At the top of a hill in the town of Gernsheim, Germany, and at a height of 370 meters, rises the untamed perhaps the medieval site most appreciated by tourists because it is believed that Mary Shelley was inspired by it to write her novel of the same name.
Mary Shelley probably looked at the fortress for several hours while her entourage rested in the town. In fact, the frankenstein castlejust five kilometers from the German city of Darmstadt, is the birthplace of an eccentric alchemist and a Possible source of inspiration for a fictional monster resurrector.
The proximity between Frankenstein Castle and Mary Shelley
It is likely that in 1814, a few days after her 17th birthday, Mary Shelley gazed at the majestic castle while making a stopover in Germany before returning to her native England by boat on the Rhine. It is not known for certain whether Shelley and her husband Percy Bysshe, climbed to the top of the mountain to visit Frankenstein’s castle up close, however, it is more likely that during their short stay that took them back after visiting France and Switzerland, the young writer will hear the creepy rumors of the alchemist and doctor Johann Konrad Dippel.
According to urban legends, Dippel had been born in the castle which already bore the name ‘Castle Frankenstein’ by the time Shelley visited Gernsheim. Apparently Konrad led a controversial life with parts of corpses stolen from cemeteries. It is said that the eccentric student at the University of Giessen created an oil that he obtained by distilling parts of dead animals and claimed that it was a universal medicine. Additionally, he theorized about being able to transfer the souls of dead people through a funnel.
Although the coincidences between Dippel’s story and Mey Shelley’s novel ‘Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus’, published in 1818, are simply terrifying, there is no proof that the writer actually based her novel on Dippel who lived in Frankenstein’s castle. .
There are those who believe that instead of taking the alchemist as a model to create the chilling character of Victor Frankenstein, Shelley relied on the experiments of the 18th century physiologist, Erasmus Darwin, who also explored the idea of animating dead matter again. , and who by the way was the paternal grandfather of the
It is not clear where Mary Shelley took her inspiration to create one of the , but the coincidences with the stories surrounding Castle Frankenstein are very evident.
Frankenstein’s Castle
Frankenstein Castle is believed to have been built before 1250 and was erected by Lord Konrad II Reiz von Breuberg, who thereafter called himself ‘von Frankenstein’. The first official document that supports the existence of the residence dates back to 1252 and is in the name of Lord Konrad II and from then on it is recognized as the property of the Frankenstein family.
It is currently one of the medieval sites most widely visited by tourists, thanks to the fact that it can be admired from the small town of Gernsheim, which is part of the federated state of Hesse, Germany. The impressive castle is open to the public and you can climb to the top of its tower, as well as dine in the restaurant located in the patio of the place, an experience that surely all lovers of mystery literature would like to live.