We visited Schloss Lichtenstein this spring, having no idea it was the ultimate in fan fiction.
Perched on a Swabian alp overlooking Switzerland to the south and Germany to the north, it looked impressive.
We had a few hours to kill, so we decided to tour what we thought was a real schloss–or castle.
Our jaws dropped when we parked in a flat area and then saw the schloss perched on a high hill.
It looked like a Disney castle.
It practically was.
A little history about the castle
Still owned by the family, the current Count explained Schloss Lichtenstein was,
“inspired by Wilhelm Hauff’s romantic novel Lichtenstein, my great-grandfather Count Wilhelm of Württemberg, Duke of Urach, had Lichtenstein Castle constructed on the historical foundation walls of a medieval knights’ castle.
With great attention to detail, Lichtenstein Castle and its neo-Gothic architecture are nothing short of an homage to the Middle Ages.”
The original fortress was built on the site in the 14th century, destroyed, rebuilt, and so on.
“The new Lichtenstein Fortress, built in 1390, was considered to be one of the best-fortified fortresses of the Middle Ages and withstood every single attack.
“In 1567, however, it lost its status as ducal seat and deteriorated. In 1802, the building was dismantled to its foundation walls and replaced by a rather unpretentious hunting lodge.”
You can read the history on the website here.
What is fan fiction?
Fan fiction became very popular in the last few years as folks became deeply invested in stories, movies, and themes.
The term itself first came into use in 1938 when readers began to demonstrate their appreciation for fictional worlds or themes.
Written/filmed/cos-playing by amateurs, fan fiction involves writing additional stories in a series–for pleasure.
People have made an entire life out of Star Wars (choosing not to look at my relatives), regency dancing clubs for Jane Austen fans, and so forth.
I have writer friends who’ve received lovely artistic renditions of their characters, paintings of places in a book, or even music composed for elements of their story.
That hasn’t been my experience — which is fine — but I’m always amazed at the creativity of so many readers.
It’s an honor to have written/painted/composed/filmed a work that others want to honor.
One friend found herself in a tea house when a group of cosplaying women dressed in Alice in Wonderland characters stopped by for a Mad Hatter Tea!
How is Schloss Lichtenstein fan fiction?
The current site was purchased for a hunting lodge about 1837 from King Wilhelm of Württemberg by his cousin.
Count Wilhelm of Württemberg loved the novel Lichtenstein (published in 1826) and hired an architect to replicate the novel’s castle on the site.
(You can read Wilhelm Hauff’s novel here: Lichtenstein, the novel. If you prefer the original German, try here.)
Hauff’s novel was a great success upon publication. According to Wikipedia, the novelist:
Hauff follows Sir Walter Scott (and Naubert) by allowing an invented figure in a real family, Georg Sturmfeder, to witness the events during the struggle of Ulrich von Württemberg against the Swabian League under Georg, Truchsess von Waldburg-Zeil, who plays the part of foil to the positively depicted Georg von Frundsberg.
Hauff idealises Ulrich as a wronged man, who, in his moment of need, is restored to his rights through the efforts of his people, symbolised by the character of the Piper of Hardt.
The historical Ulrich is remembered largely for his exorbitant taxes on meat, wine and fruit, which provoked the Armer Konrad peasant uprising of 1514, quelled only with the help of his enemy the Steward of Waldburg-Zeil.[1]
Lichtenstein was a romantic and patriotic German’s tribute to the work of Sir Walter Scott. No foreign author was more popular than Scott in the Germany of the early 19th century. His novels, translated in full, were so generally read, that it was said that the soil of old Scotland was more familiar to Germans than their native land.
Work on the castle/hunting lodge began in 1840. Count Wilhelm oversaw everything. He decorated the rooms, purchased items, and enjoyed himself.
We did not know this history until we took the tour. The Count decorated with plenty of materials we could not have guessed were only a few hundred years old.
An interior window that matches a window in the novel; not original armor; the chapel.
Does it look like the original?
You decide.
120 miles from the Schloss Lichtenstein is “Mad King Ludwig’s” Neuschwanstein Castle–the castle that Walt Disney used as a model for Sleeping Beauty’s castle in Disneyland.
As we walked through the Lichtenstein Castle, we looked at the heating units in each room (the castle “goes into hibernation” in January and February), and agreed we wouldn’t want to live in a castle.
(The other issue, of course, is the bathroom’s location!)
But it was fun to lean over the railing at the valley below and imagine a prince–if not a count–riding up the steep road to find us!
A girl can dream, can’t she?
Splendid! Thanks