The Magic of Schloss Drachenburg
Schloss Drachenburg is more than just a historic building – it is a vibrant meeting place of culture and nature. Here you will find all the important information about the exciting History of the house, to the Audio guide and the tasks of Drachenburg Castle Foundation.
1882
The architectural dream
Stephan Sarter was born in 1833 as the youngest son of a Bonn innkeeper. Following a banking apprenticeship and numerous stays abroad, he amassed great wealth as a stock market analyst, including through the financing of the Suez Canal. In 1881, Duke Georg of Saxony-Meiningen elevated Sarter to the nobility. As early as 1882, Baron Stephan von Sarter laid the foundation stone for a stately residence: Schloss Drachenburg, a hybrid of a villa, a fortress and a castle.
The Düsseldorf architect duo Leo von Abbema and Bernhard Tüshaus drew up the initial plans, which were revised by the Paris-based architect Wilhelm Hoffmann, a pupil of the Cologne cathedral master builder Ernst Friedrich Zwirner. The historicist architecture and magnificent interior of the castle already found many admirers among contemporaries. However, Sarter never lived in his castle. His adopted home was Paris, where the bachelor died in 1902 without having settled his estate. Jakob Biesenbach, a nephew of Sarter's, bought the castle from the estate.
1903
Drachenburg Castle becomes a summer resort
As a child, Jakob Biesenbach had witnessed the laying of the foundation stone of the castle and had lived for a time at the nearby Hirschburg. The lawyer intended to develop Schloss Drachenburg for tourism. He had the medieval castle courtyard, which at the time belonged to the estate, demolished and built a hotel in the „Swiss style“ in its place in 1904. In the park of Schloss Drachenburg, Biesenbach erected „Nordic“ log cabins as exclusive holiday apartments. Newly planted conifers and a game reserve provided an atmospheric setting. Schloss Drachenburg was transformed into a kind of social venue: there was a restaurant in the basement, and the elegantly furnished rooms of the palace could be visited for a fee. Postcard series and lithographs featuring exterior and interior views as well as details of the murals were offered as souvenirs.
1910
The planned public amusement park
In 1910 Biesenbach sold the estate to the retired cavalry captain Egbert von Simon. His plans surpassed the moderate tourist ambitions of his predecessor. Schloss Drachenburg was intended to attract masses of visitors as a theme park and thus become economically viable. Alongside a large festival theatre, a hotel and an airship hangar with an airship for short pleasure trips were planned. However, von Simon was unable to finance the attractions. He merely organised horticulture and art exhibitions and ran an open-air theatre. In 1915 he was killed in the First World War.
1923
Social commitment of a manufacturer
Hermann Flohr, who had lived in the castle as a tenant for several years, bought the castle courtyard at auction in 1921 and Schloss Drachenburg in 1923. The merchant and manufacturer from Cologne made several log cabins available to the German Red Cross Women's Association as a convalescent home and used the castle as a weekend residence. In 1930, he decided to hand the estate over to a Catholic order; large parts of the interior furnishings were auctioned off, and the Brothers of the Christian Schools moved into the castle the following year.
1931
Christian boarding school – the Kunsthalle becomes a chapel
Schloss Drachenburg was a suitable place for the Brothers of the Christian Schools to be educationally effective. In relative seclusion, they opened a boys' boarding school, the St Michael residential school. Figures perceived as suggestive, such as Venus on the terrace of the same name and the Bacchantes in the tavern room, were removed or covered up. The members of the religious order transformed the former drinking room into a sacristy and used the Neo-Gothic art gallery as a chapel. Classrooms were located in the castle, and sleeping quarters for the young people in the partially converted log cabins. Thus, Schloss Drachenburg offered its residents almost idyllic conditions in a very tense era. However, in 1938, the St Michael residential school had to close its doors under pressure from the National Socialists.
