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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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Villa Hügel

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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 ...
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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. Princess Gloria and Prince Johannes of Thurn und Taxis 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 a...
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