The castle Frankenstein is situated about 5 km south of Darmstadt (Hesse) and was built in the year 1250. From the year 1363, the castle was splitted into two parts and owned by two different families of the Lords and knights of Frankenstein. During the 15th century the castle was „modernized“ and expanded. In the 18th century the castle was falling into ruins and the two remaining towers are the historically inaccurate restorations from the 19th century.
The influence of the castle on the work of Mary Shelley (Gothic novel „Frankenstein“) aren’t grounded in facts, because she never visited the castle during her journey on the river Rhine.
Nowadays, American soldiers stationed in Darmstadt founded an annual Halloween festival at the castle. This event became one of the biggest Halloween festivals in Europe.
