Der Nockisher Mon of Manheim

In the countryside south of Manheim Borough, an unusual ghost story has lingered for generations. Unlike the familiar tales of spirits wandering old mansions or haunting lonely graveyards, this mysterious apparition reportedly appeared in broad daylight, bewildering those unfortunate enough to encounter it.

Known in Pennsylvania Dutch as Der Nockisher Mon, the figure became the subject of a peculiar local legend. Its unsettling appearance and unexplained behavior left at least one witness searching for answers.

But to understand this haunting, we must first travel back to the early days of Manheim.

From Stiegel’s Dream to a Country Town

The borough’s story begins in 1762, when German immigrant Henry William Stiegel and his business partners, brothers Charles and Alexander Stedman, purchased a large tract of land in Rapho Township. Their ambition was to establish a thriving community centered on manufacturing and commerce.

Stiegel, an accomplished ironmaster who had already found success at nearby Elizabeth Furnace, envisioned something especially grand. At the heart of the new town, he laid out a spacious Market Square and erected an imposing residence. A few blocks away, at the intersection of Charlotte and Stiegel Streets, he established a glassmaking operation that would eventually become known as the American Flint Glass Manufactory.

Beginning in 1764, skilled glassblowers produced bottles, window glass, and elaborate tableware in rich shades of blue, green, and amethyst. Their products found customers well beyond Lancaster County, establishing Manheim as an important center of colonial glassmaking.

Stiegel enjoyed his prosperity in extravagant fashion. Local tradition remembers him traveling in an elaborate carriage, with cannon fire announcing his arrivals and departures. His grand lifestyle earned him the nickname “Baron” Stiegel, although he held no hereditary title.

But his remarkable fortune did not last.

Financial troubles brought his business empire crashing down. By 1775, Stiegel had lost his holdings in Manheim, and the glassworks struggled to survive. Production ceased around 1780, leaving the community with barely 300 inhabitants.

Despite these setbacks, Manheim gradually recovered, becoming a commercial center for surrounding farms and supporting blacksmiths, wagonmakers, potters, and other craftsmen. In 1838, Manheim was formally incorporated as a borough.

Throughout the nineteenth century, the community retained much of its Pennsylvania German character. Generations of farming families cultivated the fertile countryside, passing down their language, customs, and traditions.

And like many Pennsylvania Dutch communities, Manheim had its share of ghostly legends.

South of the borough lay a modest neighborhood known as Buchtown, remembered as one of the area’s poorer sections. Here, beyond the town’s busy streets and workshops, fields stretched between farmhouses, and families worked the land much as their ancestors had done.

It was in this rural setting, around the turn of the twentieth century, that the legend of Der Nockisher Mon took shape.

The Naked Man of Buchtown

The tale begins on a warm July day when a teenage girl named Mary Ann Litzenberger set out with her two sisters, Adaline and Rebecka, to gather blackberries.

The three young women traveled along Lancaster Pike, heading approximately half a mile beyond the tollgate toward Buchtown. Blackberry picking was a familiar summer activity in rural Lancaster County, where wild bushes offered an abundance of fruit for preserves, pies, and other household uses.

For nearly an hour, the sisters worked among the bushes, filling their containers with ripe berries. Eventually, Adaline and Rebecka decided to take a break and walked a short distance ahead. Mary Ann lingered behind, hoping to gather a few more berries before joining them.

Looking across a nearby field, Mary Ann noticed a figure rising from the corner of a fence. It was a man, but something about his appearance was terribly wrong.

The man was completely naked.

He moved slowly across the field, neither turning his head nor glancing from side to side. His gaze remained fixed straight ahead, and his face carried an unmistakably worried expression.

Mary Ann watched in astonishment. Who was this man? Why was he wandering through the countryside without a stitch of clothing?

Alarmed by the sight, she shouted to her sisters in Pennsylvania Dutch, “A nockisher mon!” A naked man!

She called for Adaline and Rebecka to look, certain they would be equally shocked by the extraordinary spectacle. But her sisters saw nothing. Although Mary Ann insisted that a naked man was walking across the nearby field, neither sister could see the figure.

What Mary Ann had witnessed, according to the account, was no ordinary wanderer. It was a ghost.

Shaken by the encounter, Mary Ann hurried down the road to a nearby farmhouse and told the woman living there what she had seen. Rather than dismissing the frightened girl’s account, the woman offered a startling response. She knew about the naked man and claimed to have seen him herself on several occasions.

The woman explained that the property had once belonged to a farmer who became embroiled in a disagreement over the boundary of his land. According to local tradition, the dispute remained unsettled even after the farmer’s death.

His spirit was said to return to the property, retracing the line he believed marked its rightful limits.

Suddenly, Mary Ann’s encounter had an explanation. The naked figure was not wandering aimlessly. He was still marking his boundary.

Yet one detail remained unexplained. Why was the farmer’s ghost completely naked?

The story offers no answer.

Ghosts, Monsters, and Tales of Adventure

Read more stories like this in Uncharted Lancaster’s Ghosts, Monsters, and Tales of Adventure. The book takes readers on a journey through Lancaster County’s haunted history, eerie legends, and hidden treasures. From ghostly apparitions to outlaw loot, these 64 true local stories blend real history with gripping folklore.

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Resources

• The Naked Phantom of Manheim
• Humanoid Encounters – 1900-1929
• Ghostly encounters: Librarian offers glimpse of haunted Lancaster County
• Pennsylvania Dutch Country Ghosts Legends and Lore