Castle Frankenstein is a medieval hilltop castle in the Odenwald overlooking the city of Darmstadt in Germany. “The castle was built before 1250 by Lord Conrad II Reiz of Breuberg” (Castle Frankenstein). He later called himself Frankenstein. His family lived in the castle for 400 years until the seventeenth century when the castle acted as barracks for retired soldiers. The castle then served as a US army base post World War 2. While this castle is not directly mentioned in the novel, the castle was used in the 1931 film adaptation. This is where the doctor had supposedly made his creature instead of the apartment the text mentions. From this point on, the Castle Frankenstein became a must have in all film adaptations of Frankenstein. Not only film, but also in children’s books and other parodies of the novel, the castle is included. While Mary Shelley likely never visited the castle, it was recorded that she took a boat ride down the Rhine River, which runs right by the Castle Frankenstein, in 1814. As a romantic, gothic author, she could easily have used this as her inspiration for the setting of this novel. Another event that took place that could have led Shelley to her fiction ideas was the mad scientist Johann Conrad Dippell. Dippell was born in the Frankenstein Castle in 1673. “Later in life, he returned to the castle and worked as an alchemist” (Castle Frankenstein). He created an animal oil and called it his version of the ‘elixir of life’. “Dippell was obsessed with the human soul and preformed experiments attempting to transfer the soul of a dead animal into a living one. It is rumored that after his experiments with animals, he turned to human corpses” (Castle Frankenstein). This account or myth is extemely similar to the 1818 Victor Frankenstein. The Castle Frankenstein and the events that took place at the castle help the reader to understand Mary Shelley’s experiences and how they shaped the novel that is Frankenstein.

“Castle Frankenstein.” Mary Shelley Wiki, https://mary-shelley.fandom.com/wiki/Castle_ Frankenstein#:~:text=The%20castle%20was%20built%20before,as%20barracks%20for%20retired%20soldiers