Franklin Castle
AKA Teidemann House
The Tiedemann house was built during the period 1881-1883 and has seen more than its fair share of death during its 140 years of existence. It was built by Hannes Tiedemann who was a very prosperous wholesale grocer turned banker. The Castle itself was built by the famous Cudell and Richardson architectural firm on Franklin Boulevard. The Boulevard was one of the most upscale residential areas in Cleveland, second only to Euclid Avenue’s Millionaires’’ Row.
Hannes was born in Prussia in 1833 and emigrated from Germany to New York with his mother, Wiebka, two brothers, Claus and Ludwig, and three sisters, Catharina, Rebecca Eliese, Lowiese. (WHEN)
Once in Ohio, USA, Hannes worked as an apprentice barrel maker which relocated him to Royalton, Ohio. From there, he moved to Cleveland around 1855 and worked as a clerk for the wholesale grocer Babcock & Hurd. During his business ventures, he met a woman named Luisa Höck. They married in 1862. By 1864, Tiedemann was a wholesale grocer with the firm of Weidemenn & Tiedemann. This lasted some years, but in 1871 Tiedemann sold out his interest, though he retained the office building, and by 1883, Tiedemann founded as was Vice-President of Savings & Trust Co.
During his business adventures, he began construction of two houses. One being named “Stone Castle”, which was constructed in a popular Tudor-revival style at the time, and the other being the infamous Franklin Castle. Hannes Tiedemann had the house built in the upscale residential avenue not only to provide his family a more upscale style of living, but also as a place for friends and family to stay while they were in the process of immigrating to the United States. However, the Castle would soon be a place of sorrow and death.
The house at 4308 Franklin Boulevard has been known by different names in the 121 years of its existence. It was built in 1881-1883 by German immigrant Hannes Tiedemann, whose family lived in the home from 1883-1896. Image courtesy of Cleveland Public Library, Photograph Collection
Hannes, Luisa, their eldest child, Emma, and Hannes’ mother moved into the home sometime between 1881-1883. Sadly, they experienced their first loss in 1891, when their 15-year-old daughter succumbed to diabetes. Not long afterwards, they experienced their second loss when Hannes’ elderly mother, Wiebeka also died. Hannes and Luisa would subsequently bury four more of their children, Wilhelmine Hanna, Ernst, Dora Louise, and Albert, all of whom died in infancy. During this time of tragedy, it’s said that secret rooms and tunnels were constructed in the Castle. The reason they were created were up to debate.
In this circa 1880s photograph, shown from left to right are Hannes Tiedeman, his wife Louise, and their son August. Hannes Tiedemann built the Tiedemann House (also known as Franklin Castle) at 4308 Franklin Boulevard during the period 1881-1883. Image courtesy of William Krejci.
Rumors began to circulate that the amount of death surrounding Hannes was suspicious. He was allegedly being thought to have had a hand in his children’s deaths.
Then, in 1895, Hannes experienced another death. His wife, Loisa died due to liver failure. Heartbroken to have lost so many of his loved ones, he still continued on. Hannes remarried to a woman to a woman named Henrietta. Of course, this marriage set a spark to the rumors that he was the purported to be the reason his wife died. There was no reason to suspect him of foul play. His marriage to Henrietta ended in divorce after one year.
In 1913, the home was sold to a German Socialist Party. To most unseeing eyes, it seemed like a place where German immigrants were using the place as a place for parties and merrymaking. But again, rumors started to spread that it was actually the center of operations for German spies. It was said that years later, a German shortwave radio would be found in a hidden passage up in the rafters. They had supposedly constructed a new tunnel that ran from the basement of the Castle all the way out to Lake Erie.
In January of 1968, the home was sold to the Romano Family. Almost immediately they began to experience strange things. The children would often talk of their new-found friend. They would play with them in the ballroom or down in the basement. Frequently, the children would request of their mother to make extra cookies to share with their unseen friend. Mrs. Romano soon began to feel a presence that she believed to be Mrs. Tiedemann in the home and heard organ music coming from different areas of the home, but after searching the home top to bottom, she couldn’t find the source of the sound. Not long after, that family began reaching out for help and came into contact with Northeast Ohio Psychical Research Society, a team of local ghost hunters. They came to the home, intending to investigate and help if they could. One of the ghost hunters actually ran screaming from the house during and investigation. Not long after the group had finished their investigation, the Romano family turned to the Catholic Church for a priest to bless the home. When the priest arrived, he adamantly refused to set more than one foot in the house because of the feelings emanating the Castle when he arrived.
Newspaper Clipping featuring the Romano Family
The poor Romano family experienced several more years of unknown ghostly activities before they were finally able to sell it to the Muscatellos in 1974.
Sam Muscatello was particularly eager to cash out on Franklin Castle by offering ghost tours. At one point, he even invited members of the media to do a walkthrough. During a live segment, a man had his tape recorder yanked from his shoulder and thrown down the stairs. Another time, during a video recording of the property, a member of the crew witnessed a ceiling light beginning to spin around on its own with no obvious cause.
After Muscatello bought the house, he began searching from top to bottom for the alleged secret passages. One of his first discoveries was an old still that was most likely left from the Prohibition days. A few smaller, inconsequential discoveries were made, but there was one massive find. Hidden behind a panel in the tower, a small pile of bones was neatly piled. The bones were taken off the property and were proven to be human bones.
I’ll let you decide what to make of that.
Works Cited
Dubelko, J., & Pianka, R. L. (2012, July 31). Tiedemann House aka Franklin Castle. Retrieved from Cleveland Historical: https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/531
Ohio, T. G. (2008). Franklin Castle. Retrieved from The Ghosts of Ohio: https://www.ghostsofohio.org/lore/ohio_lore_13.html
Zarrekka, D. (2017, October 19). The true tragic history behind Cleveland's haunted Franklin Caslte. Retrieved from 19 News: https://www.cleveland19.com/story/36637518/the-true-tragic-history-behind-clevelands-haunted-franklin-castle/
