The nightmare of Bunschoten

On the evening of 14 October 1843 Bunschoten was in heavy mist. The inhabitants went normally to sleep. In the night all had at the same time — by later inquiry — the same dream. The dream lasted about three hours (almost everyone remembered one clear opening scene and one clear ending). The next morning all woke normally. No damage, no fever, no lasting fear. But everyone knew: I have dreamed the same as my neighbour.

The town council decided on 16 October 1843 that the dream was a «Bunschoter secret». No Bunschoter would tell the dream content to a non-Bunschoter. The agreement was set in the parish register, with one rider: «We keep this secret not from fear but from reverence. What we have dreamed in common is ours in common; we do not share it with him who cannot understand.» Since 1843 the dream content has not been made known to non-Bunschoters. Bunschoters who marry outsiders may share the dream content only after the marriage. Bunschoter children are told the dream content at sixteen. In 2026 about 22,000 Bunschoters know the dream content. No non-Bunschoter knows what they dreamed. Sinninghe wrote in 1933: «I asked twelve Bunschoters; all refused to tell. The Bunschoter secret is solid.»