Deborah Kade
- 5 days ago
- 8 min read

What did you do on this Friday the 13th?

When I looked at the date and saw it was Friday the 13th, I knew I had something to write about today.

It rained all day here down here in the valley, while snow fell at the higher elevations. So, I decided to spend the day at home doing nothing. This evening, Manu, Tanja, Syrena, Michael and I had a fun evening at the Restaurant Luegibrüggli. This was a first for all of us at this restaurant. Even though it was raining, the view overlooking Lake Thun was amazing. The food was delicious!!!!!!!!

Do you dread the day or is it your lucky day? For me, the day has mostly been lucky for me, over the years.

"Long considered a harbinger of bad luck, Friday the 13th has inspired a late 19th-century secret society, an early 20th-century novel, a horror film franchise and not one but two unwieldy terms—paraskavedekatriaphobia and friggatriskaidekaphobia—that describe fear of this supposedly unlucky day.

The Fear of 13

"Just like walking under a ladder, crossing paths with a black cat or breaking a mirror, many people hold fast to the belief that Friday the13th brings bad luck. Though it’s uncertain exactly when this particular tradition began, negative superstitions have swirled around the number 13 for centuries.

While Western cultures have historically associated the number 12 with completeness (there are 12 days of Christmas, 12 months and zodiac signs, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 gods of Olympus and 12 tribes of Israel, just to name a few examples), its successor 13 has a long history as a sign of bad luck.

The ancient Code of Hammurabi, for example, reportedly omitted a 13th law from its list of legal rules. Though this was probably a clerical error, superstitious people sometimes point to this as proof of 13’s longstanding negative associations."

Fear of the number 13 has even earned a psychological term: triskaidekaphobia.

Why is Friday the 13th Unlucky?

"According to biblical tradition, 13 guests attended the Last Supper, held on Maundy Thursday, including Jesus and his 12 apostles (one of whom, Judas, betrayed him). The next day, of course, was Good Friday, the day of Jesus’ crucifixion."

"The seating arrangement at the Last Supper is believed to have given rise to a longstanding Christian superstition that having 13 guests at a table was a bad omen—specifically, that it was courting death.

Though Friday’s negative associations are weaker, some have suggested they also have roots in Christian tradition: Just as Jesus was crucified on a Friday, Friday was also said to be the day Eve gave Adam the fateful apple from the Tree of Knowledge, as well as the day Cain killed his brother, Abel."

The Thirteen Club

"In the late-19th century, a New Yorker named Captain William Fowler (1827-1897) sought to remove the enduring stigma surrounding the number 13—and particularly the unwritten rule about not having 13 guests at a dinner table—by founding an exclusive society called the Thirteen Club.

The group dined regularly on the 13th day of the month in room 13 of the Knickerbocker Cottage, a popular watering hole Fowler owned from 1863 to 1883. Before sitting down for a 13-course dinner, members would pass beneath a ladder and a banner reading “Morituri te Salutamus,” Latin for “Those of us who are about to die salute you.”

Four former U.S. presidents (Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, and Theodore Roosevelt) would join the Thirteen Club’s ranks at one time or another.

Friday the 13th in Pop Culture

"An important milestone in the history of the Friday the 13th legend in particular (not just the number 13) occurred in 1907, with the publication of the novel Friday, the Thirteenth written by Thomas William Lawson."

"The book told the story of a New York City stockbroker who plays on superstitions about the date to create chaos on Wall Street, and make a killing on the market."

"The horror movie Friday the 13th, released in 1980, introduced the world to a hockey mask-wearing killer named Jason, and is perhaps the best-known example of the famous superstition in pop culture history. The movie spawned multiple sequels, as well as comic books, novellas, video games, related merchandise and countless terrifying Halloween costumes."

What bad things happened on Friday the 13th?

"On Friday, October 13, 1307, officers of King Philip IV of France arrested hundreds of the Knights Templar, a powerful religious and military order formed in the 12th century for the defense of the Holy Land."

"Imprisoned on charges of various illegal behaviors (but really because the king wanted access to their financial resources), many Templars were later executed. Some cite the link with the Templars as the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition, but like many legends involving the Templars and their history, the truth remains murky."

"In more recent times, a number of traumatic events have occurred on Friday the 13th, including the German bombing of Buckingham Palace (September 1940); the murder of Kitty Genovese in Queens, New York (March 1964); a cyclone that killed more than 300,000 people in Bangladesh (November 1970); the disappearance of a Chilean Air Force plane in the Andes (October 1972); the death of rapper Tupac Shakur (September 1996) and the crash of the Costa Concordia cruise ship off the coast of Italy, which killed 30 people (January 2012)."

I did not know who Kitty Genevese was, but her story is quite fascinating.

The murder case Kitty Genovese in 1964 sparked social debates. In the early hours of March 13, 1964, Kitty Genovese, a 28-year-old bartender, was raped and stabbed outside the apartment building where she lived in the Kew Gardens neighborhood of Queens, New York. Two weeks after the murder, The New York Times published an article erroneously claiming that thirty-eight witnesses saw or heard the attack, and that none of them called the police or came to her aid. The incident prompted inquiries into what became known as the bystander effect, or "Genovese syndrome", and the murder became a staple of U.S. psychology textbooks for the next four decades.

