Norwegian Bredo Morstoel’s Chilling Legacy
Deep in the mountains of Colorado, in the small town of Nederland, an unusual legend has taken shape. It’s one that involves cryonics, legal loopholes, and an annual festival celebrating a frozen corpse. This is the story of Bredo Morstoel, the so-called “Frozen Dead Guy.” Learn of his peculiar posthumous journey that has captivated the curious for decades.
Who Was Bredo Morstoel?
Bredo Morstoel was born in Norway in 1900. He led a relatively ordinary life, working as a parks and recreation official in his home country. But what makes Morstoel extraordinary is not how he lived, but how he remained in a state of suspended death long after he passed away in 1989.
How Did He End Up in the United States?
The story took a bizarre turn thanks to Bredo’s grandson, Trygve Bauge, a staunch advocate of cryonics—the process of preserving a body at subzero temperatures in the hope that future scientific advancements may one day bring the deceased back to life. After Bredo’s death in Norway, his body was packed in dry ice and transported to the United States, where it was stored in a California cryonics facility for a short time before making its way to Nederland, Colorado.
Trygve Bauge had plans to establish his own cryonics facility in Nederland, using his grandfather as an early subject. He built an ice-filled shed to house Bredo’s body and maintained it meticulously. However, in the mid-1990s, Bauge was deported for visa violations, leaving his frozen grandfather in the hands of his mother, Aud Morstoel. When local authorities discovered the situation, they passed new laws prohibiting the storage of human remains on private property—yet Bredo was allowed to remain, thanks to a grandfather clause (ironically fitting) that exempted cases predating the legislation.
What Happened to His Body?
For many years, Bredo Morstoel’s body remained frozen in a specially constructed shed in Nederland, maintained by a local caretaker who replenished dry ice regularly to keep him preserved. However, in recent years, his body was relocated to the historic Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, adding another eerie chapter to his already unusual story.
The Frozen Dead Guy Days Festival
From this strange tale, a uniquely macabre celebration was born. Beginning in 2002, Nederland hosted Frozen Dead Guy Days, an annual festival filled with offbeat events like coffin races, frozen turkey bowling, a polar plunge, and live music. The event drew thousands of visitors each year, eager to take part in the revelry and pay homage to the town’s most famous frozen resident.
The festival ran successfully for two decades, cementing Nederland’s reputation as a town with a dark sense of humor. However, in 2023, the event moved to Estes Park, Colorado, due to logistical challenges. While no longer hosted in Nederland, the festival continues to embrace its origins, ensuring that Bredo Morstoel’s legacy remains alive—even if he does not.
A Legacy of Ice and Intrigue
The story of Bredo Morstoel raises many questions about mortality, science, and the limits of human ambition. While the future of cryonics remains uncertain, one thing is clear: Nederland’s Frozen Dead Guy has achieved a level of immortality that few could have imagined. Whether viewed as a scientific experiment, a peculiar tourist attraction, or an eerie reminder of our own mortality, Bredo’s story continues to send chills down the spines of those who hear it.
So, the next time you find yourself in Colorado, take a moment to reflect on the strange case of the Frozen Dead Guy—because some legends are just too cool to die.