Halloween in Europe

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love trying to convert my home into a haunted house to entertain the trick-or-treaters, and of course, that also means trips to Spirit Halloween. However, my best travel-related Halloween memories include visiting Castle Frankenstein in Germany and Transylvania in Romania.

Castle Frankenstein

Castle Frankenstein is located south of the German city of Darmstadt and is a 45-minute drive from Frankfurt, where I was based from 2004-2007. Castle Frankenstein was made famous by Mary Shelley in 1818. The Castle dates to the mid-1200s and fell into ruins in the 1800s. Mary Shelley was apparently influenced by the story of Johann Konrad Dippel, an alchemist, who was born at Castle Frankenstein in 1673. According to legend, Dippel exhumed dead bodies and conducted experiments on them; however, there is no evidence supporting the claim.

The age of cinema brought the Frankenstein story to life for American audiences in the 1930s, and there have been several adaptations ever since. As a kid, I remember several movies about the Frankenstein monster; however, my favorite was Young Frankenstein with Gene Wilder.

Starting in 1948, American Forces Network (AFN) reporters went to Castle Frankenstein to conduct a live report of rumors that the Frankenstein Monster would return that Halloween. Unbeknown to the listening audience, the AFN reporters visited the Castle’s crypt, which was staged to scare the reporters with the Frankenstein Monster. The prank scared the audience listening to the broadcast in a similar fashion to the War of the Worlds radio broadcast of the 1930s. In the 1970s, American soldiers stationed nearby began the annual Halloween festival at the Castle, and since then, it has served as the largest Halloween festival of its kind in Germany.

In October 2004, I went with a group of Army staff officers and wives to visit Castle Frankenstein. When we arrived, we paid for our tickets at the entrance, where there was a restaurant serving good food and even better beer. The Castle was darkly lit, and Frankenstein and his demonic friends chased us around the grounds. The Castle was fun to walk around, and near the end, one of my friends who feared clowns (or at least pretended to fear clowns) was chased out the exits. We ended the night with food, beer, and laughs, and I hope to return someday.

Transylvania

Who could be more famous than Frankenstein on Halloween? The answer lies in Transylvania, the home of Count Dracula. The story of the renowned Vampire known as Dracula was popularized by Bram Stoker in 1897. Count Dracula was likely influenced by the real-life Vlad Dracula (Vlad the Impaler), a 15th Century Wallachian Prince who fought the Ottomans. Castle Dracula (known as Bran Castle) is in Bran, Romania.

In 2012, I had the opportunity to visit Sibiu, Romania, for a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) conference. Sibiu is two hours west of Bran, Romania, which meant that I did not have the opportunity to visit Castle Dracula. However, I was amazed at how popular Dracula was in Sibiu. Everywhere I went, there were references to Dracula, which included Dracula Games.

The Romanians learned to commercialize their connection to the Vampire and now host tours and Halloween parties at Castle Dracula.

Hopefully, I will get a chance to return to Romania and visit Castle Dracula, especially for Halloween.

Halloween was a big event during my last visit to Stuttgart, Germany, in 2019 (before COVID). Across the city, German youths were dressed up in costumes going trick-o-treating. Later in the evening, German college students were dressed up for a night out in the clubs for Halloween raves.

If anyone decides to visit Europe in October, make sure you find your way to both Castle Frankenstein and Dracula.