The local Franklin Castle–just in time for the spooky season

The+local+Franklin+Castle--just+in+time+for+the+spooky+season

Da'Lyjsha Bentley, staff writer

The Franklin Castle is known to be one of the most haunted houses in Ohio. The Franklin Castle, also known as the Tiedemann House, was built in the nineteenth century (1881) on Franklin Boulevard. The castle, four stories and over twenty rooms, is located on the west side of Cleveland in the Ohio City area. 

The house was built by a wealthy German immigrant named Hannes Tiedemann, whose life was marked with tragedies.

Wikipedia says that Tiedemann’s 15 year old daughter passed away due to complications from diabetes.  Shortly after that Tiedemann’s elderly mother passed away. According to Cleveland19 News, Hannes Tiedemann and his wife Louise then suffered the deaths of their three other children.

It is said that Tiedemann resorted to excessive construction and additions to the house to distract his wife Louise from the tragedies. But on March 24, 1895, his wife Louise passed away due to a liver disease at 57–bringing the number of family deaths in the house to six.

The year after that, 1896, Hannes Tiedemann sold the house to another family. 

Rumors that the deaths of the family may have been murders committed by Tiedemann started the house’s reputation as being haunted.

Many years later, in 1968, James Romano, his wife, and six children moved in and reported ghostly sightings. They attempted exorcisms and had ghost-hunters investigate the castle. The family moved out in 1974.

Human bones were found in a closet in 1975, but according to Wikipedia, “it’s believed they were planted by the new owner looking to gain publicity for his ghost tours of the property.”

After that, the home had various owners, but the house suffered unexplained fires in both 1999 and 2011–damaging any changes or remodels that had been attempted.

There has recently been reported paranormal activity going on in the Franklin Castle. According to a Cleveland 19 News interview with William Krejci, “It goes from doors opening and closing, foot steps, things moving around.” He also states, “Some people have reported putting something down and coming back later to find it and it wouldn’t be there. Then the next day it would be in a different room on a different floor.” William Krejci also says small things like footsteps, voices, and even Pandora radio turning on on his phone are common in and around the house.

For Krejci, he says the odd experiences in the castle weren’t scary; he said it was actually kind of cool. 

According to Allthatsinteresting,  “People have described hearing crying babies, seeing a woman standing in the window, and feeling cold in a certain room.” Even paranormal investigators have visited the house in hopes of  spotting a ghost.

If you would like to learn more about the Franklin Castle, check out the book, The Franklin Castle, published in 2017 and written by William G. Krejci and John W. Myers. You can find the book on ebay or amazon. It will tell you the full story of the Franklin Castle. 

Although the Franklin Castle is only for private residents and cannot be visited by tourists, you can go on YouTube and watch videos that show the inside of the castle.