CASTLE OF BRAIN:

INTRODUCTION:
First of all, I'm going to show how this castle is. The Bran Castle is a medieval fortress
located in the present-day Romania, which is the most attractive tourist destination in the world
of Bram Stoker Count Dracula.
This castle is a historical monument of Gothic architecture that was built between 1377 and
1382 and it has a height of 762 m.

LOCATE IT:
This castle, is locate in Romania, near Braşov in Transilvania.

CREATOR:
Exactly who was its creator is not known, but it was built in 1212 by a Teutonic order.

HISTORY:
Bran Castle is known outside Romania with the name of Dracula’s Castle due to the
legend. This castle became known abroad owing to the Irish writer Dracula novel Bram
Stoker. The name Dracula comes from the surnames of Vlad the Impaler’s father, the
Dracul, he was the member of the Dragon Order. This is the one of the most beautiful
medieval castles in Romania.

In 1212, Teutonic Knights built the wooden castle of Dietrichstein as a fortified position
in the Burzenland at the entrance to a mountain pass through which traders had
travelled for more than a millennium, but in 1242 it was destroyed by the Mongols. The
first documented mentioning of Bran Castle is the act issued by Louis I of Hungary on 19
November 1377, giving the Saxons of Kronstadt (Brașov) the privilege to build the stone
castle on their own expense and labor force; the settlement of Bran began to develop
nearby. In 1438–1442, the castle was used in defense against the Ottoman Empire, and
later became a customs post on the mountain pass between Transylvania and
Wallachia. It is believed the castle was briefly held by Mircea the Elder of Wallachia (r.
1386–1395, 1397–1418) during whose period the customs point was established. The
Wallachian ruler Vlad Țepeș (Vlad the Impaler; 1448–1476) does not seem to have had
a significant role in the history of the fortress, although he passed several times through
the Bran Gorge. Bran Castle belonged to the Hungarian Kings but due to the failure of
King Vladislas II (r. 1471–1516) to repay loans, the city of Brașov regained possession of
the fortress in 1533. Bran played a militarily strategic role up to the mid-18th century.

In 1920 the Treaty of Trianon, Hungary ceded Transylvania, and the castle became a
royal residence within the Kingdom of Romania. It became the favorite home and
retreat of Queen Marie, who ordered its extensive renovation conducted by the Czech
architect Karel Zdeněk Líman.

The castle was inherited by her daughter Princess Ileana who ran a hospital there in
World War II: it was later seized by the communist regime with the expulsion of the
royal family in 1948.

In 2005, the Romanian government passed a special law allowing restitution claims on
properties illegally expropriated, such as Bran, and thus a year later the castle was
awarded ownership to American Dominic von Habsburg, the son and heir of Princess
Ileana.

In September 2007, an investigation committee of the Romanian Parliament stated that

the retrocession of the castle to Archduke Dominic was illegal, as it broke the Romanian
law on property and succession. However, in October 2007 the Constitutional Court of
Romania rejected the parliament's petition on the matter. In addition, an investigation
commission of the Romanian government issued a decision in December 2007
reaffirming the validity and legality of the restitution procedures used and confirming
that the restitution was made in full compliance with the law.

On 18 May 2009, the Bran Castle administration was transferred from the government
to the administration of Archduke Dominic and his sisters Maria-Magdalena Holzhausen
and Elisabeth Sandhofer.

On 1 June 2009, the Habsburgs opened the refurbished castle to the public as the first
private museum of the country and disclosed with Bran Village a joint strategic concept
to maintain their domination in the Romanian tourist circuit and to safeguard the
economic base in the region.

PURPARE:
As in history, we can not know a solid reason for its construction.

As in history, we can not know a solid reason for its construction, because it was built
many years ago.
However, we know that it was built by a Teutonic order, and was used as a fortress.
Nowadays it does not have this function anymore, since as I said, it is currently shown
to the public.

CURIOSITIES:
Actually, this is not the castle of Dracula, and it is said that maybe he did not even visit
it.

But the royal castle is in ruins, and this attracts a lot of tourism, so it is now known as
the castle of Dracula.
WHY I CHOSE IT:
I have chosen this castle to talk about it, because I have always liked the history of
Dracula, and all its films, especially that of Bran that was created in 1992.
I wanted to know more about this castle and show it to the class.
In addition, I have always liked the vegetation and the climate that there is in Romania
as well as its customs.

Mar Aguilar Navarro.

2B.