Past Perfect Participles, part 3

Let’s talk about Frankenstein.

No, not this guy…      

…this guy.                   

This is Johann Conrad Dippel. He was born in Castle Frankenstein. Yes, for all of you who thought it

19th Century Romantic Tower tacked onto
13th Century Frankenstein Castle

was all made up, it really does exist. I know. I’ve been there. It’s not far from Darmstadt, Germany, and as a kid we went there several times. But back to Herr Dippel. Seems he was a bit of an eccentric. A loner with an enquiring mind. Studied philosophy and theology. Also studied chemistry, anatomy and alchemy. That last one used to be a favorite back in the day. What we would call a pseudo-science now. Folks thought that you could change common metals into gold, create the elixir of eternal life, that sort of thing. All pretty much hogwash, but folks back then believed. Dippel believed. Used to boil down animals into a goo that he said would reanimate dead animals when introduced to them. Thought you could transfer the soul of one creature into another one using a funnel. Pretty far out there.

Ludwigsturm Watchtower on the hill behind
our apartment at Cambrai-Fritsche Kasserne

Of course, anatomy wasn’t so straight forward back then either. Doctors weren’t allowed to cut up bodies to study muscles and organs at the time. At least not legally…in the daylight. Desecrating corpses. An offense to God and man. That sort of thing. If they wanted a corpse to study, they had to acquire one surreptitiously (read “illegally”).  Dippel wasn’t one to let the law stand in his way. Nor was he afraid to get a little dirty in the name of science. Apparently, he dug up his own. Experimented on them. Did things to them! Or not. All of that could just be slanderous tales told by rival mad scientists who were jealous over the fact that Dippel made a small fortune from his invention of a certain blue dye that became all the rage with clothing manufacturers. Everyone loves to hate the guy who succeeds.

My castle was like this, only bigger
and better.

And the family castle is still there. Up on that wooded hill overlooking the Rhine River, not far from Darmstadt, where my world view was being formed from 1962 until 1966. And we went there. Went to a lot of other castles too. Germany is just littered with castles. They were simply everywhere. I mentioned in an earlier post about Ludwigsturm, the old watchtower on the hill behind our apartment. That was a castle within walking distance. And we went to Castle Neuschwanstein. And Castle Lichtenstein (a personal favorite). And Castle Heidelberg. And Pfalzgrafenstein, which served as a toll gate on the Rhine. I even had a toy castle, complete with a drawbridge and a mountain and knights. There were even castles on the kasserne. The symbol of the Army Corps or Engineers is a castle. And the gate house looked like a castle too. And, of course, Castle Frankenstein. Not much of that one left now. At least, not much of the original castle. There was an unsympathetic restoration done in the 19th century by some Romantic types who thought that Castle Frankenstein didn’t look castle-y enough, so they added what they felt were some appropriate castle-like elements. Then there’s the modern restaurant that’s a real eyesore. And American troops were billeted there after WWII, which didn’t do much for the place, either. Still, it IS Frankenstein Castle, and Johann Dippel did do…things…there, maybe. And to a five-year-old kid, that’s just fantastic. That’s enough to keep you going for years and years.

Castle-like Gatehouse at Cambrai-Fritsche Kasserne

According to Wikipedia (and they’re never wrong, right?), starting in 1978, “American airmen from the 435th Transportation Squadron stationed at Rhine-Main Air Base started an annual Halloween festival at the castle, which became one of the biggest Halloween festivals in Europe.” Well, I’ve got news for Wikipedia. In October of 1965, American airmen from the 6910th Security Wing of the USAF Security Service held a whopper of a Halloween party there. And I got to help decorate. Well, okay, I was five, and I got to stick things on the walls and drink soda pop and play while the grownups decorated. Yeah, you read that right. I got to play in Frankenstein Castle. Roll it around in your heads for a while. A 5-year-old boy playing in a  real, genuine mad scientists castle. I'm telling ya, it just doesn't get any better than that, people. Of course, when it was time for the party, I had to stay home. But I heard the tales, and I have the pictures to prove it. My mom and dad dressed up like hillbillies. Chuck and Joan Killian dressed like convicts. Bob and Pat Finch as a Frankenstein’s monster and a witch, respectively. Music played and beer flowed and laughter ensued and a good
time was had by one and all.

Halloween party at Frankenstein Castle, October 1965

And now, 50 years later I can look back and say fondly that I was at Frankenstein Castle, a place that launched a hundred horror movies, a place that still sparks the imagination in people everywhere, a place that is part of the fabric of my life. And when I think on this, I think, "Wow! I really had an amazing childhood!" And I kind of feel sorry for all of the kids today who don't get to grow up in the shadow of Frankenstein Castle. Sure, they have smart phones and X-Boxes and I-thingies and the internet and streaming videos and all of that. I had Frankenstein Castle. Game. Set. Match.

Joan and Chuck Killian, Halloween Party at Frankenstein Castle, October 1965