Frankenstein is a German name consisting of two words: The Franks are a Germanic tribe and "stein" is the German word for "stone". Accordingly, the meaning of Frankenstein is "Stone of the Franks". The word "stein" is common in names of landscapes, places and castles in Germany. Consequently, the term "Frankenstein" is a rather ordinary name for a castle in this region.
History
Frankenstein Castle ChapelThe interior of Frankenstein Castle Chapel
Before 1250, Lord Conrad II Reiz of Breuberg built Frankenstein Castle and thereafter named himself vonundzuFrankenstein. The first document proving the existence of the castle in 1252 bears his name. He was the founder of the free imperial Barony of Frankenstein, which was subject only to the jurisdiction of the emperor, with possessions in Nieder-Beerbach, Darmstadt, Ockstadt, Wetterau and Hesse. Additionally the Frankensteins held other possession and sovereignty rights as burgraves in Zwingenberg (Auerbach (Bensheim)), in Darmstadt, Groß-Gerau, Frankfurt am Main and Bensheim. The hill on which the castle stands was probably occupied by another castle from the 11th century, which fell into ruins after Frankenstein Castle was built a short distance away to the northwest. Claims of an even older predecessor upon the hill are widespread, but historically unlikely.
In 1292 the Frankensteins opened the castle to the counts of Katzenelnbogen (County of Katzenelnbogen)[1] and formed an alliance with them.
In 1363, the castle was split into two parts and owned by two different families of the lords and knights of Frankenstein. At the beginning of the 15th century, the castle was enlarged and modernized. The Frankenstein knights became, again, independent of the counts of Katzenelnbogen.
The family were strong opponents of the Reformation, adhering to the Roman Catholic faith and the associated "right of patronage". Following, in addition, territorial conflicts and connected disputes with the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt, the family head Lord John I decided to sell the lordship to the Landgraves of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1662, after various lawsuits at the Imperial Chamber Court.
The castle was used as a refuge and a hospital afterward, falling into ruins in the 18th century. The two towers that are so distinctive today are an historically inaccurate restoration carried out in the mid-19th century.
On Halloween night in 1952, John Keel sent three American Forces Network reporters to Frankenstein Castle to explore the castle for a live radio broadcast. The reporters were told that a local legend claimed Frankenstein's monster would return to the castle that night. Reporter Carl Nelson investigated the castle's crypt, where Keel had "set up a statue in the middle of the crypt – and rigged it to move and topple" as a prank, terrifying Nelson. Reportedly, frightened radio listeners bombarded the station with calls and military police were dispatched to the castle.[2]
The Odenwald, the mountain range on which Frankenstein Castle is located, is a landscape with dark forests and narrow valleys shrouded in mystery and enshrined in legend. Many folktales and myths exist about Frankenstein Castle. None of them have been verified as fact, but all of them have influenced the culture and traditions of the region.[citation needed]
Alchemist Dippel, Mary Shelley and the monster
In 1673, Johann Konrad Dippel was born in the castle, where he was later engaged as a professional alchemist. It is suggested that Dippel influenced Mary Shelley's fantasy when she wrote her novel Frankenstein, though there is no mention of the castle in Shelley's journals from the time. However, it is known that in 1814, prior to writing the famous novel, Shelley took a journey on the river Rhine. She spent a few hours in the town of Gernsheim, which is located about 16 kilometres (10 miles) from the castle. Several nonfiction books on the life of Mary Shelley claim Dippel as a possible influence.[3][4][5]
Dippel created an animal oil known as Dippel's Oil which was supposed to be equivalent to the "elixir of life". Dippel attempted to purchase Castle Frankenstein in exchange for his elixir formula, which he claimed he had recently discovered; the offer was turned down.[6] There are also rumours[who?] that during his stay at Frankenstein Castle, Dippel practiced not only alchemy but also anatomy and may have performed experiments on dead bodies that he exhumed. There are rumours[who?] that he dug up bodies and performed medical experiments on them at the castle and that a local cleric would have warned his parish that Dippel had created a monster that was brought to life by a bolt of lightning. (The use of lightning to bring Frankenstein's monster to life comes from the 1931 film and isn't in the novel.) There are local people[who?] who still claim today that this actually happened and that this tale was related to Shelley's stepmother by the Brothers Grimm, the German ethnologists.[7] However, none of these claims have been proven to this date, and some local researchers doubt any connection between Mary Shelley and Frankenstein Castle.[8]
Lord George and the Dragon
Frankenstein forest
One of the most famous legends is about Lord George and a dragon, by August Nodnagel (1803–1853). It is said that long ago a dangerous dragon lived in the garden near the well at the castle of Burg Frankenstein. The peasants of a neighboring village (Nieder-Beerbach) lived in fear of the mighty dragon. It is said the dragon would creep in at night and eat the villagers and their children in their sleep. One day a knight by the name of Lord George rode into town. The townsfolk were desperate; seeing a brave knight gave them hope, and they poured out their troubles and sorrows as he promised to help them.
