them so far, the below video is the first I’ve uploaded to Youtube that I’m sharing. I normally upload my videos to Facebook here, but you can also subscribe to my Youtube page if you like, you’ll be some of the first to do so.***
Watch the Video:
When you watch the video, let me know if you see or hear anything I might have missed. It’s one of my longer videos and I’ve watched it several times, but there may well still be other things going on that I missed.
If you do find something, comment here on Facebookcomment here on Facebook to let me know.
