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 Ehrenburg

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There is a first time for everything: And of course Schloss Ehrenburg obviously wasn't my first time visiting a castle but it was first time I scored private castle tour. Where exactly? In Coburg at 9am on a weekday - turns out getting up early does pay off sometimes (and this Castleholic certainly is no natural morning person)! And the best thing? I think Schloss Ehrenburg would have even been the Coburg castle I had picked for a private castle tour if I would have had the choice, I just love it and its lovely mixture of Baroque and Empire/Classicist styles, two of my favourites. Sadly, you aren't allowed to take pictures of the interior - I'll never figure out in which Bavaria-based palaces you are (not) allowed to - and so a gazillion pictures of the exterior of the former residence of the Dukes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha will need to do.  Schloss Ehrenburg was built starting in 1543 on the basis of a former Franciscan monastery under Duke Johann-Ernst of Saxe-Coburg. Int…
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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 confused wit…
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