About the case

During the late 1800s the corner section of this building was leased by Carl Berendt Lorck, consul general and book publisher. He was responsible, among other things, for publishing H. C. Andersen’s works in German translation. Lorck had peacefully resided with his extended family here for years, until one night in November of 1886, when their lives were turned completely upside down.

Some members of the family had already gone to bed while others were still in the living room, when at about 22:30 three heavy knocks were heard on the door of the bottom floor of the house. When the door was opened no one was to be found, even after searching the entire staircase. This was already a bit strange, because the door that opened to the street was closed, and it wouldn’t have been possible to get into the building without a key.

A few moments later, all hell broke loose. The family began to hear loud scratching noises, followed by knocking on walls and doors, and they witnessed their furniture shaking and levitating. This activity continued in various ways throughout the night and until the next day. At one point it became so intense that several chairs were pushed down the stairs, as if by an invisible force.

For the next several days, the disturbances continued. Mr. Lorck awoke one night because a large clothing-rack came floating into the bedroom. One morning the family discovered that a large water tub from the third floor had been thrown into a corner at the ground level of the building during the night. Other times, objects would start to move when family members passed by them, or the shower would suddenly turn on by itself. In one of the more chilling episodes, the consul general was followed down the stairs by a knife.

Finally, the family decided to contact the local authorities in hope of stopping it all. After presenting their problem at the local police station, the family was joined by police officer Thorvald Smit and a group of his assistants who, unconventionally, ended up staying overnight in a separate room in order to witness the phenomenon first hand. During that night they experienced all the same types of activities that the family so far had dealt with. The police officers had to admit that they could not determine a physical origin behind them. Nevertheless, this did not help the family with their problem and they were told only to contact the police again if the situation became downright dangerous.

Being almost out of options, the Lorcks then decided to reach out to local magnetist and spiritist Chr. Hansen (not to be confused with then famous stage hypnotist Carl Hansen, also active around this time) , who arranged for a seance at the house, to determine the source of the disturbances and get rid of them once and for all. Hansen used a variety of techniques, such as communicating by knocking under tables and making “it” produce several strange phenomena on command.

Working together with the family, the source of the spectacle was finally determined to be the spirit of Mrs. Lorck’s diseased brother, Hjalmar, who had died in the house a while back. Hansen furthermore voiced the theory that the youngest of the Lorck children were acting as a sort of unwitting conduit for the restless spirit. Towards the end of the seance, the spirit expressed towards Hansen & The Lorcks that the disturbances would not continue for much longer. And indeed, things began to slow down almost immediately afterwards, eventually coming to a complete halt during the following days.

Explanations and Conclusions

The Ny Toldbodgade case stands as one of the most spectacular and well-documented Danish poltergeist incidents, that until recently had been more or less forgotten. Newspapers at the time, from all over the country, printed and reprinted countless articles about “The Witchery At Ny Toldbodgade” and reading through them it becomes clear that it has most the hallmarks that we know from classics such as The Enfield or Entity poltergeist cases: spontaneous knockings and scratchings, heavy objects moving or being thrown around, the seemingly aggressive mood of the “spirit” as well as an attraction to/connection with younger family members.

There is of course the possibility that it was all an elaborate and well organized prank. A local boy was in fact suspected of being behind the initial knocking on the door, but with the spectacle that followed everyone realized that something larger had to be at play. A few articles also mention a young boy living at the Lorck house as being the potential source of it all, but several times when furniture was flying around he was found to be asleep in bed.

One also has to consider that the Lorck family themselves could have orchestrated the events as a hoax, although it is very hard to see what they would gain from this. The family do appear to have played a part in drawing attention to the spectacle, but it seems they did not do so out of a general desire for publicity, but more out of desperation because they were running out of options. In this connection it is important to note that nobody doubted the Lorcks’ sincerity. Several articles pointed out, however, that Chr. Hansen, the involved hypnotist and spiritist, had a history of doubtful practice and fraudulent behavior. But since he did not enter the picture until very late, and furthermore apparently helped end the spectacle, it is difficult to lay the blame on him.

In the end, even by taking a sceptical stance, one is left with the clear impression that something unusual happened at the Lorck residence during those months of 1886-87. But exactly what, we will probably never know.

Select sources

• S. Von Huth – Spiritisme Kontra Materialisme
• Tidsskrift for Magnetisme og Hypnose

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