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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...

Villa Hügel

August 10, 2016

While not technically a noble home when it first started out, the Villa Hügel is a castle in all but name. While Germany's Ruhr region may be more famous for its blast furnaces and shaft towers, the former home of the Krupp family is every bit a reminder of the area's industrial heritage. The mansion overlooking Lake Baldeney in the city of Essen was built in the glory days of the steel dynasty. The Krupps were once one of the world's richest families and their marriages were arranged by no other than the Kaiser himself. It was the year 1864 when Alfred Krupp bought the 28-hectare park the Villa Hügel is situated in. The task to find an architect to carry out his ideas for a house, however, wasn't an easy one. After various preparations the search for an architect intensified in the spring of 1869. Alfred Krupp had very specific ideas about his house. Even though hardly imaginable when looking at the mansion today, it was originally built with non-flammable ...

CastleDrama: Three Wishes for Cinderella

November 27, 2016

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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