The next day, he put on his armor and rode up to the castle, into the garden and straight to the well where the dragon was taking a rest in the sun. Lord George got off his horse and attacked the dragon. The dragon fought for his life, puffed and spewed out fire and steam. Hours passed as the two continued to battle. Finally, just as the knight was about to drop from exhaustion, and just as the dragon was going to drop from exhaustion, the knight plunged his sword into the underbelly of the beast and was victorious. But as the dragon struggled in agony, it coiled its tail with the poisonous spine around the knight's belly and stung. Lord George and the dragon both fell. The villagers were so happy and relieved that the dragon was finally slain they wanted to give the knight a proper, honorable burial. They brought him to the Church of Nieder Beerbach, in the valley on the east side of the castle, and gave him a marvelous tomb. To this day, you can still visit and pay your respects to Lord George, the Knight who slew the Dragon in the 13th century.[9]
Fountain of youth
Fountain of youth – Frankenstein Castle
Hidden behind the herb garden of the castle, there is a fountain of youth. Legend is that in the first full-moon night after Walpurgis Night, old women from the nearby villages had to undergo tests of courage. The one who succeeded became rejuvenated to the age she had been on the night of her wedding. It is not known if this tradition is still practiced.[10]
Gold rush
In the 18th century, a gold rush caused some turmoil near Frankenstein Castle. It is believed[who?] that a legend and visions of fortunetellers caused local residents to believe that a treasure was hidden near the castle. In 1763, chaotic scenes took place which even an intervention of a priest from the neighbouring village of Nieder-Beerbach could not stop.[clarification needed] Even though no gold-filled vaults were ever found, fortune-hunters did not abandon the digging until one Johann Heinrich Drott was killed when his dig collapsed on him.[citation needed] He was given a suicide's burial. [clarification needed : this?] In 1770, 1787 and 1788, further attempts[clarification needed] were made, but nothing of any value was found. It was then that local authorities banned further gold-digging.[11]
Ghost Hunters investigation
Frankenstein Castle gained international attention[citation needed] when the SyFy TV-Show Ghost Hunters International made a whole episode about the castle in 2008 (Episode 107) and claimed it would show "significant paranormal activity". The investigators met with a Frankenstein expert who guided Robb Demarest, Andy Andrews, Brian Harnois and their colleague through the castle and discussed its legends and paranormal sightings. After discussing their personal experiences, the team used audio and video devices for their investigation. Sounds from the chapel and the entrance tower sounded like words[citation needed] and an ultrasonic recorder picked up signals[clarification needed] in the chapel. A recorded sound was identified as a phrase in Old German that means "Arbo is here", which was interpreted as "Arbo" probably meaning "Arbogast", the name of a knight of the castle, announcing his presence and claim over the land. A second sound bite was interpreted to mean "come here". The team left Frankenstein Castle convinced that there is some sort of paranormal activity going on.[12]
Magnetic phenomena near the castle
Magnetic stones at Frankenstein
In a remote part of the forest behind Frankenstein Castle on 417 meter high Mount Ilbes, compasses do not work properly due to magnetic stone formations of natural origin. Local nature enthusiasts and witchcraft practitioners are said to perform rituals at these magnetic places on special occasions like Walpurgis Night or summer solstice.[13] The magnetic stones can be visited by everyone, but it is advisable not to disturb ongoing ritual activities at any means. Legend has it that Mount Ilbes is the second most important meeting place for witches in Germany after Mount Brocken in the Harz.
