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Schloss Artstetten

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Schloss Artstetten in Lower Austria is probably best known as the home of the Hohenberg family, the descendants of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este, whose assassination sparked the First World War. The castle's crypt is the final resting place of the Archduke and his wife, née Countess Sophie Chotek. However, the Schloss 's history stretches much further back than being the home and summer residence of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and his morganatic family. The building was firstly mentioned in 1263 and belonged to a 'Wolfgang von Owatsteten' at the time, later by a 'Albero von Avrstetten'. During the following decades and centuries, the ownnership of the castle changed numerous times. In 1329, it was sold to the Lords of Streitwiesen; who, in turn, sold Artstetten to the Lords of Murstetten in 1407. Until the late 15th century, the castle was owned by Aerendorf family. During all those years, Schloss Artstetten underwent numerou...
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Why You Shouldn't Bother Watching "Sisi", the New TV Series By RTL

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Hi there! I watched a series today that was so bad it made be write the first blog post in one and a half years. Will I write more again in the future? I don't know, I guess we'll see. In the meantime, follow all my latest castle adventures over on Instagram . See you there! Empress Elisabeth of Austria, the immortal Sisi, has inspired the imagination of the people for more than a century now. Her life, her love, her tragedies, her death. Adored, free spirited and one of the original royal IT girls. A face that could launch a thousands ships, well, bring peace to two feuding nations by simply being her charming self. A woman that, 120 years after her death, can still draw crowds and be the foundation stone of what seems like half the tourist industry of several regions. (Okay, that might have been slightly exaggerated but have you ever been to Vienna and seen the souvenir shops?) So it's not too surprising that time and time again, cinema and TV productions have tried to ca...
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Residenzschloss Dresden

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It's the second week of January and this Castleholic has managed to achieve something she never has before: I have written about all the castles and palaces I visited during the previous year. Procrastinator no more! (I wish...) That kind of brings us to a problem though about the future upkeep of this space on the world wide web though that is the matter for another post... First, let's learn more about the history of the place that served as the residence of the electors and later kings of Saxony for centuries, shall we? We shall. While the future Residenzschloss was firstly mentioned in the 13th century, the expansion of the castle into a princely residence started around the year 1400 under Margrave Wilhelm I of Meissen, known as 'the One-Eyed'. During the mid to late 15th century, the structure was further extended according to the plans of master builder Arnold von Westfalen and turned into an enclosed four-wing castle. The Saxon rulers continued to enhan...
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