CastleMemory: Vaxholms Fästning

Let's have a walk down memory lane to 
a Swedish holiday of my teenage years
and Vaxholms Fästning near Stockholm.


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Schloss Hamborn

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With more than 30,000 castles in Germany, it's no wonder that current usage is very varied. Case in point: Schloss Hamborn, which serves as a centre for anthroposophy and is home to a school and rehabilitation clinic named for the 19th century esotericist Rudolf Steiner, who was the founder of both anthroposophy and the ideas of Waldorf education. It was also during the 19th century that Schloss Hamborn came to be even though its Weser Renaissance-style architecture might suggest it is a century or two older. During the mid-1800's, the noble von Hartmann family from nearby Borchen purchased two feudal estates in the area and united them into one. Construction on the Eastern wing of today's Schloss started in 1868. The coat of arms of the family featuring a heart and three roses can still found above the main entrance of that wing. Already three years later, in 1871, Schloss Hamborn passed from Bernhardine von Hartmann to her nephew Hermann von Mallinckrodt. In 1878, the c…
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Castelo dos Mouros

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The oldest one of all of Sintra's castles is the Castelo dos Mouros or Castle of the Moors. As its name suggests, its history dates back to the times of the five-centuries-long Muslim rule over Portugal which ended in 1249. During the Middle Ages, the term "moors" referred to the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula who initially were Berber and Arab peoples of North African descent. It was them who built the fortification in the Sintra mountains in the 8th and 9th centuries to protect the surrounding areas. Calling it a castle these days might be a bit of a stretch as only ruins remain of the Castelo dos Mouros. Still, the breathtaking views are worth the visit alone. Somehow, there is something magical in climbing walls that are over a thousands years old. It seems unimaginable these days to what length they went to achieve such architectural feats. Just don't forget to take an extra jumper as it can get quite windy up there! B…
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CastleTalk: The Curious Case of the Thurn und Taxis Inheritance

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The death of Richard Fürst zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg earlier this week saw a surge in interest in my take on the (in)famous will of inheritance looming over the family. One point about the Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg inheritance that many seem to find especially curious is the fact that the late Prince Richard never actually owned his family's fortune but that it was instead passed from his father - who went missing during World War 2 - to a yet unborn grandson - who was born in 1969 - (or anyone else, really, who would inherit after Prince Richard). The German nobility, however, isn't short of interesting inheritance constructions - case in point: The Thurn und Taxis inheritance.
The Thurn und Taxis family isn't just famous for their fabulous wealth, estimated at around $ 2.5 billion today - even though Princess Gloria of Thurn und Taxis says it less than a billion - but also for their lifestyle to go along with it. In fact, Princess Gloria of Thurn und Taxis may si…
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