Knights of the Frankenstein family
In thirty-five kilometers from the German city of Frankfurt, surrounded by a dense dark forest, is the Frankenstein Castle. Built on one of the peaks of Mount Odenwald, the castle served as the ancestral home of the Frankenstein barons, who once owned the lands of Hesse. Famous, among other things, for their military merits, they were influential aristocrats.
According to the chronicles, the castle towering over the surrounding landscape, which is south of the city of Darmstadt, was built in the 10th century and was originally a defensive fortress, from which a good view of the area was opened.
In the middle of the 13th century, Lord Konrad von Breuberg took Elisabeth von Weiterstadt to wife and received these lands as a dowry for his wife. By the decision of the lord, the fortress was expanded and rebuilt into a magnificent castle, intended for family living. A few decades later, the descendants of the Lord and his fair lady began to be called Frankensteins. As knights, they constantly participated in military campaigns not only with enemies, but also with each other.
The castle, being a stumbling block between the heirs, repeatedly passed from one representative of the clan to another. A suspension bridge, a gate, two towers, fortifications and a mountain height on which the castle was located made it impregnable and extremely profitable from a strategic point of view.
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In the XIV century there was a period when the castle was conditionally divided into two parts, each of which had an owner. But in the 17th century, due to territorial disputes that ended in lawsuits, the then head of the Frankenstein family, who was granted the title of barons, sold the castle and the family quietly left Hesse.
Mary Shelley and the genius scientist
The new owners started leasing the castle. At different times, it was equipped with a hospital, a shelter, and even prison cells. Gradually, the castle fell into decay and collapsed, losing its former glory and grandeur. But in 1673 something happened that influenced the further fate of the former fortress of the knights. That year, Johann Konrad Dippel was born in the castle, who has nothing to do with the Frankenstein barons, but liked to add their last name to his.
Johann Dippel is the most controversial figure of his time. After spending the first half of his life in the castle, then he left for Strasbourg, where he began to study the works of alchemists and got so carried away that he became obsessed with the idea of conquering death itself and finding a means that would allow him to live forever.
Dippel conducted various experiments that at that time looked monstrous and blasphemous, trampling on the church and God. Stealing corpses from cemeteries and killing animals, the scientist set up experiments to return life to a dead body. The residents of Strasbourg did not appreciate Dippel's works and he had to return to Germany.
After settling in Frankenstein Castle, Dippel equipped a laboratory and continued his scientific research. Between digging up corpses from graves and connecting electricity to them in an attempt to revive them, Dippel invented many useful things, such as a device now called a stethoscope, and Dippel's oil, which was widely used until the late 19th century. The formula of hydrocyanic acid is also a merit of the inhabitant of Frankenstein Castle.
Little is known about the last years of the scientist's life. According to one version, he died in a laboratory explosion that destroyed one of the castle towers. According to another, the scientist was found in his laboratory with foam at the mouth and parts of corpses scattered around. According to the third, he mysteriously disappeared in an unknown direction, and a monster settled in the castle, which either eats people, or simply wanders around the castle restlessly. Among the people, Dippel was considered a heretic, an accomplice of the devil and almost a demon.
The similarity of the character from the book "Frankenstein, or Modern Prometheus" by Mary Shelley with the biography of a real person is not accidental, although it is also covered with mysteries. There are many versions about how exactly Shelley found out about the fate of the person who became the prototype of the main character. According to one of them, Mary was told about Dippel by her stepmother, who translated the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm into English. The brothers visited the foot of the castle at the beginning of the 19th century and could easily share information about it with their translator.
According to another version, Mary, accompanied by her husband and Lord Byron, traveled along the Rhine River, which at that time passed near the Frankenstein Castle. The future writer could hear stories about the mad scientist from local residents and use them for her novel. Mary Shelley herself explained the plot of the book as follows - one night she had a nightmare in which she saw how a terrible monster, sewn from various body parts, bending over its defeated creator. In the end, it doesn't really matter what the author was inspired by, but it was Mary Shelley who gave the castle a second life.
Dark castle of Frankenstein
Today Frankenstein Castle is one of the most famous buildings of the early Middle Ages in Germany.
Although now it looks more like ruins, since only part of the structure has survived in a relatively intact state. But the atmosphere in the castle is an incredible cocktail of medieval knightly romance, scary tales of the dead rising from the graves, mysticism and a gothic halo due to the famous novel. And the mysterious and gloomy forest, through which the seekers of the knights' treasures are still prowling, adds to the impressions of the place.
The castle is extremely popular with fantasy lovers, and on the eve of Halloween horror lovers from all over Europe come to it to take part in the largest themed party. A visit to Frankenstein Castle is included in many hiking trails. The entrance to the castle is free all year round. Also on the territory there is a cafe from which a landscape view of the Rhine Valley and neighboring cities opens.