Regional tales and mysteries
Felsenmeer Lautertal (near Frankenstein)
Close to Frankenstein Castle, a large felsenmeer ("sea of rocks") near the village of Lautertal is assumed[who?] to be a major scene of the Nibelungenlied. Allegedly, Siegfried the dragonslayer, on a hunting trip leading him from the Burgundian city of Worms into the Odenwald, was murdered by Hagen of Tronje at the Felsenmeer's Siegfriedsquelle ("Siegfried's wellspring"). In some stories,[who?] the region is connected to the apparition of legendary creatures, like knight George fighting against a man-eating lindworm near Frankenstein Castle or creatures of nature with magic potency (e.g. a water spirit that changed into a fox near Niedernhausen). There is some evidence[who?] that even the name of the entire region is a hint to a mystical background: Odenwald means "The Woods of Odin".
Current use
Frankenstein Castle as a tourist attraction
Despite being a well-known tourist destination, Frankenstein castle has never been developed into a commercial tourist attraction on a large scale. Local people use the mountain chain on which Frankenstein Castle is located for sport activities like hiking and mountain biking. Normally the castle is open to the public until late at night, on-site parking is possible right at the castle and a restaurant serves food and refreshments. Admission and parking are free except during special occasions like the Halloween festival, when there is a charge for admission. However, there are no further tourist facilities on the site.
Wedding office
Since the year 2000, the chapel at Frankenstein Castle has been in use as a registry office for civil wedding ceremonies handled by the municipality of Mühltal.[14][permanent dead link]
Halloween at Frankenstein Castle
Frankenstein Castle
In 1977, an American soldier, based in Darmstadt, with the 32nd Army Air Defense Command, started an annual Halloween festival at Burg Frankenstein. Brian Hill, then 20 years old, leased Burg Frankenstein from the State of Hessen for three weekends in October and November. He intended to create a Halloween event for Americans stationed in Europe, and to introduce Germans to the American tradition. At the time, the world's media was in Frankfurt awaiting the release of the American hostages in Iran. Hill, a journalist trained at the Department of Defense School of Journalism, saw an opportunity. He sent letters, written in chicken blood and signed "Dr. Frankentein", to the media outlets inviting them to attend a press conference in Darmstadt, 20 minutes south of Frankfurt, "or else". There was no explanation as to the subject matter, and since the reporters had no idea what to expect, the press conference was packed. Most of the journalists, from countries from around the world, that had never heard of Halloween. Hill appeared as an unfinished Frankentein's monster to announce the theatrical style event. Asked how many people Hill expected at the event, he optimistically responded with 500 visitors. The first night of the event 1000 people were waiting as the gates of the castle opened. Over that first, weekend more than 7,000 visitors came to see the event. Hill produced the festival for 15 years and was featured in TIME Magazine International (Nov. 7 1988), as the person that brought Halloween back to Europe. Over the many decades, the festival continued to grow. Hundreds of thousands of people have attended the event and the cast and crew has continued to improve the special effects, shows and program over the many years the show has been running. Halloween Fest at Frankentein's Castle is one of the biggest Halloween festivals in Europe and is celebrating its 45th anniversary in 2023.
Restaurant
A restaurant with a sun terrace, located right below the castle towers, offers regular service as well as special events (e.g., Horror Dinner Nights).
Travel information
The castle is easily accessible via Autobahn A5, exit "Darmstadt-Eberstadt". The site is 35km (20mi) from Frankfurt International Airport. The public transport system of Darmstadt serves tram stop "Frankenstein" (located at the foot of the mountain range, a steep 3km walk from the ruins) with tram lines 1, 6, 7 and 8.
