The Bonn innkeeper's son Stephan Sarter had it built after he was ennobled to baron and became wealthy as a stock speculator in 1882. While he lived in an apartment in Paris, the numerous towers were growing up halfway to the summit of the Dragon Rock. The house, later often referred to as the "Neuschwanstein" of the Rhineland, was built so generously and richly equipped that from the stone remnants nearby, another villa could be created. Where exactly the baron's money came from is still not entirely clear to this day. Baron von Sarter never moved in; he died unmarried in 1902 in Paris.
The magnificent building then had a tumultuous history. It was remodeled as a hotel, used as a convalescent home, boys' boarding school, and elite school of the Nazis. The fact that one of its owners once planned a landing site for airships shows how the castle ignites the imagination. Intruders in the vacant castle left deep marks, just like World War II. Carvings were burned, wall paintings stolen, and stained glass windows with motifs shattered in the hail of bombs.
And yet a kind of fairy tale king followed. After partial reconstruction by the Reichsbahn and a long vacancy, it was purchased in 1971 by a certain Paul Spinat - according to legend, with a building savings contract. The textile entrepreneur enjoyed being driven through the city in a golden Rolls Royce, painted decorative details in gold color, and brought in kitsch and junk. As a flamboyant host - even Andy Warhol visited - he invited to the organ concert in the music hall. While he pretended to play on the organ in the gallery with his back to the audience, the music was only coming from a tape. The organ was a fake.
Renovation and Restoration
After Spinat's death, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia exercised a right of first refusal and transferred it to the North Rhine-Westphalia Foundation for Nature Conservation, Homeland and Cultural Preservation. Unlike the original construction period of only three years, the restoration took significantly longer: almost 17 years in total. Today, the castle has been restored in the style of Historicism. The glass windows have been partially reworked, woodwork created based on photos, and wall stenciling restored. Some inventory pieces have been rediscovered in the area and on the internet; others were purchased from the art market based on historical images of the rooms. Today, the long corridors, the richly dark wood paneling, the bourgeois room height, and especially the magnificent view down onto Bonn and Königswinter give little hint of the tumultuous history. The surrounding landscape park of the ensemble was fully completed in 2011.
Regular exhibitions invite visitors, local Dax companies to bring their executives, and concerts their audiences into the halls - long without a tape. The program includes the "Ghost Hour" at Drachenburg Castle as well as various public tours.