1942
World War II destruction
In 1942, Schloss Drachenburg became home to an elite National Socialist school, the Adolf Hitler School (AHS 3). The most enduring structural alteration from this period is the destruction of the original main gateway. Instead of the delicate double-flight staircase that led to a gabled portico, the entrance was monumentalised with a wide staircase. The park also underwent major changes due to earthworks carried out to emplace artillery. Eventually, the castle came under fire. Almost all the stained glass windows were shattered in the process, and the art gallery was severely damaged. At the end of the war, American troops occupied the castle, and it later served as a refugee shelter.
1947
A training centre breathes new life into the property
It was lucky for Schloss Drachenburg that the Wuppertal Reichsbahn Directorate discovered and rented the property in 1947 to use as a training centre. The art gallery was restored, its roof renewed in the process, and the originally glazed park side was bricked up in order to repair the Rhine side. A scale-model training signal box enriched the lessons here, in the largest room of the castle. The other rooms were also used for training purposes. The director had his office in the Nibelung room. In 1960, the German Federal Railway relocated the school and left Schloss Drachenburg.
1971
Decay and new beginning, the Spinat era
For the next 10 years, from 1960 to 1970, Schloss Drachenburg stood empty and fell into disrepair. The interior was severely damaged: the carved wooden panelling was used as firewood, whilst large sections of the murals in the stairwell, the Nibelungen Room and the dining room were stolen, either in whole or in part. Plans to demolish the building were thwarted in 1963, but it was not until 1971 that a private individual purchased the property. The textile merchant Paul Spinat had the complex restored and refurnished. Young artists created what were, in part, free reconstructions of the missing murals. In 1973, Spinat opened Drachenburg to the general public. Until his death in 1989, the eccentric lord of the castle – about whom numerous stories are told – resided at Drachenburg or in the castle courtyard.
1986
Historic preservation and restoration
In 1986, Schloss Drachenburg was placed under a preservation order. The urgently needed steps for a comprehensive restoration were initiated in 1989 by the North Rhine-Westphalia Foundation for Nature Conservation, Local History and Cultural Care (Nordrhein-Westfalen-Stiftung Naturschutz, Heimat- und Kulturpflege). Since 1995, the NRW Foundation, in close cooperation with the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the City of Königswinter, has had the Schloss Drachenburg ensemble carefully restored. The special exhibition „Open for Renovation – Insights into the Drachenburg Castle Construction Site“ provided visitors with detailed information about the restoration work from 2003 to 2009. Since the spring of 2010, the renovation work on the castle has been completed and all restored and refurnished rooms are once again accessible to visitors. The landscaped park belonging to the ensemble was fully completed in 2011.
Lauschtour
The free audio guide for your smartphone
For the tour of Schloss Drachenburg, we offer a free audio guide. Exciting stories and information about Schloss Drachenburg await you at every listening point.
The tour is available in German, English, French, Dutch, Spanish, Turkish, Russian and Chinese. For guests with a hearing impairment, a written transcript of the tour is also available in the German and English versions.
You can conveniently download the audio guide to your smartphone at home and start the audio tour right on site. If you would like to download the audio guide on site, use the free Wi-Fi on the premises. To do this, log into the Wi-Fi SD-Guest Password: Drachenburg
It's as simple as that
1. Download the „Lauschtour“ app for free from the App Store or Google Play (Required Android version: 4.4 or higher)).
2. Start the „Schloss Drachenburg“ audio tour.
3. Let's go!
The content (approx. 12 MB) is saved offline at startup, so no internet connection is needed while on the move.
Perfect headphone listening pleasure
Tip: With in-ear headphones, two of you can listen best.
Drachenburg Foundation
Behind the present-day splendour of Schloss Drachenburg lies a strong foundation: Drachenburg Foundation is committed to the sustainable restoration, preservation and care of this unique Gründerzeit ensemble. With your donation or endowment, you directly contribute to safeguarding the palace, the outer bailey and the picturesque park for future generations and preserving them as a vibrant cultural venue.
Excellent experience
According to TUI, Schloss Drachenburg is among the most popular and beautiful castles in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Set against the picturesque backdrop of the Siebengebirge hills, this impressive castle captivates visitors with its magnificent architecture, fascinating history and unique views over the Rhine Valley.
See for yourself what makes this such a special experience and discover the magic of Schloss Drachenburg!
