CastleView: The Fairytale Castles of King Ludwig II

Photo: BBC
BBC's "The Fairytale Castles of King Ludwig II" by Dan Cruickshank gives an inside glimpse into the three fairytale castles of King Ludwig II of Bavaria: Schloss Neuschwanstein, Schloss Herrenchiemsee and Schloss Linderhof - three fantasies come to life.


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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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Schloss Wittgenstein

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Firstly mentioned as Widenkindigstein in 1187, the origins of Schloss Wittgenstein located in the south-Westphalian town of Bad Laasphe were owned by the House of Battenberg who tried to secure their holdings on the upper Lahn river with the help of the castle. In 1190 Count Werner I of Battenberg and Wittgenstein signed a contract with the Archbishop of Mainz, Konrad I of Wittelsbach, to sell the castle to the Archbishopric though it was agreed that the castle would be given back to Count Werner as a fiefdom. However, the Archbishop failed to pay the whole sum of money promised to the count and so the castle remained in his family's hands though not for long. On September 2nd, 1223, Count Werner I's three sons, Werner II, Widekind I and Hermann, sold the castle to the new Archbishop of Mainz, Siegfried II of Eppstein. In turn the sons received Wittgenstein castle back as a fiefdom.  About 15 years later the historical House of Battenberg - which shouldn't be confu...
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CastleDrama: Three Wishes for Cinderella

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Today is the first Sunday of Advent and so from now on it is totally legitimate to start listening to Christmas music - and watch Christmas movies. Like Christmas markets and Glühwein part of each year's pre-Christmas season in Germany also is a period drama - or rather fairytale film. "Three Wishes for Cinderella" (known as " Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel " in German or " Tři oříšky pro Popelku " in Czech) is the Bohemian version of the classic Cinderella fairytale including three magic nuts and prince who must actively pursue his love and has to solve a riddle in order to find her: The cheeks are soiled with ashes but a chimney sweep it is not. A hat with feathers, the crossbow over the shoulder but the a hunter it is not. A silver dress with train at a ball but a princess it is not. Don't worry though, there is still a shoe involved. And the the Czech-German co-production has become such as Christmas classic in Germany that it is o...
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