Wolfgang Flammersfeld Illuminates Drachenburg Castle

A light installation by German artist Wolfgang Flammersfeld illuminates Schloss Drachenburg, a fairy tale castle built in the 1880s that stands halfway between the city of Königswinter and the Drachenfels.

With its dreamy spires, mock battlements and square clock tower, Schloss Drachenburg palace looks like a cross between a medieval castle, a Gothic cathedral and Big Ben. The castle is an architectural mishmash that contains a fake organ, a reproduction of a Louis XIV throne and tacky murals. But it has been faithfully restored in honor of its startling history -- and because it represents a romantic yearning for a past that never was.

According to German folklore, Siegfried slayed a dragon just a little further up the mountain. But the story of this spectacular building, a jumble of architectural styles erected in less than three years in the late 19th century by a wealthy stockbroker, is strange enough to become legend in itself.

Drachenburg means "Dragon's Castle," and its fairy tale appearance would make it a worthy location for a Harry Potter film. Over the years, eccentrics have used the building as a canvas for their grand visions. In 1910, one entrepreneur planned to convert it into a tourist resort complete with a landing area for Zeppelin airships and a concert hall to rival the Bayreuth Wagner opera festival.

In the 1970s, one owner used it for sumptuous parties during which he dressed in an Admiral's costume and treated guests to concerts he gave on a fake organ, with music played from a hidden tape recorder. He would impress tourists by filling the palace with historical artifacts of questionable authenticity, including a sculpture he claimed was by Michelangelo and a garish chair he said was the throne of French king Louis XIV.

sources: thenational.ae, yahoo, spiegel.de