Altstadt

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Altstadt is a small town, surrounded by the woods where Brennenburg Castle is located.

Information

Not too much is known about the town, as it is only mentioned a couple of times in Daniel's Diaries in Amnesia: The Dark Descent and never seen in game. However, it is also heavily featured in several of the short stories in Remember - Amnesia The Dark Descent.

Altstadt is a haven in the midst of a vast forest. The forest is know to be pretty and picturesque during the daytime, covered with both lakes and mountains, although in the dark the place is known to be anything but. This has led to the area being the source of many myths and superstitions.

The town is known to have an Inn, which is called the Der Mühle Inn. This is the Inn where Daniel spent the night before he visited the castle. It is also known to have a church, which was visited by Klaas Gottschall in 1774, as he was investigating the fate of Wilhelm.

Altstadt, surrounded by several small farms, is also the home of the Zimmermann family, though the family was presumably perished by the events of the game.

History

Some time during the 16th century, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa visited the village for a two-week period. While there, he found an underground Mithraik temple, from which he took an orb. He was immediately branded by The Shadow, which caught up with him and reclaimed the orb. Many years later, however, Alexander found out about this orb and claimed it for himself.

In 1702, the region saw a vicious crime spree which lasted until 1704. During that time period, Wilhelm von Gerich was one of the most notable people to combat against the increasing crime rate. In truth, however, he was responsible for the crimes: he had been hired by Alexander to arrest and kidnap people and bring them to the castle dungeons for Alexander to use in his attempts to gather Vitae.

As evidenced by a note found on the Archives level, Altstadt is surrounded by a dark, gloomy forest which is the source of many myths. It is said that soldiers who deserted during the Thirty Years' War got lost in the dark woods and were forever damned to guard the forest, a curse which earned them the name 'Gatherers' by the townsfolk. These creatures, however, were created by Alexander and assist him with kidnappings.

In 1704, a barn burned down a couple of miles from Altstadt. Wilhelm arrested the farmhand, Emil, and supposedly brought him to the Brennenburg dungeons. After this, Alexander grew tired of the imprudent behaviour of Wilhelm and his men, and killed them with poisoned wine. With this, the crime spree ended. A while later, a sheriff from Königsberg was sent to Altstadt to question Wilhelm about his civil arrests, but found no trace of him.

In 1774, Klaas Gottschall traveled to Altstadt in an attempt to uncover the fate of Wilhelm. He visited the town church and the the site of the barn fire. After a while, his search led him to Castle Brennenburg. His fate is unknown.

Gabriel, who worked as an outrider in Bremen, grew up in the town of Altstadt. In 1839, he was approached by Daniel, who sought his services in scouting a path to Altstadt. Initially not wanting to take the job, he was swayed as Daniel kept offering more and more money. They arrived in the town on August 2nd, and Daniel stayed the night at the local inn, Der Mühle.

That night, a Servant Grunt made its way down to the town and kidnapped a local cat, Tinker. Gabriel chased the creature down and saved the cat.

On August 18th, the Zimmermann family buried their recently deceased son in the town's local graveyard, before heading back to their farm just outside of town. Later that night, Daniel and Alexander made their way to the farm, killed Gustaf Zimmermann and his farmhands, and kidnapped his wife and three daughters.

Trivia

• The orb Agrippa found in the cavern near Altstadt, is the same orb that you gather the pieces of and reassemble in the game.
• Altstadt can be translated to "Old Town" or "Old Village".
• The town is said to have a population of only 86 in 1704, due to the vicious crime spree illustrated by Wilhelm.