CastleMemory: Schloss Charlottenburg

A very short walk down memory lane to yesterday
and a Sunday morning stroll through the park of Schloss Charlottenburg
- now without scaffolding on the front facade
and an autumnal view from the back!

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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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Schloss St. Emmeram

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The Thurn und Taxis family is one of the most famous German noble families, both in Germany and beyond, also thanks to the current family members, think Princess TnT. However, there are a bit of an unusual noble family beyond the formerly partying lifestyle, as their ancestors never led wars or ruled a country. Yet they were - and still are - insanely rich and their main residence, Schloss St. Emmeram, is often said to be larger than Buckingham Palace. So what did they do? They had a simple idea that revolutionised the world. The Thurn und Taxis invented the modern post system and held the monopoly on postal services throughout the Holy Roman Empire. With the end of the HRE in 1806, the Thurn und Taxis lost their monopoly and ended up getting a pretty nice palace in Regensburg as a compensation. Before it became home for the Thurn und Taxis family, Schloss St. Emmeram was a Benedictine monastery founded around the year 739 at the grave of the Frankish Bishop Saint Emmeram, who was on…
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Royal Wedding in Hanover: The Guests (Part 1)

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Today in Hanover, Hereditary Prince Ernst-August of Hanover married Ekaterina Malysheva. Here are some of the guests, in no particular order... Margrave Max and Margravine Valerie of Baden, née Archduchess Valerie of Austria, with their son Prince Michael and his wife Princess Christina of Baden.  Count Friedrich of Ortenburg and his wife Countess Christine, née Baroness of Wangenheim, with their sons Max and Albert, who were two of the page boys. Count Karl of Solms-Laubach and I presume one of his daughters.  Andrés and Lauren Santo Domingo. Another picture of  Andrés and Lauren Santo Domingo.  Prince Georg-Friedrich of Prussia and his wife Princess Sophie, née Princess of Isenburg. Another picture of the couple. Prince Heinrich of Hanover, uncle of the groom, his wife Princess Thyra, née von Westernhagen, and their sons Prince Albert and Prince Julius.  Another picture of Prince Heinrich and Princess Thyra of Hanover. Prince Andreas and Princess Alexandra of Leiningen. She is a bo…
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