Confessions of a Castleholic

Braving the rains in Fulda also brought yours truly to a second grandiose palace: The Stadtschloss Fulda located right in the city centre just across from the town's famous cathedral. This close proximity to the town's most important place of worship also already gives you a major clue to who the Stadtschloss owes its existence to. This Baroque palace was built by Johann Dientzenhofer as a residence for the Prince-Abbots and later Prince-Bishops of Fulda. The Baroque palace, however, wasn't the first residence of the clergymen who reigned Fulda located on the same site. Already during the 14th century, a castle was built on this piece of land. To reflect their new-found power and status, the Prince-Abbots later decided to demolished the fortified structure in favour of a more representative building. Between 1607 and 1612, the castle was converted into a four-winged Schloss . About half a century later, the palace was expanded once again. When Abbot Bernhard G...

Schloss Marienburg (top left), Schloss Erbach (bottom left) and Kloster Bronnbach Imagine you could trace back your family's history hundreds and hundreds of years. They were counts, dukes, kings, ruled the people and amassed a fortune - or at least dutifully served thus who did. Now most of what is left is a big pile of stones, also known as castles. But you neither rule the people (and could thus raise taxes) nor have a fortune left. What to do with that castle? If you are a minor noble from a little known family, all you can do is to hustle and bustle and hope for the best, try to find someone who wants to buy it or ultimately let your castle fall into ruins. If your ancestors were well-known and actually ruled the region, chances are that the castle is of historical and cultural importance and thus the state may be willing to take if off your hands. Today, let's have a look at several examples of that in Germany. Schloss Marienburg , of course, is still on everybo...

On Saturday, Hereditary Prince Ferdinand of Leiningen and Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia celebrated their religious wedding in the German city of Amorbach. As is the case when two royals get hitched, there were loads of royals and nobles in attendance. So without further ado, here's my first of - I'm sure - many, many posts of the wedding guests.  Prince Christian and Prince Philipp of Prussia, twin sons of Prince Adalbert.  On the left: Prince Christian-Ludwig of Prussia, son of Prince Christian-Sigismund.  Countess Marie of Limburg-Stirum.  Count Michael of Hochberg.  Prince Andreas and Princess Louise of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. From left to right: (Probably) Princess Olga of Hanover, Prince Otto of Hanover, Prince Heinrich of Hanover, Princess Thyra of Hanover, Countess Marie of Hochberg (née Princess of Hanover), Princess Theresa of Leiningen and Princess Cecilia of Leiningen.  Another shot of the group.  Prin...