Natural and human history museum whose third-floor Middle American exhibits are linked to staff sightings of a caped apparition resembling former director Stephan F. de Borhegyi, killed in a 1969 car accident on his way to work.
800 W Wells St, Milwaukee, WI 53233
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Standard museum admission; check mpm.edu for current adult, senior, child, and member pricing. Planetarium and special exhibits priced separately.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Fully ADA-accessible building with elevators serving all public floors.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1963 · Largest natural history museum in Wisconsin · Streets of Old Milwaukee Diorama · Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican Research (Lake Amatitlan collection) · Habitat-diorama pioneer site
The Milwaukee Public Museum traces to the Naturhistorisches Verein collection of the German-English Academy, which the City of Milwaukee assumed in 1882. The museum became one of the largest natural-history institutions in the upper Midwest, pioneering Carl Akeley's habitat-diorama techniques. Construction of the present West Wells Street building began in 1960 and was completed in 1962, with full public opening in 1963.
Dr. Stephan Francis de Borhegyi, born in Vienna in 1921 and trained in archaeology, joined the museum as director in 1959. Borhegyi specialized in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, particularly the Lake Amatitlan region of Guatemala, and built the museum's Middle American collections on the third floor. He was known to staff for an academic flourish that included a cape and a string tie.
On September 26, 1969, Borhegyi was killed in an automobile accident on his way to the museum, dying one month before his 48th birthday. His son Carl de Borhegyi has written publicly about his father's career and the museum's tribute. The third-floor Middle American exhibits Borhegyi curated remain on display in his memory, and the Lake Amatitlan collection is the subject of an active online research portal at mpm.edu.
The museum has experienced ongoing structural and funding pressure in the 21st century, and in the mid-2020s broke ground on a new Milwaukee Public Museum building on a site immediately west of the current location. The present 1963 structure is expected to be replaced or significantly repurposed once the new building opens.
Sources
Witness accounts at the Milwaukee Public Museum are concentrated on the third floor, where the Pre-Columbian Middle American exhibits Dr. Stephan F. de Borhegyi curated remain on display. Staff cited by Milwaukee Magazine and Shepherd Express describe glimpsing a man in a cape out of the corner of the eye while walking the third-floor corridors; Borhegyi was known in life for wearing a dramatic cape paired with a string tie. The accounts are typically tied to his sudden 1969 death on the way to the museum, with the implication that he completed his commute.
A second recurring report involves the elevators. Staff describe cars arriving at the third or fourth floor with the doors opening and no rider visible. Motion-sensor security alarms have reportedly triggered in galleries closed to the public, and several accounts cite the lingering scent of pipe smoke in the corridor near a Borhegyi memorial portrait, even though smoking has been prohibited in the building for decades. Cold spots near the portrait are mentioned in multiple Milwaukee outlets.
Milwaukee Magazine and Shepherd Express attribute the accounts to staff and security, and the museum itself does not officially endorse or program around the witness reports. Voicemap and the local Hexen Arcane site contribute additional staff anecdotes, and WTMJ radio has aired Halloween-season coverage that frames the lore as staff folklore rooted in genuine affection for a beloved former director. Because the source pool relies heavily on staff anecdote rather than recorded investigation, the claim should be read as enduring institutional folklore rather than measured paranormal activity.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Self-guided exploration of permanent exhibits including the Streets of Old Milwaukee, the Third-Planet dioramas, Pre-Columbian Middle American galleries on the third floor, and the Daniel M. Soref Planetarium and dome theater.
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