The Drachenburg Castle, located near Bonn, looks just like a fairy-tale castle. It’s a big tourist draw, but has a rather checkered past. DW reporter Diana Piñeros took a look around inside its age-old walls.
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00:00 This German castle looks straight out of a fairy tale, but it has a dark past, a Nazi
00:07 history, years of neglect, and a former owner with eccentric taste.
00:14 Let's explore the history and secrets of Trahenburg, the Dragon Castle.
00:19 Look at this!
00:21 Yeah, I feel special here.
00:24 Okay, we leave it back.
00:28 That's crazy!
00:30 According to folklore, German hero Siegfried once slayed a dragon here.
00:36 Hence its name, Trahenburg or Dragon Castle.
00:41 Thousands of people from all over the world visit Trahenburg every year.
00:46 The castle, located a 20-minute drive from Bonn, was built between 1882 and 1884.
00:53 It's perched on a hill with a commanding view of the River Rhine.
00:57 The castle is also a popular filming location.
01:01 Parts of Babylon Berlin, Germany's most expensive television series, were shot here.
01:07 Tour guide Gaby Brenig is waiting for me.
01:10 She has been working here for 14 years.
01:14 So Gaby, let's start from the beginning.
01:17 Who decided to build this castle and why?
01:20 Well, a very interesting person called Stefan Sauter.
01:25 He was an innkeeper's son, so he came from a low middle class family.
01:31 But he shot to success at the Paris Stock Exchange by selling shares to build the Suez Canal.
01:36 And with the new money, he bought the whole site to build his private home.
01:41 Nice! Not bad at all!
01:44 Stefan von Sauter died in 1902.
01:52 He had no children.
01:54 The castle was sold off several times and transformed into a summer resort,
02:00 a Christian school and even a Nazi college.
02:05 In the 40s, the Adolf Hitler School moved in here.
02:09 For how long were they here and what exactly happened?
02:13 Well, for about four years, until the end of the Second World War.
02:18 There were some 14-16 year old boys up here who got some military training
02:24 and political indoctrination as well, as you can imagine.
02:27 We don't have much information about that time,
02:31 because there are hardly any eyewitnesses who could tell you what happened here.
02:38 So they threw away everything, they destroyed all the files and all that.
02:43 The castle's main entrance and stained glass windows were damaged in World War II.
02:49 After the war, the castle was used as a shelter for refugees
02:53 and then as a training center for the rail authorities.
02:56 It was supposed to be demolished in the early 1960s.
03:00 The castle changed owners several times and then it was abandoned for 10 years.
03:06 Tell us about it.
03:07 Well, it kind of lost its place.
03:10 It was very attractive for the first people dealing with drugs.
03:15 This kind of architecture was regarded as old-fashioned, nobody was interested in it.
03:20 So that's the reason why it stood empty for 10 years,
03:23 because nobody was willing to buy that and to use it.
03:26 This was a wonderful venue for romantic meetings.
03:31 For drug consumers and all that.
03:38 In 1971, wealthy entrepreneur Polish Spinat bought Dragenburg
03:42 and had extensive refurbishment work done.
03:46 He was well known for his fancy cars, quirky personality
03:51 and eccentric taste in interior design.
03:54 Gawie, come here. What do we have here?
04:06 You're sitting on a real throne.
04:08 I feel special.
04:10 This is one of the pieces of furniture from the time of Paul Spinat.
04:18 He always told the visitors that this was the throne of Louis XIV,
04:26 but of course it wasn't.
04:29 Definitely.
04:30 That's the reason why our guests have the chance to sit on the throne
04:36 and feel like a queen or a king.
04:39 We head to the kitchen.
04:41 It was restored by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia,
04:45 which has been in charge of Dragenburg since 1989.
04:49 Great attention was paid to every last detail.
04:57 Gawie, look at you!
05:00 This is still the kitchen.
05:03 Next, Gawie shows us some secret places inside the castle,
05:07 like the servants' staircase and the rest of the building too.
05:11 It underwent 30 million euros worth of restoration work.
05:15 Highlights include the grand marble staircase and many beautiful artworks.
05:20 Filled with paintings of nudes, this room was once the gentlemen's chamber.
05:25 I thought the castle itself is a mix of different styles.
05:28 It is interesting to see how each owner left their mark here.
05:32 And you, have you ever visited a castle? Tell us which ones!