Overview

Schloss is the German word for castle or palace. This book by Susan Symons visits 25 beautiful schlosser (the plural of schloss) in Germany and tells the compelling personal stories of the colourful royalty that lived in them. It is recommended to anyone who likes history or travelogues or who is interested in people's personal stories. Germany has a rich royal history. The country was not unified until 1870, and before that there were hundreds of different kingdoms, duchies and principalities, each with their own reigning family. These have left their mark, not least in the numerous castles and palaces that dot the German countryside. This book is about visits to 25 of these German schlosser. It tells the colourful stories of some historical royal characters connected with them; characters such as the mistress of the king who tried to blackmail him and was imprisoned for 49 years; the crown princess who ran away from her husband and six children with their tutor; and the insignificant princess who was passed on by her fiance to his brother but who ended up heiress to the throne of England. The book brings these and other stories vividly to life. With so many eligible princesses to choose from, Germany was the royal marriage market for Europe, and German princesses married into all of Europe's royal families. The book looks at how the British royal family is descended from the rulers of these German kingdoms and duchies. It also brings out two themes; the lottery of arranged dynastic marriages for royal princesses, and the equally sad fate of their landless younger brothers. The German royal princes abdicated in 1918 at the end of World War I. As they lost their royal families, many of the schlosser went into decline and became prisons, workhouses and other institutions. Some were behind the iron curtain for 50 years. The book charts these difficult years and their resurgence and use today as museums, hotels and public buildings. The book is intended to be easy to read, light-hearted and entertaining. It has more than 50 illustrations and 9 family trees. The schlosser included range from fortified castles of the middle ages, to grand palaces built in the 18th century in imitation of Louis XIV's Versailles, to stately homes from the turn of the 20th century. Many of them are not well known outside Germany and visiting these wonderful buildings is a real treat. 'This book can be seen as an inspiration ... to get out there and find the lesser known palaces and learn more about their history.' Review of Schloss in Royalty Digest Quarterly Journal

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The accidental discovery by Susan Symons of a portrait of Queen Victoria in her attic triggered her fascination with European Royal History. By reading about the Queen's colourful life story she realised that history need not be the boring subject she learnt at school and that royal history can be both fascinating and fun. She says it is like a historical version of Hello magazine. This is Susan's first book on her lifelong interest in royal history. It was written after she and her husband went on holiday to Germany and visited 25 different historic castles and palaces (called 'schloss' in German). With dozens of royal families in Germany until the country was fully unified, there are many more castles to go. So watch out for the next instalment in book 2 of Schloss. Susan has an MA in Victorian Studies from London University. She lives with her family in Cornwall, in the far south west of the UK, which for her is the most beautiful part of the whole country.

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