In the very heart of the Old Town lies an enclosed courtyard called Ungelt. It was once a powerful trading center. Merchants from all over Europe brought rare goods here. They paid customs duties and stored their treasures in stone cellars. The courtyard had its own gates and was thoroughly locked at night. No stranger could get inside.

Ungelt looks peaceful today. There are cafes, shops, and hotels in it. During the day, tourists flow through and the city lives its usual bustle. But after dark, everything supposedly changes. When the gates close and the courtyard remains empty, strange sounds begin to be heard.

Residents of surrounding houses have been reporting the same thing for centuries. They hear quiet children’s crying. Sometimes laughter or tiny footsteps on the pavement come from the empty courtyard. The sounds seem as if small children were playing there. But when a person looks down from the window, the courtyard is completely empty. Nobody is anywhere. Only moonlight falls on the old stones.

No one knows exactly who the children’s voices belong to. According to one version of the legend, they were orphans who perished in Ungelt during a plague epidemic. Their souls supposedly never left the courtyard. According to another tale, they are children of merchants who once tragically lost their lives in a warehouse fire. Whatever the truth, the voices are said to be heard to this day.

They are supposedly heard most often on cold autumn nights. The sounds are quiet and intermittent. Sometimes they last only a few seconds. Other times, however, they continue for whole minutes. Brave souls who ventured into the courtyard after dark reportedly felt a sudden cold and a light touch on their hand. But they never physically saw anyone. Ungelt thus preserves its old and strange legend even in the twenty-first century.