Now we have entered the tower Father’s Hat. The floors above us are designated for cannons. We’re in the dungeon. Below us is another 6 meters deep dungeon. Without any light whatsoever, the prisoners are forced to sit in total darkness. In winter, it is also gets extremely cold.

According to an eyewitness account from the 18th century, it is said that there was a floor grate hanging just above the ground floor on which the prisoners ate and slept. In all likelihood, the prisoners will have to excrete through the grate and it is said that the arrested prisoners begged for mercy or confessed their crimes as soon as they entered the tower and smelled the horrible stench.

During the 17th century, the witch trials in Kungälv culminated. Bohuslän was under the rule of the Danish king Christian IV and he is one of Europe’s most vicious witch-burners. In 1629, Gunder Anderssis is imprisoned here in the dungeon, accused of being a witch or “black magic woman.” It is a hard time for Gunder to face here at Bohus.

Torture was the method used to get information about pact with the devil that had been stolen and to find out if there were more women involved. Gunder denies all charges and the court rules that she should be released if 12 women, including herself, can swear that she is innocent. No other women come forth and she now ends up here again in the dungeon waiting to receive her sentence.

When the sentence is announced, it is clear that she will be burned alive at the stake. After two weeks of waiting for her execution, Gunder takes her own life. She was hung here in Father’s Hat. To be on the safe side, the verdict continued to be carried out even though Gunder was already dead.