The story of Genovese's murder became a parable of the alleged emotional cold, or at least apathy towards the need of another person, whether in New York City or America in general. This assessment of the event was largely a reaction to an article which was published two weeks after the murder. The article coined the "I didn't want to get involved" opinion on the event.

"The apparent lack of reaction by numerous neighbors purported to have watched the scene or to have heard Genovese's cries for help prompted research into diffusion of responsibility and the bystander effect. Social psychologists John M. Darley and Bibb Latané started this line of research, showing that contrary to common expectations, larger numbers of bystanders decrease the likelihood that someone will step forward and help a victim. The reasons include the fact that onlookers see that others are not helping either, that onlookers believe others will know better how to help, and that onlookers feel uncertain about helping while others are watching. The Genovese case thus became a classic feature of social psychology textbooks in the United States and the United Kingdom."

Records of the earliest calls to police are unclear, but the calls were not given a high priority. It is interesting then how an iconic murder helped create the 9-1-1 emergency call system in New York City.

"The story of the witnesses who did nothing is taught in every introduction-to-psychology textbook in the United States and Britain, and in many other countries and has been made popularly known through television programs and books, and songs."

Film and television

A Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Silent Six" (November 21, 1965), portrays the brutal beating of a young woman whose screams for help are ignored by the six residents of her small apartment building. The "get involved" quote is spoken once by Paul Drake and paraphrased by several other characters.

The Law & Order episode "Remand" (1996) is loosely based on the Genovese case, as is the Law & Order: SVU episode "41 Witnesses" (2015). In the season 1 Law & Order episode "The Violence of Summer" (1991), Detective Logan remarks: "It's the post-Kitty Genovese era, nobody wants to look, they think they'll get involved", when lamenting the lack of witnesses to a rape.

The 2015 film The Witness reexamines the murder with interviews of both Genovese's and her killer's families.

Literature

The DC comic book series Watchmen (1986–1987) by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons references Genovese's murder as a key influence behind the character Rorschach's transformation into a vigilante. In the book, Rorschach's mask is fashioned from cloth taken from a (fictional) dress Kitty Genovese had custom made. The Rorschach comic series (2020–2021), a distant sequel by Tom King, also references Genovese's murder. The prequel series Nite Owl likewise references the event.

In his book, The Tipping Point (2000), Malcolm Gladwell refers to the case and the "bystander effect" as evidence of contextual cues for human responses.

Can't believe we went from Summer to Winter in a short span of time. What happened to Fall??Tomorrow we are hoping for sun ans warmer temperatures.

Finding the Luegibrüggli Restaurant was certainly lucky for us.

History of the Luegibrüggli

"The "Wirtschaft Luegibrückli-Flüehli", as the business was called in the early days, was built around1880 by the Ryser family . That was the time of great awakening on the threshold of the so-called "Belle Epoque", when hotels and mountain railways sprang up like mushrooms. At that time, our area was experiencing rapid growth. The “Wirtschaft Luegibrückli-Flüehli” served as a rest stop for horse-drawn carriages and stagecoaches."

"The Ryser family later handed over the "Luegibrüggli" to their son-in-law, who enlarged and expanded the restaurant. The road to Beatenberg was widened over time and became more and more passable, and the tight curves gave way to elegant engineering structures. The "Luegibrüggli" thus became the destination of many excursions and a meeting point for sun-hungry tourists who wanted to enjoy the unique view over Lake Thun and Lake Brienz and the Jungfrau massif."

"With the many guests, the demands also increased – the «Luegibrüggli» had to be be rebuilt and enlarged. In 1974, the “Luegibrüggli” came into the possession of the current innkeepers, the Bischoff family. Adolf Bischoff took over the restaurant as a small chalet with 28 seats and founded a company in the form of a stock corporation."

"In 1975/76, a major renovation was carried out. In particular, the existing guest rooms modernized and all equipped with shower/WC. Only three years later, another renovation phase followed –the open terrace on the west side of the building was covered. Thanks to the unique location, many guests stayed for longer."

"In 1982, the kitchen was extensively modernized and remodeled to meet the high standards. The kitchen and cellar offerings have been expanded."

"In 1988, the existing terrace was enlarged and a folding glass wall was installed. In addition, a hall with about 60 seats was built and a beautiful studio apartment was installed in the attic."

I would love to come back on a sunny day and enjoy the food and the view!!

The food was exceptional!! Manu, Tanja, and I had the Châteaubriand. It was grilled in one piece to perfection for the three of us and served with three sauces (bernaise, butter and herb and morel cream). The side dish choices were: boiled potatoes, french fries, rösti croquettes (deep-fried hashbrowns), noodles or rösti (homemade hashbrown).

The waitress came around three times to give us additional meat, vegetables, and sauces. The meat was so tender!!!! Yummy!!!!!!! There was such a nice variety of vegetables, too.