Cape Town's own castle in Hout Bay
Stan
----------------------------------------------------------
If one travels to Hout Bay and looks up at the mountainside you will
see a real castle. This building is called the Lichtenstein Castle and
operates as a guesthouse. It has an interesting history which is well
worth reading.
The castle was the dream of Robert Fritz, the director of cigarette
ads at Rupert International. He travelled extensively in Europe and
fell in love with the Lichtenstein Castle near Stuttgart. This German
castle still belongs to the Lichtenstein family.
Fritz started building his own Lichtenstein Castle in Hout Bay. Each
brick was made by hand to match the originals. Windows were also made
by hand to authentic specifications. It has twelve bedrooms and an
olde worlde ballroom. An interior designer was commissioned to find
old things, frayed at the edges so as to decorate the castle. It
housed authentic Middle Ages armour breast plates as well as a copy of
The Laughing Cavalier from the Rijks Museum, Amsterdam. This painting
appeared in an advert of one of the cigarette brands that Fritz worked
with. It took eleven years to complete but remained unhabitated for
the following three years. Fourteen years after building operations
had started the fireplace was tried out and the castle was inaugurated
with Fritz proclaiming "Now my castle is compete". A few days later
he died.
If you ever are in need of the services of a top class Cape Town
tourguide then please visit my website at:
From Selwyn Davidowitz
ALL THE WAY FROM TABLE MOUNTAIN CITY
IN THE BEAUTIFUL NEW RSA.
______________:~:_
.^. / \ _
/ \ / CAPE TOWN \ [ \___
/ \/
dcowie N O S P A
build there.