r/interestingasfuck • u/The_Love-Tap • 22h ago

Germany has more castles than the United States has McDonald’s. This is the Eltz castle, located in Wiershem. It has been owned and occupied by the same family for 33 generations over 800 years

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u/The_Love-Tap 22h ago

Germany has an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 castles, palaces, and fortresses (Burg and Schloss). This includes everything from grand medieval hilltop ruins to famous fairy-tale landmarks like Neuschwanstein Castle

The castle was founded around 1157. Amazingly, it has remained under the unbroken ownership and care of the House of Eltz for over 800 years, spanning 34 generations. Today, the family preserves it and keeps parts of it open to the public.

In 1268, three brothers of the Eltz family had a dispute and decided to split the estate. Instead of building three separate castles across the region, they shared the fortress.

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u/TA_Lax8 21h ago

"This includes everything from grand medieval hilltop ruins to famous fairy-tale landmarks like Neuschwanstein Castle"

You just named two things at the same end of the spectrum. It also includes barely discernable rock piles and countryside homes that happened to have a fence.

Yes, there are many many amazing castles and forts in Germany, more than most would think, but you imply they are all majestic while many were simply a small keep at a crossroads garrisoned by like 4 people

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u/Azulapis 21h ago

I don't know where you live in Germany. But in my area, every city has at least 2–3 castles, and there are many more in the surrounding towns. Yes, they aren't as majestic as Neuschwanstein. But they are essentially what a castle truly was in medieval times, like this one.

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u/Shar4f 20h ago

If you look at the list https://www.alleburgen.de/burgen-deutschland.php

Most of them are ruins or just places that were formerly places of castles. It also includes churches and manors.

The number of intact ones is not anywhere close to 25k

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u/Scribblehamzter 19h ago

Yes, adding to that: https://www.dw.com/en/does-germany-really-have-25000-castles/a-42350502

"In fact, only perhaps 20 percent of the castles in Germany still have a roof on them, according to the EBI director. Another 40 percent are in a state of ruin, while the remaining ones often exist only as "ground-level monuments" in which only the foundations — if even those — are still evident."

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u/TA_Lax8 21h ago

Oh there are definitely thousands of proper castles in Germany, I make that point in my comment. But in OPs count of 20k-25k, for every proper castle, there are 5 that were a four man keep at a crossroads or a wooden palisade near a manor.

I think the count of true castles/forts is closer to 8k, which is still unreal. But to get the figure above the "McDonalds" in USA number OP had to loosen the definition and I'm just making that point

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u/cyberdork 16h ago

I don't know where you live in Germany. But in my area, every city has at least 2–3 castles,

This is absolutely not the case in all of Northern Germany.

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u/MarcioMakaveli 21h ago

Ich komme aus dem Schwarzwald und sehe während dem pinkeln schon 3 Burgen wenn ich aus dem Fenster schaue.

P.s. : Und Richtung Flachland nur 1 megges 😅

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u/mikiex 15h ago

Which is also your house.

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u/Impressive-Turnip-38 14h ago

Man it’d be so cool to live there

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u/psychic_gibbon 13h ago

I imagine they would do well on airbnb!
Is there a specific tourism site specialising in German castle bookings??

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u/EvilAnno 21h ago

I see your point, but i am sure you can also find a small mc Donald's at a crossroads staffed by like four people and the comparison is kinda hilarious to me.

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u/TA_Lax8 21h ago

yeah, but your not gonna find a McHohenzollern one anywhere

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u/Wiesel1234 21h ago

Theres a burgerking quite close to that castle.

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u/TA_Lax8 21h ago

I was not aware lol. Was this Wilhelms seat after WW1?

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u/MarcioMakaveli 21h ago

Ländliche Häuser mit Zaun sind mit Sicherheit keine Burg, du willst nur gerne alles schlecht reden.

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u/TA_Lax8 21h ago

Medieval manors that had a simple waist high stone wall (whether still standing or merely in ruins) are part of this count.

