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/RedWeddingPlanner303 21h ago

A Schloss is a more fancy castle, like Neuschwanstein or Sanssouci. They probably included everything that is more rustic, which is called a Burg, and fortresses, which are Festungen. And if ruins are included then the number is probably in the tens of thousands.

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u/DisorderedArray 21h ago

Neuschwanstein is technically a folly. But what about Herrenchiemsee, or the Nymphenburg, which even has burg in the name? They're both schloss in German, and are translated to castle, but they are not castles, they're palaces.

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u/RedWeddingPlanner303 20h ago

Growing up around Burgen und Schlösser und Festungen we just accepted the colloquial definition of what it was. Of course that doesn't translate 1:1 into English, especially since some word nuances don't have a corresponding word in another language. Growing up near Schloss Wilhelmsburg, I know very well that it doesn't look like a Schloss or a Burg, but has both in its name. And part of the Wartburg is a palace. Sometimes it needs a lot of words to convey the meaning in another language and even then it sometimes misses the point.