Have you ever encountered someone who looks exactly like you, yet you have no familial connection? From Ancient Egypt to the Victorian era, people meeting their doppelgängers has long been a source of fear. In modern times, taking a photo with a strange look-alike on social media is often considered very unlucky. According to English and German folklore, seeing your doppelgänger three times is said to be a sign that death is imminent.
The myth of soulmates (doppelgängers or twins) has existed since Ancient Egypt.
Doppelgänger: A Mirror Image of Your Soul
In German, the term “doppelgänger” translates to “double walker,” referring to a ghostly apparition seen by the living. Although the word itself wasn’t coined until the 18th century, stories about soulmates have existed for thousands of years. In Ancient Egypt, “Ka” (spirit) was considered a part of the soul, meaning a spirit image identical to the body. The “fetch” mentioned in 18th and 19th-century English and Irish literature was a spectral twin often seen as an omen of death. 
Doppelgängers in Literature
The term “doppelgänger” was introduced by German writer Jean Paul in his 1796 novel Siebenkäs. In the story, the protagonist Siebenkäs switches identities with his doppelgänger, Leibgeber. Jean Paul created two terms to describe twins—“doppeltgänger” referred to incredibly similar beings, while “doppelgänger” referred to a dish served in two portions. This distinction soon faded, and “doppelgänger” became the common term for identical twins.
The original form of the word was preserved in the works of Prussian writer E.T.A. Hoffmann. In 1821, Hoffmann wrote a story called Die Doppeltgänger. In another work, The Devil’s Elixir, Hoffmann depicted a monk plagued by a chaotic twin, both scapegoat and rival.
Twins as a Literary Device
Twins are often used in literature to explore the duality of human nature and to showcase a character’s darker traits. They can also serve as a contrast to the protagonist’s character, acting as the antagonist. For example, in Hans Christian Andersen’s 1847 fairy tale The Shadow, a man’s shadow separates from his body and gradually becomes his twin, embodying opposite physical and moral traits until it completely overtakes him.
In Dostoevsky’s novella The Double, a mild-mannered, antisocial government clerk’s twin emerges, showcasing his boldness and decisiveness. The twin slowly invades the clerk’s personal affairs, eventually driving him to madness.
In Edgar Allan Poe’s short story William Wilson, the presence of a twin seems solely to ruin the narrator’s life. The story follows a boy at school in England who encounters another boy with the same name and a striking resemblance to him. From the very beginning, this twin is a source of frustration for Wilson, continually hindering his ambitions. Wilson’s goals are driven by desire and greed, while his morally upright doppelgänger constantly interferes.
Strange Historical Reports of Doppelgängers
There have been many historical accounts of sightings of doppelgängers. In The Life of John Donne, British writer Isaac Walton tells the story of poet John Donne and his wife’s doppelgänger. In 1612, while staying in Paris, Donne claimed to have experienced a terrifying vision: “Since I saw you, I have seen my dear wife walk twice in the room, her hair unbound, holding a dead child in her arms.” He told witnesses, “I am sure I didn’t fall asleep since seeing you; she appeared for the second time, stopped to look at me, and then disappeared.” Walton later sent a messenger to check on Donne’s wife, and it was found that she had been ill after losing her child.
In the many myths surrounding Catherine the Great, one story tells of her servants finding her doppelgänger sitting on her throne while the empress was asleep. Catherine ordered the imposter to be executed. Weeks later, she died of a stroke.
In his autobiography, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe describes a haunting yet prophetic horse-riding encounter in the early 1770s. He was traveling to Drüsenheim when he saw a ghostly version of himself silently pass by. Many years later, Goethe retraced the same route, wearing a gray coat he had preemptively sensed during the earlier encounter.
Percy Bysshe Shelley, in Prometheus Unbound, mentions a twin and claimed to have seen this doppelgänger before his death in 1822. His wife, Mary Shelley, recalled that Percy had once fantasized about strangling her and mentioned that his doppelgänger had come close to him. “It was all terrifying,” she wrote in a letter to her friend Maria Gisborne, “The next morning, when we discussed it, he told me he had had many visions recently; he had seen his reflection on the balcony and asked, ‘How long are you going to satisfy yourself?’”
The Doppelgänger Phenomenon in America
The phenomenon of encountering a doppelgänger continues in America. Several cases follow the pattern that death is imminent after three sightings. After Abraham Lincoln’s election in 1860, he reportedly saw his reflection in the mirror turn into two pale faces. He tried to show his wife, but the apparition appeared twice more while she was absent. Although Mary Todd initially feared the vision, she considered it a sign that he would be re-elected but die before his second term ended.
Lincoln was not the only 19th-century American to encounter his twin. Prior to the Civil War, similar fate-related sightings were reported in the South. Linda Derry, curator of regional folklore in the ghost town of Cahaba, uncovered several cases similar to Lincoln’s sighting.
Derry explains, “Repeated sightings, especially three, often indicate an impending end. If others see your doppelgänger, it might mean illness is near.”
In an 1884 story in Sunshine Southern, a mayor from Cahaba contracted malaria. One night, unable to sleep due to shivering, he saw the shadow of a man walk into his room. When the visitor got closer to the bed, the mayor recognized it as his own image in dim light. When the same event occurred the next night, the mayor called in two friends to corroborate the story. The two pragmatic farmers quickly arrived.
The farmers stayed vigilant while their friend tried to sleep. In the deep of night, the mayor’s shadow walked into the candlelight, stunning them both. The two men approached the doppelgänger, but it retreated back into the shadows. They never saw the visitor again, and the mayor passed away from illness shortly after.
The Cultural Significance of Doppelgängers
Catherine Crowe, in The Night Side of Nature, or Ghosts and Ghost-Seers, observed the widespread nature of doppelgänger sightings: “We can deny their existence, but there are too many instances to ignore.” Psychologists suggest that conditions like heautoscopy—the sensation of seeing one’s own image—may explain why some individuals experience the apparition of themselves at a distance. This phenomenon can explain why only the person themselves might see their twin. However, public sightings tend to trigger supernatural speculations. As Crowe notes, doppelgängers tend to appear when one is ill or sleeping, leading people to believe that the soul may wander freely when the body loses control.
The circumstances surrounding the doppelgänger’s appearance can heavily influence how people perceive it. If seen while waiting in line at an airport, one might think it’s amusing and take a photo. But if you find your twin already in bed, that’s truly unsettling.
