The apparition in Gross-Erlach (Wurttemberg), described in detail by Johannes Illig in his treatise “Der Spuk von Gross Erlach, Juni 1916” (Goppinger Tagblate, also Psychische Studien, Leipzig), began with untying of cattle-chains in a locked stable; although the animals were tied again, ropes and chains were already untied, even before the participants had left the stable. Neckchains were twisted, until the cattle suffocated.
On the 2nd of May the abuse began in the house in the form of crashing and stamping in the kitchen. A wooden log started to remove itself from the house entrance to the pantry. For several days in May there was perfect peace. Then the row started all over again. Milk bowls turned over, table spoons fell off the table, a water pail trailed itself to the door, a baby carriage left its place over and over again.
Finally the spook-manifestation reached its climax, when one day all doors were unhinged, all breakable objects upset and demolished, such as wine jugs, plates, bowls, pans, fat containers, waterpails, etc. On the 15th of May the house had to be closed and deserted. In this case, also, a 14-year-old boy, living in the house, was suspected. But it was ascertained that the phenomenon had showed itself also in rooms, in which the boy was not present.
In ‘Development of Occultism into Parapsychology’ by Baron von Schrenck-Notzing, Part IV. Phenomena of Apparitions (Ghosts). Translated by Beate Friedberger.
Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, January 1933.
… Much clearer and more unequivocal are the apparitions of ghosts, which without the intervention of media occur in certain haunted places. Here obviously, where there is question of something out of the ordinary, great care has to be taken in sifting the evidence. On closer inspection certain of the cases adduced turn out to be simple illusions. But that is not so with many others which stand the test of close scrutiny. To cite but one instance:
In a certain farm house in Grosserlach (Wuerttemberg) there lived a widow with her three children. On the 30 April 1916 the “ghost” appeared for the first time. That morning the cattle showed an unusual restiveness. They were bathed in sweat, as though water had been poured over them. Several times they were mysteriously loosed from the chains with which they were tethered. The fact was evident, but there was no accounting for the cause. The chains lay in a heap on the ground. These happenings were repeated on the following days.
After 13 May the house itself became haunted. Suddenly a wooden log began a jig in the air. Though a neighbouring farmer flung it out the window it was thrown back fast as lightning into the room, no one knew how. A little later a spar of wood began to march round the kitchen. On 15 May both stable and house were reduced to the greatest disorder. The crockery left its place on the dresser and flew about the room and out by the door, striking people on the head and seriously injuring them.
Finally, the doors were lifted off their hinges and crashed to the ground, bedding was torn in shreds by invisible powers, and the place reduced to chaos, with the result that the house had to be shut by the public authorities. It later transpired that a man of evil life had been the previous occupant of the house and had died an unhappy death. This explanation was offered for the strange occurrences.
(c.f. Gatterer, Der wissenschaftliche Okkultismus und sein Verhaeltnis zur Philosophie, pp. 23 f., 127. Innsbruck 1927.)
In ‘Life Hereafter’ by Josef Staudinger, S.J. translated from the German by John J. Coyne, S.J. 1964.