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/fartingbeagle 20h ago

It's also complicated that in my experience, castles are usually damp, draughty and cold to live in. As soon as the Thirty Years War ended, and there was less need for a fortification and when any family got some money; the first thing they'd do is build a nice new palace with all modern conveniences, usually using the bricks of the old castle.

Since the palace was often literally built of the old castle, it often kept the name.

Just my theory.

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u/Cocosito 5h ago

Why were fortifications no longer needed?