I simplified it by saying "fence" rather than wall. But the count includes thousands of "castles/forts" that had 4-8 person garrisons. A small keep at a crossroads, a motte and bailey wooden palisade, etc. I was calling out OP for only naming the high end structures/manors. Not because I'm putting down history, but OP is being very misleading

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u/MarcioMakaveli 21h ago

Herrenhäuser hast du vorher nicht gesagt 🤔

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u/TA_Lax8 21h ago

The Garten? What does that have to do with anything

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u/MarcioMakaveli 21h ago

Du redest einfach Unsinn.

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u/TA_Lax8 21h ago

what does herrenhäuser Garten have to do with this conversation. Are you just naming another grand estate? That doesn't mean anything in of itself

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u/The_Villager 20h ago

Your translating tool is leading you astray there. They said "Herrenhäuser", the plural form of "Herrenhaus", which translates to "manor house".

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u/TA_Lax8 20h ago

Appreciate it

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u/CheapSound1 21h ago

No, Neuschwanstein is neither medieval nor a ruin.

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u/Bob_Bradshaw 21h ago

I think their scale isnt good to bad condition, but from unremarkable to famous.

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u/TA_Lax8 21h ago

As in grand vs plain

My point was, of those 20k-25k, the vast majority were simple keeps at a crossroads or a wooden palisade.

The way OP worded it, which is what I quoted, was wrongfully implying Germany had 20k massive and grand castles/forts.

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u/armoured_bobandi 17h ago

It's so misleading, but at the same time is so easy to just use your critical thinking.

Like, it's literally not possible for there to be more castles like the one pictured in the article than McDonalds in the USA

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u/among_apes 21h ago

True but many of our McDonald’s are in a Walmart garrisoned by 3 people.

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u/calijnaar 21h ago

I mean,if they have a motte and bailey they could probably pass as a castle even with a garrison of three...

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u/among_apes 21h ago

Molten hot apple pies are their defense of choice

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u/calijnaar 21h ago

Guys, get out the apple pies, we're under siege by those pizza delivery bastards again.

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u/quietandcalculated 21h ago

Americans trying to lecture germans about germany... why am i not surprised.

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u/roarti 20h ago

They are right though. At best it's misleading to write about Eltz and Neuschwanstein and then state that they are "25,000 castles" in Germany. Only a small share of those will be recognisable as a castle to most people, and an even smaller share as majestic as Eltz.

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u/TA_Lax8 20h ago

Ich bin ein Berliner!

Strawberry jelly doughnut to be precise

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u/fuckyeahdopamine 21h ago

do you have details on how they shared it ? Like, was it a timeshare or did every brother get a wing or sthg ?

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u/minnick27 21h ago

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u/Ae3qe27u 21h ago

Thank you!! Really cool to see that

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u/fuckyeahdopamine 21h ago

Thank you very much for the explanation !

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u/kingtuolumne 20h ago

Wow I can’t believe there was such a specific answer! Cool

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u/QfromMars2 21h ago

It was different „wings“.
My Brother worked there as a Guide.

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u/Canadian-Man-infj 11h ago edited 10h ago

That's awesome! I looked it up on YouTube and found a cool "travel and tourism" type of video with the Count of Eltz giving a guided tour (of the publicly-accessible parts of the castle, not the current living quarters).

He seems like a really cool and down-to-earth guy, for being a count. He apparently has another residence where he lives full-time, but frequents the castle. Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ezoCvDZDkU (14:41)

There's a TIL in there about the origins of the phrase "climb into bed," which is interesting (beds were built/set in an elevated position in rooms because of heat rising).

Other interesting facts:

  • There are about 80 rooms, 40 fireplaces, 3 kitchens
  • "The walls are up to 1.5 metres thick" (quote from the Count).
  • There are wall tapestries from the 13th century that were created by artists and feature a lot of different animals based on travellers accounts, not the artists' sight; so, many of the animals are just depictions from descriptions, making them somewhat fantastical, to varying degrees... paging filmmaker, Guillermo del Toro!
  • There's a "chopping block" in a kitchen that couldn't have fit through a door or window on the first floor, proving it to be as old as the castle.

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u/kummer5peck 21h ago

I don’t know the answer, but I have been there. I believe there are 3 separate residences within the castle. They probably divvied those up somehow.

