Falkenberg Castle was founded probably between 895-898 AD, but not mentioned before 1154. In 1294 Aldsassen monastery bought it. In 1428 the monks successfully defend the castle against the Hussite invasion. During the Thirty Years' War in 1648 Hans Christoff von Königsmarck (Swedish-German soldier) conquered the castle and left it in ruins.
After been decayed for centuries, Friedrich-Werner Graf von der Schulenburg, a German diplomat and ambassador in Moscow, bought the castle as his retirement real estate. Following images from old paintings, he rebuilt the castle from 1936 – 1939. Schulenburg was part of the Operation Valkyrie, the failed assassination of Adolf Hitler. He was executed shortly after in 1944. The Gestapo confiscated the castle in World War II and arrested prisoners from the Flossenbuerg concentration camp. After the war, the Schulenburg family assumed ownership of the property.
Since its grand opening in 2015, visitors are invited to explore the castle’s museum and spend a night in the castle hotel. The castle also features a unique restaurant and a large knight’s hall for events.
The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.