Dracula’s Castle to Close Its Doors?

The Romanian government has decided to end the lease of Bran Castle. The castle was once believed to be owned by Vlad III the Impaler, better known as ‘Dracula’. Bram Stoker uses the castle as the residence for his ‘Dracula’.

In 1920 the castle became property of the Romanian royal family. It became a great favourite of Queen Marie, née Princess of Edinburgh. Her youngest daughter, princess Ileana inherited from her mother. During World War II it was used as a hospital. In 1948 the communists confisquated the property.

In 2009 after a long legal battle, the castle was returned to Princess Ileana’s children, Archduke Dominic, Archduchess Maria Magdalena and Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria-Tuscany.

The castle has served as a museum for most of the communist years and afterwards. In 2009 the Romanian government decided to lease  the castle and to continue to use it as a museum. They have now changed their tune: all 10.000 historic items will be moved to two other museums in the area. They claim that the lease is too high, that the collection should not be shattered over multiple museums and that there isn’t enoguh ‘visibility’. This means that after sixty years the national museum of Bran Castle will officially cease to exist.

Read more about the history of Bran castle here.

Filed under Austria-Hungary, Romania
Tagged Archduke Domenic of Austria, Austria-Tuscany, Bran Castle, House of Habsburg.