The ghostly sign of the "House with a keyhole" (6 photos)

A mysterious plaque claims that the building is haunted by the spirit of an American astronomer. But is it?





The Keyhole House (Nyckelhålshuset in Swedish) is an Art Nouveau residential building known for its unusual entrance. However, its main feature is not in the architecture, but in the mysterious plaque next to the door, the inscription on which reads:



This house is visited by a tall, thin, headless ghost. This is the spirit of the astronomer Arthur Lowell, who discovered the canals on Mars. He lived in the apartment on the second floor from June 3 to June 16, 1909.





The sign has confused residents for decades, attracted ghost hunters, and even made it onto the list of the most mystical places in Gothenburg from the city tourism office.



Percival Lowell - American astronomer

But in reality, everything is not as it seems. This is not a historical artifact, but part of an art project by artist Thomas Lillenberg. He placed plaques throughout the city, mixing fact with fiction to inspire citizens to take a new look at familiar places.



The "tall headless man" is likely a reference to astronomer Percival Lowell (the name "Arthur" may have been intentional). It was Lowell who claimed to have seen man-made canals on Mars, but the theory was later debunked as an optical illusion.



Although the project was intended to be temporary, the plaque on the house remained forever. The artist himself is happy, because he proved that his fiction took root, creating a bizarre fusion of legend and reality.