Burg Frankenstein is located near Darmstadt, Germany and when I found out that we’d be within 30 minutes if it while we were in Wiesbaden I knew we had to check it out. It it is said that it is this very castle that inspired Mary Shelly to write her tale of Frankenstein, whether that is true or not we may never know. We do know that the very eccentric Johann Conrad Dipple was sentenced to live here and he carried out some unusual experiments! Creepy! Apparently they put on quite the Halloween event as well but I’m not into that creepy stuff so we chose to visit the ruins and wander it ourself…no spooks involved.
The drive to Burg Frankenstein was pretty easy, we followed the instructions on the bottom of this site but the road we were supposed to turn on was closed and we had to follow the detour signs (yellow U’s & signs for Burg Frankenstein). When we located the road up the mountain to the castle we found that it was a quite narrow and windy one lane road, which made for slow going when we got behind street sweeper! I’m serious! There was a street sweeper sweeping the mountain road path…why I’m still not sure, LOL!! Interesting here in Germany that the roads can be crumbling and full of pot holes but yet street sweepers are in action sweeping random mountain roads…not sure where the taxes go here, LOL! Needless to say the last 1.2 kilometers up the mountain were at a snail’s pace and had us riding the longest 1.2 ‘clicks’ of our life. The road had kinda a ‘fairy tale’ feel to it and you can see why the Grimm brothers where inspired not too far from here to create their tales.
The ominous glimpse of Burg Frankenstein from the parking lot
Once we finally made it to the top there is a large parking lot just before the castle on the right. Once you park you can walk down the staircase and up the hill to the entrance of Burg Frankenstein. It was a bit chilly and the wind up on top of the mountain made it even more so! We were quite chilled by the time we got done with our walk.
Once you enter into the main area there are restrooms located on the left. There is also a little cafe on the left but we did not check that out.
Note the scary poster in the window, LOL!
What the actual signs say I have no idea since it was all in German.
There is a little chapel and a donation box where they ask that you put €1 per person, ages 14 years and up, from what I seen online.
You can wander the ruins at your own pace.
I loved this wall and door!
Mr. B & Bea
The view of the remaining tower.
Mr. B and I trying to stay warm, Boo was with his basketball team and didn’t get to come. Bub you’ll find as the small gray blob walking into the entrance…avoiding photos as usual 😉
The staircase down from the back of the castle.
It didn’t take us very long to walk around, it is not as big as one might imagine, I’m sure it was bigger when there was a full castle intact. It was our first ruins we explored here in Germany so I’m not sure how they compare to others yet but I know that we needed to go see these ones just in case Mary Shelly had visited and been inspired by her stay.
Know Before You Go:
What: Burg Frankenstein.
How To Get There: Approximately 2 hours 17 mins from Spangdahlem and 1 hour 14 minutes from Ramstein.
Parking: Is free and there is a large parking lot on the side of the Burg.
Cost: Donation of €1 per person ages 14 years and up.
Traveling with little kids: As with most Burgs baby wearing is probably much easier.
How long: Plan on at least 30 mins to 1 hour.
Where to find info: Above links
I actually hated the book but I’ve been wanting to visit there for Halloween when they have the huge haunted house there I think?
I keep meaning to visit this place! Need to get on it.
Yeah it was a nice little visit, probably even better in nicer weather!
Ahk! I visited this page to get more info since we are thinking about visiting and I can’t see any of your photos. 🙁 Lots of great information, but I was hoping to share your page with a friend to help convince them to go with me. 😉
Sorry about that! I had an issue with the photo album links and I’m having to go through and manually fix them all as I find them, I’ve fixed them for this post 🙂
I LIVED + WORKED IN GERMANY FOR 20 YEARS AND WENT TO THE 1ST HALLOWEEN FEST IN THE LATE 70’S WHEN THE US MILITARY STARTED THE FEST. WHEN THE GERMANS SAW WHAT A MONEY MAKER IT WAS, THEY ISSUED A COURT ORDER T O STOP THE FEST BECAUSE IT WAS DISTURBING NATURE? AFTER SOME TIME 1/2 YEARS, THE GERMANS STARTED UP THE FEST AGAIN UNDER THEIR TICKET TAKERS AT A MUCH HIGHER COST BUT OF COURSE THEY WERE NOT DISTURBING NATURE. THEY WERE GERMAN WHAT HAD STARTED AT A FEW DOLLARS ENTRANCE FEE HAD JUMPED UP TO $20.00. THE MILITARY PUT ON A GOOD SHOW FOR A FEW DOLLARS BUT THE GERMANS, NEVER HAVING TRICK OR TREAT DID NOT HAVE THE SPIRIT AND ONE COULD TELL. BECAUSE SOMRHOW THE SPIRIT WAS MISSING