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 |  I travel the country on business, sometimes the world. Come see where I've been. |
| Date: Week of December 18th Locale: Frankfurt, Germany The class this week was a tailored class for the Department of State, and was taught at the Consulate General's office complex in Frankfurt. It was an interesting class, full of questions and answers, and a bit of fun. My students were American, all working for the State Department, from all over the world. Countries I recall them working in were South Africa, Armenia, and other countries in Southern Europe and Africa. They travel as much or more than I do in their work. After completing the class in Frankfurt this week, I had a day to myself to relax. A little bit of 'Jim Time' was long overdue. The problem was, it had been so overcast with light rain, that there wasn't much I felt like doing. I had thought drive to Schloss (Castle) Neuschwanstein, but it was a four hour drive one way, so that was out. This Castle is the one used as a model for Cinderella's Castle in Disneyland. In looking at Google Maps last night, I saw that Frankenstein's Castle was only about an hour away! There was no way I could miss seeing it. Sadly, while I did visit it, I didn't see near what I could have. Apparently it was closed for the season. Still, it was nice visiting it, and here's why. As I left the Autobahn and headed towards the mountains, fog engulfed the area. Or more correctly, I found myself driving into a fog bank that shrouded the mountain. How appropriate! My mind whirled a bit, I could almost head maidens screaming as they ran through the nearby forests, the thud of the Monster's feet as he thundered behind them.... But, this is the 21st century, such things were only flights of my imagination. I figured the castle would be closed, that I'd be unable to see anything inside, or see much at all. And that was the case too. But just being there was something, and the fog shrouding the structure made it all the more surreal. An interesting day, a fun day, but a little disappointing just the same. A little thrilling though also, I'd say more interesting than anything else. Photo's  This is a memorial to those who were victims of the Gray Bus. During WWII, the Nazi's murdered over 200,000 men, women, and children who were mentally ill, or and handicapped during World War II. They were considered “not worthy of living”. At least 90,000 patients died of hunger or inadequate nourishment, or were murdered with drugs in state-run sanatoriums. More than 70,000 men, women, and children were murdered in gas chambers during the secret operation “T4” in 1940/41. The mass murder was centrally organised at Tiergartenstraße 4 in Berlin (therefore the abbreviation “T4”). Grafeneck, Brandenburg, Bernburg, Hartheim (near Linz), Sonnenstein and Hadamar were the towns where the murders took place. The staff of these killing institutions later worked in concentration camps such as Auschwitz, Treblinka, Sobibor, and Belzec. The buses were painted gray, with even the windows also painted gray. The “Monument of the Grey Buses” serves as a reminder of the transports of the patients to their deaths. The artists Horst Hoheisel and Andreas Knitz designed the monument for the Weißenau Psychiatric Centre near Ravensburg in 2006. A bus based on the same model as the one that drove from the hospitals to the death camps in the years 1940 and 1941, in its original size and concrete form, commemorates the mass murder. “Where are you taking us?” – the question of one of the patients - is inscribed on the bus monument.  This is the view you have of the castle as you approach it. The parking lot is down a small hill to the right of the photo. It was too foggy to take a photo of my first glimpse of the castle, so I waited until I had a good view, and snapped a couple.  This is a much better view of the Castle. There are interior areas of the Castle, but I think they were closed because of the season. I recall reading a pamphlet that mentioned a tour fee, but there wasn't anyone around today looking to give tours. I would love to have toured the Castle! The team from Sy Fy Channel's Ghosthunters team has visited it, so I know it's more extensive than what I saw today. The Castle itself was built in the mid-1250's. The Castle was split into two parts in later days, with two families living in each wing. The castle was used as refuge and a hospital afterward, falling into ruins in the 18th century. The two towers that are so distinctive today are a historically inaccurate restoration carried out in the mid-19th century. In 1673, Johann Conrad 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 Frankenstein novel, 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 ten miles away from the castle. Several nonfiction books on the life of Mary Shelley claim Dippel as a possible influence. 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. There are also rumours 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 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. There are local people 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. However, none of these claims have been proven to this date, and some local researchers doubt any connection between Mary Shelley and Frankenstein Castle. In Closing I am home for the holidays next week, but then hit it hard and fast again the first of the year. Hopefully y'all will have a bit more time with family and loved ones than that. Of course, we'll all keep writing, right? So what's holding you (especially ME!) back? Get to it... Stay warm, stay safe, and have a Very Merry Christmas, and a wonderful, loving, New Year! |
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