To All Posts
To Posts by Email
“The castle in the middle of nowhere” as I call it! This castle was built just about 15 minutes from where I grew up, just outside of Kingsland, Texas. I love telling people about it because of course, they never believe me! (You didn’t, did you?!) These pictures were taken on Keith’s first trip to my home town and to visit my mom. We took a little trip to visit the castle. It is closed off to the public and only available for weddings and a few charity events a year (which is why the picture is taken from the road).
The story of how this castle (The Falkenstein Castle) came about is quite interesting. . . .
In the fall of 1995 Burnet, Texas businessman and developer Mr. Terry Young and his wife Kim took a long awaited European vacation. One of their goals was to visit many of Europe’s great castles, in particular Neuschwanstein Castle (absolutely gorgeous castle, by the way!! One of my favorite memories of my visit to Germany a few years back). On their arrival at Neuschwanstein, the Young’s took the standard English speaking tour of the castle, which is fairly limited since only approximately 25% of the interior is complete. At the end of the tour the Young’s walked down a long gallery that led to the exit. The gallery walls were lined with many pictures and drawing of Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee. Mr. and Mrs. Young who were familiar with most of King Ludwig’s building projects noticed that several of the drawings did not appear to be anything that the King had built and they were very curious as to what these drawings represented. The Young’s retraced their steps and found the young lady who had been their tour guide. They asked the guide to come with them to look at the drawings in question. Even though the guide insisted these were some of the original drawings of Neuschwanstein, the Young’s disagreed and asked if they could speak with the Castle Director. Being a pleasant young lady, she took the Young’s to the first floor offices and introduced them to the director, who spoke very little English. He explained to the guide that the Young’s were indeed correct! King Ludwig had been making plans to build another castle, to be called “Falkenstein”. The castle was to be built approximately 20 kilometers from Fussen, which is the old town located just below Neuschwanstein. The ruins of Castle Falkenstein near Pfronten
Because of the Young’s interest the director and the guide gave them a complete tour of the remaining unfinished sections of the castle normally closed to the general public. Terry and Kim were grateful and thanked both the Castle director and their guide. After leaving Neuschwanstein the Young’s proceeded to Lechbruch to locate Mr. Kienberger. After a short time they arrived at the home and shop of Mr. Kienberger, who lived with his son. After explaining their interest, Mr. Kienberger was kind enough to make copies of Christian Janks artist rendering of Falkenstein Castle along with other minor sketches.
On their return flight to the United States, Mr. Young looked lovingly at Mrs. Young and said, “Sweetheart, what would you think about spending the next ten years or so, building our own Falkenstein Castle, in Texas?” To which Kim Young smiled and replied, “Why not!”
No related posts.
