Monday, April 9, 2012

Highway of Death

This month Minnie is exploring the alphabet by digging out the unusual, often unexplained and alternative way of thinking. Stories of creatures, places and mysteries that have been passed down to us through centuries tease our imagination, live in our dreams and dare us to explore the impossible. Join Minnie each day as she discovers something unusual in the alphabet.

 
"Ain't no speed limit on the highway of death"



Highway of Death or Highway to Hell is a term usually associated with war, but the Highway of Death that I am going to refer to is a stretch of road on which there have been so many accidents and fatalities that they end up being attributed to a curse or other paranormal activity. Sometimes, the truth is actually stranger than fiction and a good example of this concerns the construction of a highway section between Bremen and Bremerhaven, Germany in 1929. 

Highway by Harm van den Dorpel. Not the stretch referred to, just like the picture.


This section was a completely straight area of flat roadway, on the side of which was a small stone kilometer marker known as kilometer marker 239. During the first 12 months of the roadway's existence over 100 cars crashed near the jinxed marker. On one very clear dry day in September 1930 a total of 9 separate cars left the road right next to the accursed marker. The survivors told the police that when they reached the marker, they felt a "thrill" in their stomachs as if they had topped a hill at great speed. Then their cars were seized by some great force, which pulled them off the road. 

A local water dowser, Carl Wehrs, thought that the force might be a powerful magnetic current generated by an underground stream. To test his theory, he took a steel divining rod and slowly walked toward marker 239. When he was about opposite the marker and about 12 feet from it, the rod suddenly flew out of his hands to the other side of the road and Wehrs was spun halfway around in his tracks.

Satisfied that his theory was right, Wehrs buried a box full of small copper pieces at the base of the stone marker. While the box was buried there, no accidents occurred. The box was dug up and the first three cars that passed the marker were wrecked. The box was quickly reburied and since then, the accidents at marker 239 have stopped. True story or not, definitely interesting.

21 comments:

shelly said...

Yes. Very interesting.

Unknown said...

Good lord! So there's a magnetic force there...I had heard about how young people generally have their accidents in the second year after their driving test (because they're too cautious in the first year).

farawayeyes said...

Truth can be stranger than fiction.

Murees Dupè said...

Wow! It sounds really scary. Great post though.

Jaye Robin Brown said...

Wow, that's intense. What a great story line, too. A kid who's house is in view of the mile marker.....

Lynn Proctor said...

so it was science---great story!

Sally said...

Wow, how eerie.

a.eye said...

How crazy! Sounds like the Bermuda Triangle. But I don't think they have found a solution to the problems that happen there...

Nicole said...

Interesting story, yes. It's a bit eerie, as Sally mentioned. I wonder if the local authorities ever considered closing that particular road. It makes the Roosevelt Boulevard (a dangerous road known for having many fatal accidents) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania look like a Highway of Life!


~Nicole
Blog: The Madlab Post
@MadlabPost on Twitter

Unknown said...

I like this one very much - copper markers eh? I guess it repels magnatism or something?

Happy A-Zing and thanks for following my blog, too

Bex
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www.leavingcairo.blogspot.com

Bossy Betty said...

Ooooooo! Loved this story!

Valerie Sloan said...

o.O Kind of freaky. True story or not, it's definitely an eerie story. Guess they better leave that box buried, just in case.

liz young said...

Has anyone checked lately? 1929 is a long time ago.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Yeah, I'd be curious if anyone has checked for the box lately.

Anonymous said...

Isn't it weird how a box of copper would make the accidents stop. I'm curious as to whether or not any kids have tried to dig it up. Sounds like a boy thing to do.
Great post. I have to admit I'm loving these stories.

Jeremy [Retro] said...

interesting... post.

Happy... to the challenge "H" is for Harmonious!
Jeremy [Retro-Zombie]
A to Z Co-Host
My New Book:
Retro-Zombie: Art and Words

Debra Harris-Johnson said...

This was one great story. Thanks.
dreamweaver

L said...

love the story!!! i love mystery horror stories! thanks for the great read!

Jaycee DeLorenzo said...

Ooh, spooky!

Thanks for visiting my blog today! :D

Susan Kane said...

That is creepy. Good creepy.

Fairview said...

Wow! Awesomely chilling!