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u/Krilox 21h ago

rofl that is a timeshare i could've joined

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u/Schootingstarr 20h ago

as someone mentioned, they split the castle into separate wings that were connected in certain parts. there is a meeting room at the top of the keep that connects to multiple wings for example

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u/roarti 21h ago

That number of 20,000 to 25,000 will include a lot of places that will not pass the eye check of most people to recognize whether it’s a castle. A lot of these will be some weathered ruin of a single wall or a slightly fancy but still quiet normal house, certainly very far from a place like Eltz.

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u/calijnaar 21h ago

Apparently about 40% of them are ruins and another 40% are essentially just traces in the ground. But even if you only count the intact ones and the ruins and ignore the ones that are just lumps and bumps in the ground, we're still very slightly ahead of the US's number of McDonald's...

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u/TyleKurris 21h ago

The math ain't mathing

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u/calijnaar 20h ago

25.000 castles (well, at least by that articles definition of a castle). 20% of which are still intact. That's 5.000. Another 40% are ruins,but still visible overground, That's 10.000. So 15.000 that are still somewhat recognisable as castles, which is more than the 13.000 and something McDonald's in the US.

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u/GamingNeos 15h ago

Why include ruins but still visible overground? I think a more accurate count would be your 5,000, if you want to could rubble, then shouldn’t you count anything that once used to be a McDonald’s or closed McDonald’s?

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u/calijnaar 15h ago

I don't know, I think the whole premise is nonsense anyway. German 'Burg' doesn't map exactly onto English 'castle' and the definition used in the linked article is far from what you'd call a 'Burg' in everyday speech. They basically included anything that had any kind of fortification, plus palaces and things that probably wouldn't quite qualify as palaces in English. So you end up with things counted as castles that are essentially manor houses or glorified hunting lodges. And I'd say you definitely shouldn't include things that are just lumps and bumps in the ground. We can argue about whether ruined castles should be included, I'd personally go for if most of the structure is still standing and you're just missing the roof or something, it might be okay to include it, if there's only half a wall remaining, not so much. If you use a halfway plausible definition of castle, you'll definitely end up with less castles than McDonald's in the US. I'm not even sure you wouldn't end up with more McDonald's in Germany than castles, although that would be a closer call. But then, how would you get a good click-baitey title?

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u/nick2473got 20h ago

It's mathing. They took the 25k number and excluded the 40% that are just traces in the ground, thereby including the intact ones and the ruins.

60% of 25k = 15k.

15k > 14k (number of McDonald's in the US).

The math has mathed.

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u/Substantial_Meal_530 21h ago

Heinrich ist ein dumm Kopft, so I drew a weiß line he's not allowed to cross. Otherwise I'm telling mutter.

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u/BlaznTheChron 21h ago

Verdammt!

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u/Manaboss1 21h ago

Hope Heinrich is not from Berlin, Kreuzberg, or otherwise that white line will be snorted up like its a monday morning.

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u/_Anthropoid 21h ago

I would assume that the House of Eltz remains fairly wealthy? Or is it more a situation where the value of this amazing property just accrues so much over time that their ownership in and of itself is tremendous wealth?

I recall that it's not uncommon for noble families in other countries to basically become incapable of affording the castles they've inherited over time because no money is coming in.

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u/LazyAltruist 20h ago

I assume the cost of living is relatively low for vampires assuming they get the blood for free.

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u/_Anthropoid 20h ago

Strong argument. Seems like a pretty sweet career if you can get it.

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u/Worldly-Hotel-7921 21h ago

Why is it so hard to narrow down exactly how many castles, palaces, and fortresses there are in Germany?

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u/Xrdhz 21h ago

Because sometimes a "large house" is called a castle and sometimes not.

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u/Crucial_Contributor 21h ago

Presumably because it's hard to perfectly define castles, palaces, and fortresses

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u/merlesstorys 21h ago

Because everyone has different opinions on what classified as a "castle"

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u/calijnaar 21h ago

Because the Liberal between castle and somewhat fortified manor house is somewhat fluid, and a lot of these castles are just archaeological remains in the ground, so there may well be some minor ones that haven't been found yet.

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u/nick2473got 20h ago

Because the Liberal between castle and somewhat fortified manor house is somewhat fluid

Damn, first the liberals taught us about gender fluidity, now we've got fortification fluidity as well!