↑ Hobbler, Dorthy and Thomas. The Monsters: Mary Shelley and the Curse of Frankenstein. Back Bay Books; 20 August 2007
↑ Garrett, Martin. Mary Shelley. Oxford University Press, 2002
↑ Seymour, Miranda. Mary Shelley. Atlanta, GA: Grove Press, 2002. pg 110–111
↑ Gothic Immortals: The Fiction of the Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross by Marie Roberts contains a translation of a letter Dippel wrote in which he requested to be the lord of Castle Frankenstein in exchange for the Elixir of Life.[citation needed]
Darmstadt is a city in the state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine-Main-Area. Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in the state of Hesse after Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, and Kassel.
The Odenwald is a low mountain range in the German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.
Katzenelnbogen is the name of a castle and small town in the district of Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Katzenelnbogen is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde Aar-Einrich.
Johann Konrad Dippel, also spelled Johann Conrad Dippel, was a German Pietist theologian, physician, alchemist and occultist.
Zwingenberg lies in the Bergstraße district in southern Hessen, Germany, south of Frankfurt and Darmstadt, and with the granting of town rights coming in 1274 it is the oldest town on the Hessen Bergstraße.
Pfungstadt is a town of 25,029 inhabitants (2020), in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg in the state of Hesse, Germany.
Victor Frankenstein is a fictional character and the main protagonist and title character in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. He is an Italian-Swiss scientist who, after studying chemical processes and the decay of living things, gains an insight into the creation of life and gives life to his own creature. Victor later regrets meddling with nature through his creation, as he inadvertently endangers his own life and the lives of his family and friends when the creature seeks revenge against him. He is first introduced in the novel when he is seeking to catch the monster near the North Pole and is saved from near death by Robert Walton and his crew.
Sankt Goar is a town on the west bank of the Middle Rhine in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde Hunsrück-Mittelrhein, whose seat is in Emmelshausen.
Rheinfels Castle is a castle ruin located above the left (west) bank of the Rhine in Sankt Goar, Germany. It was started in 1245 by Count Diether V of Katzenelnbogen. After expansions, it was the largest fortress in the Middle Rhein Valley between Koblenz and Mainz. It was slighted by French Revolutionary Army troops in 1797. It is the largest castle overlooking the Rhine, and historically covered five times its current area.
Breuberg is a town in the Odenwaldkreis district of Hesse, Germany. It is 28 km east of Darmstadt and 20 km southwest of Aschaffenburg.
The German name Frankenstein most commonly refers to various aspects of a 19th-century novel written by Mary Shelley, but was originally a place name.
Lautertal (Odenwald) is a municipality in the Bergstraße district in the Hessian Odenwald in Germany that came into being with the merger of several former communities.
Brensbach is a municipality in the Odenwaldkreis (district) in Hesse, Germany.
Stadecken-Elsheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
The County of Katzenelnbogen was an immediate state of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed between 1095 and 1479, when it was inherited by the Landgraves of Hesse.
Eberstadt is the southernmost borough of Darmstadt in Hessen, Germany with a population of 23,728.
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. Frankenstein tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. Shelley started writing the story when she was 18, and the first edition was published anonymously in London on 1 January 1818, when she was 20. Her name first appeared in the second edition, which was published in Paris in 1821.
The House of Franckenstein is the name of a feudal, Franconian noble family in Germany, descendants from the Dynasts of the Breuberg family; offsprings of the Lords of Lützelbach from Höchst im Odenwald.
Otzberg Castle in the German state of Hesse is a medieval castle on the summit of the Otzberg in the Odenwald forest at a height of 367 m above NN. On its northern slopes is the village of Hering, which grew out of the lower ward or castellan's settlement. The history of castle and village is therefore closely interwoven.
The Lordship of Franckenstein was a historical territory in the northern Odenwald. It originated around 1230 from the possessions of the Breuberg, whose center was Frankenstein Castle. Konrad II of Breuberg and his wife Elisabeth of Weiterstadt called themselves Frankenstein after having build the castle henceforth. The dominion remained as condominium in the possession of the family until the year 1662. After the sale by the Frankensteis to Landgrave Louis VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, it came into the possession of Hesse-Darmstadt.
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