The Strahov Monastery has stood on a hill above Prague since 1143. During its long history, it survived many raids and wars. One of the worst was the Swedish siege of Prague in 1648. Swedish soldiers stormed Malá Strana and mercilessly plundered everything they could find.

In the monastery, under a corridor to the sacristy, there was an inconspicuous tomb. Count Lažanský rested in it. He reportedly wished for this modest place for his final rest himself. He wanted to atone for killing a man at the Battle of White Mountain. His remains lay in silence and peace for many long decades.

One dark night, a Swedish soldier reached the tomb. He was looking for valuables and hoped to find jewelry or gold in the grave. He began pushing aside a heavy tombstone. But the stones treacherously loosened and buried him. The soldier survived but could not move. He lay trapped right next to the skeleton of the dead count.

At that moment, something terrible happened. The bony fingers of the dead count slowly moved. The skeleton seemed to come alive. Cold bony arms reached directly for the soldier’s neck. They gripped his throat and mercilessly strangled him. The soldier died in the dark tomb beside the skeleton of the man he had come to rob.

Since that night, the ghost of the Swedish soldier supposedly wanders the monastery. He wears torn military clothes and constantly holds his neck. Monks occasionally spot him in the dark corridors near the sacristy. Count Lažanský, however, rests quietly in his tomb. His bones have supposedly never moved again since that night.