In the Odenwald Mountains in southern Germany, stood the castle of Baron von Landshort. He fell into decline, but its owner - a proud descendant of the ancient Katsenelenbogen family - tried to maintain the appearance of former greatness. The baron had a beautiful daughter, brought up under the vigilant supervision of two unmarried aunts. She was able to read pretty well and read several church legends from the warehouses, even knew how to sign her name and succeeded in needlework and music. The Baron was about to marry his daughter to Count von Altenburg. On this occasion, guests gathered in the castle, waiting for the groom, but he was not there. It so happened that on the way to the baron’s castle, Count von Altenburg met his friend Hermann von Starkenfaust. The young people were on the way, and they decided to ride together. The robbers attacked them in the forest and inflicted a fatal blow to the count. Before his death, the count asked a friend to inform his bride of his sudden death. German promised to fulfill the order and, although his family had long been at enmity with the family of Katsenelenbogen, he went to the castle of the Baron, where the owner, not waiting for his daughter’s fiancé, had already ordered serving, so as not to starve the guests. But then the sound of a horn announced the arrival of a traveler. The baron went out to meet the groom. Herman wanted to say that his friend was dead, but the baron interrupted him with countless greetings and did not allow him to insert words to the very door of the castle. The bride was silent, but her smile showed that the young man fell in her heart. Everyone sat down at the table, but the groom was gloomy. The Baron told his best and longest stories, and at the end of the feast he told the story of a ghost who, under the guise of a groom, came to the castle and took his bride to the realm of spirits. The groom listened to the story with deep attention and looked strangely at the baron. Suddenly he began to rise slowly, becoming higher and higher. The Baron thought that he had become almost a giant. The groom went to the exit. The Baron went after him. When they were left alone, the guest said: "I am a dead man <...> I was killed by robbers <...> a grave awaits me." With these words he jumped on his horse and sped off. The next day, a messenger rode up with the news that the young count was killed by robbers and he was buried in the cathedral of the city of Würzburg. The inhabitants of the castle were seized with horror at the thought that a ghost had visited them the day before. The widowed bride before the wedding filled her entire house with her complaints. At midnight, she heard melodic sounds coming from the garden. Going to the window, the girl saw a ghost groom. Aunt, who was sleeping in the same room, quietly went to the window after her niece and fainted. When the girl again looked out the window, there was no one in the garden. In the morning, the aunt said that she would no longer sleep in this room, and the bride, showing rare disobedience, stated that she would not sleep anywhere except this room. She took a promise from her aunt not to tell anyone about this incident, so as not to deprive her niece of a bitter joy to live in a room, under whose window the shadow of her fiancé is on guard. A week later, the girl disappeared, her room was empty, the bed was not wrinkled, the window was opened. Auntie briefly told a story that happened a week ago. She suggested that the girl was carried away by a ghost. Two servants confirmed her assumptions, saying that they heard at night the clatter of horse hooves. The baron ordered that all the surrounding forests be combed, and he was about to take part in the search, but suddenly he saw that two richly dressed horses had arrived at the castle, one of which was his daughter, and the other a ghost groom. This time he was not gloomy, cheerful lights shone in his eyes. He told the baron how at first sight he fell in love with the bride, but out of fear of a family feud he did not dare to reveal his real name, as the baron told him with ghost stories that he had an eccentric way out of the situation. Secretly visiting the girl, he achieved her reciprocity, took her away and married her. The Baron was so happy to see his daughter safe and sound that he forgave the young people, and only her aunt could not reconcile herself with the thought that the only ghost she had seen was a fake.