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Janos
19 Jul 04, 14:41
About 5 kilometer’s from Pfungstadt on the Odenwald mountain range exists the ruins of the Castle of Frankenstein. The name of the Famous Horror novel Frankenstein comes from this castle although the story by Mary Shelley was entirely fictional.

In the thirteenth century it was a custom for the oldest son to inherit the family titles and estates. A nobleman’s younger son who obtained the land the castle is built on through marriage and needed to establish his own domain built the castle of Frankenstein. The castle was completed shortly before 1252 and the titled status of the owner’s was that of Barons. The castle has a breathtaking view of the valley below the Odenwald mountain range. It is not huge compared to some of the more famous castles in the region but is was a well built fortress composed of high stone walls and fortified with a series of moats and drawbridges, most of which have been long since filled in.

The Barons of Frankenstein held ownership rights over the towns of Niederbeerbach, Bessungen and Eberstadt. This gave them the right to tax the people living within those towns. The Baron’s of Frankenstein had a much larger and more powerful neighbor in the Person of the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (to which the town of Pfungstadt belonged) who resided in nearby Darmstadt. The relationship was not a friendly one and eventually, in 1662, the family sold the Frankenstein and surrounding towns to the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt for 88,000 florins. The Baron’s of Frankenstein then relocated to Franconia where many of their descendants still reside today. The castle then served as a residence for invalids and pensioned soldiers. It eventually fell to ruin and was only rehabilitated in recent times as a thriving tourist attraction.

As with all castles there are legends and stories that surround them, albeit none of the local legends of Frankenstein are as dramatic as Mary Shelley’s fictional account, there are some interesting ones, including one involving Pfungstadt.

The first legend deals with one of the Barons named Georges. As the legend goes, once upon a time there existed a Man-eating monster that was terrorizing the town of Niederbeerbach. It is said that "Knight" Georges confronted and slayed the monster, although he was mortally wounded in the battle. To this day the tomb of the hero exists in the choir of the church of Niederbeerbach.

Another true story exists regarding the use of a Donkey. As part of their annual taxation, the residents of Bessungen had the right to use one of the Baron’s Donkey’s. It seems that if a wife was accused of beating her husband they could borrow a donkey and the accused would have to ride the donkey through town facing backwards. This is an interesting, if hard to understand, practice that fell into disuse in 1588.

Another piece of local folklore involves the town of Pfungstadt. During one of the disputes between the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and the then current Baron of Frankenstein, it seems the Baron of Frankenstein was summoned to meet with the Landgrave and he refused to come. This greatly irritated the Landgrave so he instructed the militia from the nearby town of Pfungstadt to proceed to the castle and forcibly escorts the Baron to meet with him in Darmstadt. The men from Pfungstadt, which would certainly have included our ancestor’s, surprised the Baron’s men by attacking very early before dawn while the guards slept. They succeeded in capturing the Baron however, as the story goes, they were very hungry and decided to eat before embarking on the journey to Darmstadt. The Baron was furious at the amount of food they consumed and eventually complained bitterly about it to the Landgrave.

When they arrived at Darmstadt to deliver the Baron to the Landgrave they were again hungry and asked to be fed before departing back home to Pfungstadt. The Landgrave was also shocked at the amount of food they consumed and remarked that the militia from Pfungstadt was too expensive to use because they all eat so much. To this day the people from Pfungstadt are known for their healthy appetites.

JS

Doctor Sinister
19 Jul 04, 16:57
So, good Restaurants in the region then?

Dr. S.

Iron Mike USMC
19 Jul 04, 19:17
Love history, expecially when centered around myth and legend.

In the early 50's, my father was stationed in Germany, with the 2nd Armored Division. While there, he was employed as a journalist, with a regualr comic in Stars and Stripes, and an on air personality for Armed Forces radio. He broadcast sports and news.

He related a story about the Frankenstein Castle, and a prank some of his buddies pulled. If I recollect, they were stationed in Darmstadt at the time. It was around Halloween (of course) and there was a new guy broadcasting for AFR. In the spirit of the holiday, they sent him with a remote unit for a live broadcast from the castle. To get the right mood, they had him make his broadcast at night. It turned out to be a prototypical Halloween night, with a bright moon, and fast moving clouds.

The broadcaster began outside of the castle, reporting the bare o almost bare tress, and the cloauds passsing the bright moon, occassionally blotting out all light. This went on for a few minutes until he began to move into the castle. I believe he went into the chapel, or some part of the castle set up for tourists, in relation to the legend.

As he entered room that had artifacts related to the legend, a crypt, and or other things, he commented on a statue or mannequin, in a dark corner, of the monster. He related the mood of the room, with the moon going in and out of the clouds, and how there was no artificial light. Being the reporter that he was, he related everything he saw as well as heard. He spoke of the sounds of the night, and the quiet of the castle. As he heard a new sound he reported it instinctively. He paused, and reported he heard it again, the sound perhaps of a foot dragging. As he looked around, he noted that the statues of the monster appeared to move. Then, the broadcaster yelled, the audience heard the microphone drop to the ground and roll and bang, where he dropped it. The audience heard his yells fade away.

It turned out, my father and his buddies got the biggest guy in the unit to dress in black, like the mnster, and stand in the darkest part of the room. And, at the right moment, begin to move, and if necessary, make appropriate noises.

Regrettably, I am not the stroyteller my father is, so I am sure something is lost in the translation. But, as fan of the story, I needed to relate this.

dannybou
19 Jul 04, 21:07
:thumb:

BarcelonaBlom
20 Jul 04, 00:09
A little bit of coincedence. I saw dannybou's reply on the main forums page and since I hadn't seen any posts here in a while (from the main page... didn't know my dad was sneaking on and not going to everything like I do, therefore setting everything as seen when I hadn't seen it) I had the tought;




IT LIVES!

and then clicked on the forum and saw THIS...

Amazing little history there Janos.

Janos
20 Jul 04, 02:50
Originally posted by Iron Mike USMC
Love history, expecially when centered around myth and legend.<snipped the rest>
For many years, the US military community has used Frankenstein castle for Halloween observances. I've been to a few of them. It's about the best haunted house you'll ever find anywhere and the name and scenery really get you in the mood.

JS

TulsaTV
25 Oct 04, 05:21
...a story about the Frankenstein Castle, and a prank some of his buddies pulled...
A recording of this prank is now available in RealPlayer in the current Guestbook of my web site, Tulsa TV Memories (http://tulsaTVmemories.com). For future readers, the recording will be in Guestbook 171 once it is archived.

Sgt.Elter
26 Oct 04, 03:03
You can spent your time on Burg Frankenstein on Halloween every year. In the Past it was very funny,evil jokes and more.
The Organizer have to changes some Jokes.
Normaly i could happen that someone were put into a Coffin for 10 or 15 minutes.
That is not allowed today.It is only commerce today

Here are some links were you can see some Pictures.You maybe have to Klick on "Bildergalerie von Halloween 2003"in the right of the page
Halloween (http://www.halloween-burgfrankenstein.de/)

The Ticketprice is 16 Euro- 18 Euro on Sunday only 8 Euro .
@Doctor Sinister
Yes there are Good Resturants. One is inside of the Castle.
Here is a menue from the ResturantMenue (http://www.burg-frankenstein.de/download/pdf/menue_frankenstein.pdf) :cheeky:

Janos
28 Oct 04, 10:20
So, good Restaurants in the region then?

Dr. S.
Right on the castle grounds!