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u/calijnaar 19h ago

Lol, I hate when my keyboard switches languages and then autocorrect butchers everything. On the other hand, I don't see any issues with identifying as a fortified manor...

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u/NarwhalesAwesome 21h ago

There came a new generation in the time between title and comment? This family fucks

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u/CoffeeBox 21h ago

By tradition, the head of the family is named Coach Feratu and only makes public appearances at night.

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u/Weird-Pattern9192 21h ago

They must be quite wealthy to keep this up

What is the family doing to not run out of funds?

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u/apezdal 21h ago

They sell tickets like you do in museum. That funds keep the castle maintained

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u/exploringyogurt 21h ago

Germans seem really good at solving their disputes with words

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u/Perelly 21h ago

It also was on the back side of the 500DM bill from  1961–1995.

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u/Kooasler 21h ago

And we have almost twice this number of castles in France.

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u/calijnaar 21h ago

You're in the lead both with castles and with McDonald's

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u/WalkAffectionate2683 21h ago

France on the same kind of estimation have around 45-50 000 lmao

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u/Robinsonirish 21h ago

It's just annoying when you bring the Yanks into it. We can talk about Europe without them, but you turn it into brainrot, clickbait.

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u/Alfimaster 21h ago

AI told you wrong - It is like saying USA has 100 000 McDonalds and this includes Burger Kings, Wendy’s and anything in between.

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u/greihund 21h ago

Do they hold other land or business interests that sustain the upkeep? The costs of maintenance and cleaning alone must cost a small fortune. What I'm really asking is: did this family 'set themselves up' a thousand years ago in a way that let them subsist on intergenerational wealth the whole time?

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u/FitButterscotch4062 21h ago

So what you’re saying is, the US needs to up its McDonald’s game

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u/PaleAffect7614 20h ago

4000 of those castles are functional to barely functional with intact roofs compared to 13500 McDonald's.

So your interesting fact isn't correct. If you counting all 25 000 castles. Then would poont out those castles were built over a few thousand years, usa has had like 50 years, let them catch up. Lol

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u/Schootingstarr 20h ago

I've been there last year, it's a lovely place

no wonder the castle was never taken, though. it's in a fairly remote position, nestled in an undeveloped valley several kilometers away from anything else. it's probably a case of nobody even wanting to take the castle in the first place, because aside from being defendable, it doesn't offer any advantages at all

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u/mr_christer 20h ago

They had a dispute and decided to live together?

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u/nodnodwinkwink 20h ago

I was surprised that there isn't a proper list of all the castles in Ireland but the figure of 30000 has been shared online before. In reality that figure must include sites which are complete ruins. There are definitely thousands of still standing castles though. Everything from large well maintained medieval castles (probably only a few dozen of those) to towerhouse castles in various states of condition. (a few thousand of those)

We also have tens of thousands of ringforts dotted around the country, 40 to 50k of those.

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u/titsmuhgeee 19h ago

Germany is interesting, in that it was highly fractured until very recently. That meant that there was a huge aristocracy. When you have dozens of small areas, each with it's own government, you also have an entire nobility specifically for that area. Each member of the noble family wants their own castle.

It'd be like in American if each governor, congressperson, and president had their own castle over an 800 year period. That's a lot of castles.

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u/RoloBoat 18h ago

Any info on the Eltz family now? Are they just old money that subsists of the fortunes of their ancestors, heavily involved in German politics and business, etc etc

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u/anonuemus 18h ago

Very interesting, did a tour there during school.

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u/Numerous_Release9273 17h ago

I have visited Burg Eltz twice. The first time, in the 1980s, the tour consisted of the entrance, the courtyard, a good fraction of the interior rooms etc.

The second time, about 15 years ago, they took our admission fee, let us into the courtyard to look around and then said "That's it. End of tour". Felt quite ripped off.

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u/tiasaiwr 14h ago

I love Neuschwanstein when I can build it. Happiness culture and gold from every castle? Sign me up!

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u/AvidCyclist250 12h ago

most importantly, it includes castles. not mansions or manors like most other contries include

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u/katietheplantlady 8h ago

Been there....really nice to hike up the mountain and visit, though I'll say it's more impressive from the outside than the inside (unless it's your first castle)