Romania Give Dracula's Castle to Owners

[banana republican]

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - More than 60 years after it was seized by communists, the Romanian government is to hand back one of the country's most popular tourist sites, the fabled Dracula Castle, to its former owner, the culture minister said Tuesday.

The castle, worth an estimated $25 million, was owned by the late Queen Marie and bequeathed to her daughter Princess Ileana in 1938. It was confiscated by communists in 1948 and fell into disrepair. It will be transferred on Friday to Dominic van Hapsburg, a New York architect who inherited the castle from Princess Ileana decades after the communists seized it, minister Adrian Iorgulescu told a news conference.

Van Hapsburg is a descendant of the Hapsburg dynasty which ruled Romania for a period starting in the late 17th century.

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/romania-give-draculas-castle-to-owners/n20060523173709990029?cid=2194

One can only wonder what he will do with it....

[kedrys]

1. Does the Dracolea family no longer have a claim on the property?

Just wondering.

[opiate69]

4. They never did..

from the article:
"While known and marketed as "Dracula's Castle," it never belonged to Prince Vlad the Impaler,..."

[kedrys]

7. Serves me right for not following the link

Thanks for the clarification - I did not know that. :hi:

[opiate69]

11. No problem...

I'm actually kind of a fan of old Vlad.. (well.. maybe not a "fan", per se.. but I find his biography and the legend that grew out of the rumor-mill fascinating):toast:

[NV Whino]

2. Oh sure let it go to rack and ruin and then give it back

"Here, Count, here's your castle back. Needs a little work, but I'm sure you can fix it right up."

:D

[AnOhioan]

3. Had no idea that Hapsburg descendents were still around.

On one level..it must be interesting to have such a lineage.

[Raine]

5. Interesting

I hope he fixes it up, I love history.

[Stevendsmith]

6. My fave dracula

Christopher Lee

[Raster]

12. no other Dracula could strike mortal terror better than Christopher Lee.

No one. He could send a shiver down your spine when he opened his mouth, bared his fangs and fixed those red eyes on you from the screen. He was nightmare material.

[The Icon Painter]

16. I agree

Save for the elongated canines, those were his own teeth. Lovely man.

[struggle4progress]

8. Why is Castle Bran considered, by right, to fall to heirs of aristocrats

rather than the heirs of the city from whom the Habsburgs stole it, or the heirs of the serfs who, more than once, suffered by the hands of the Lords there?

[w4rma]

13. Because the right wing movement is an aristocratic movement. (nt)

[meow2u3]

9. Gooood Evenniiinnggg!

And welcome to my castle! (impression of Bela Lugosi)

[daleo]

10. They should sell Dracula's castle to Rumsfeld

Or Rumsferutu, as he is also known. It would be appropriate.

[3waygeek]

14. I was thinking Cheney

he's definitely one of the undead.

[Tace]

15. That's One Cool-Looking Castle!

I'm not photo-savvy, or I'd post a pic. There's a picture at this URL (Scroll down):

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/tstef/&h=407&w=600&sz=54&tbnid=dqjmvNz5cCo_xM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=133&hl=en&start=3&prev=/images%3Fq%3DDracula%2BCastle%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN