The beauty and history of Bran Castle

PERCHED on a hilltop along the Rucăr-Bran Pass in Romania, and surrounded by the peaks of Bucegi and Piatra Craiului mountains is the storied Bran Castle.

Its colourful history can be glimpsed in every nook and cranny of the 12th century castle. Perhaps, it is most famous for its link to Dracula, the creation of Irish novelist Bram Stoker. Castle Dracula was said to be based on Bran Castle.

While Stoker never travelled to Romania, it was said that he used the illustration of Bran Castle in Charles Boner’s book Transylvania: Its Product and Its People, to describe his imaginary castle. It was noted that no other castle in all of Romania fitted the description of Dracula castle when his story was first published.

Today, Bran Castle is a private museum and a popular tourist destination, receiving more than half a million visitors each year. It also hosts activities such as music festivals, children’s pageants and food fairs.

The castle has on-going restoration and reconstruction programme every year. The marketing manager of Bran Castle, Alexandru Priscu told theedgeproperty.com that the main focus is to transform the castle into a location which is alive with buzzing energy all over.

“All guests who come here receive more than a lesson in history and art, they get the opportunity to explore the castle and see for themselves what it actually looks like both inside and out. With increasingly more visitors coming in each year, we hope to be able to improve all services by concentrating attention on the guests’ needs and wants,” said Priscu.

The castle is owned by Archduchess Maria Magdalena, Archduchess Elisabeth and Archduke Dominic, children of the last owner of the castle, the much loved Princess Ileana. Bran Castle was in the possession of the Romanian state for 61 years and after several years of legal proceedings, it was returned to the heirs in 2006. The castle was restored at a cost of about €250,000 (RM1.23 million) to €300,000. 

The estate is currently renovating the electric elevator that connects the castle with the garden -- it will come down through a shaft dug in solid rock. The currently closed Tea House will also be refurbished. The cost for both the projects is €1.3 million.

Vlad the Impaler

There had been many theories that the character of Dracula was inspired by Vlad the Impaler, the ruler of Wallachia from 1456-1462 and 1476. 

The much feared Vlad burned the city’s suburbs and murdered hundreds of Saxons from Transylvania by impaling them (which was how he got his name) during his reign. In the fall of 1492, he was captured by the Hungarian king, Matei Corvin and locked up in Bran Castle’s dungeon for two months.

The story behind the castle

Bran Castle began its existence as a fortress, built by the Teutnonic Knights, a Catholic religious order formed in Palestine by German crusaders in 1211. The Teutons were given the region of Burzenland (Țara Bârsei in Romanian) by King Andrew II of Hungary so that they would defend the south-eastern border of Transylvania from the Cumans and the Pechenegs.

Construction started in 1377 by the order of Hungarian King Louis the Great and was completed a year later.

Bran Castle changed hands and survived wars and sieges over the centuries before falling into decay. After Transylvania become part of Greater Romania, the castle was gifted to Queen Marie in 1920, a unanimous decision by the city’s council led by Major Karl Schnell. The queen was described as “the great queen who… spreads her blessing everywhere she walked, thus winning, with an irresistible momentum, the hearts of the entire country’s population”.

Queen Marie restored and arranged the castle to be used as a residence for the royal family.

It was converted into a royal summer residence by Czech architect Karen Liman from 1920 until 1932. One major addition was a hydroelectric power plant, used not only to light the castle but also the towns of Bran, Simon and Moeciu. Other additions include an English Park with two ponds, a Tea House, stables, garage and a wooden church.

After Queen Marie passed on, the castle was given to her daughter Princess Ileana, who later built a chapel close to the castle to house the queen’s heart. When the castle was seized by the communist regime, her heart was placed in the National Museum of Romanian History. This autumn, the queen’s heart will be laid to rest at Peres Castle at the wishes of King Michael of Romania, Queen Marie’s grandson.

 

     

 

In 1944, Princess Ileana built a hospital in Bran, named ‘the Hospital of the Queen’s Heart’, to treat wounded soldiers from Brasov after the Red Cross hospital was bombed by American aircraft. The princess cared for patients as a nurse until she and her family was forced into exile by the communist government in 1948.

 

 

Princess Ileana returned to her beloved castle in September 1990. By then, she had been ordained as Mother Alexandra and had been living in a convent since 1961.

The princess passed away shortly after, on Jan 21, 1991 and was buried with a small box containing earth from the foot of Bran Castle.

The many rooms and secrets of the castle

 

 

Entrance fee and admissions
Bran Castle is open every day of the year, from 9am to 6pm in the peak season and until 4pm during the low season. Entrance is free for disabled persons and institutionalised persons. Seniors admission is valid for people over 65 years. The highest entrance fee is €6.6 (RM 31.70). For more information regarding the castle, visit http://bran-castle.com/.