European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 17, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Live like a Kinin Germany by Mary Neth staff writer if you feel that you. Or someone you know is due some Royal treatment. How about a Castle Europe is dotted with them and Many take guests. In Germany which once boasted 10,000 castles perched on Hills or in forests there s a Type to suit any taste. You can choose Between thick walled Feudal fortresses rambling Many roomed Royal Manors or kingly Prsir Lanros Ith swans Drifting in quiet Moats. Even in the oldest of medieval burgs you won t rough it. In the Days of chivalry Castle life was anything but comfortable or romantic. Rooms lit Only by archers slits and heated by Wood fireplaces were dark and Dank. Furnishings were meager and Baths unknown now. Guest rooms Are equipped with phones and mini bars. There is Central heating furniture is late Renaissance Onward. Gourmet dining rooms Are elaborately set Baths tucked into turrets. An organization called Gas in Schloss has made calling easy. Here is a look at three of the German castles two on the famous fairytale Road North of Kassel. A third in the Industrial Ruhr. Saba Burg Saba Burg it Laid to be the Castle that inspired the sleeping Beauty fairytale. Here according to the Brothers Grimm a Beautiful Princess fell into a 100-year sleep while a huge Briar hedge grew and grew finally hiding the whole Castle up to the Flag on the highest Turret. Appropriately enough for a Castle that imprisoned a Princess. Saba Burg does t dominate a landscape. Photos showing it in full View have been taken from a helicopter. Hidden away in a deep Oak Forest the Forest of Rheinhard it can be difficult to find. Have a Good map. There Are two ways to get there North of Kassel on Highway 80 turning off at Hof Geismar or Highway 83 turning off from Vecke Hagen. According to older travel guides the Highway 83 route goes through the Woods with the turnout at a Forest hut. The travel guides say to close the Gates you would pass through along the Way. Today there a no Forest hut nor Gates to close but there is a Saba Burg tie Park animal Park sign to follow. At the end of the Road you la find a huge parking lot full of cars and tour buses and a sign pointing to a Ceramic shop. It is not until you drive up the Road to the second parking lot reserved Tor hotel guests that you tinally get a Good look at the Castle itself. An archway leads into a courtyard flanked by two magnificent Stone round domed towers. The hotel and restaurant Entrance Are located in a Wing to the right. Gunther Koseck. Of the family who runs the hotel for the state of Hessen said. The old Forest Road used to be the Only Way to reach the Castle  he also notes that from 1589 to 1591 the Castle was surrounded by a thick Rose hedge. The hedge however was not to hide a Princess but to keep prehistoric species of wild horses and cattle plus Bison Reindeer and goats within the grounds of what is now the oldest animal preserve in Europe. The preserve was established in 1571 by count Wilhelm in who tinally replaced the Rose hedge with a Stone Wall. No matter Saba Burg is still the Castle of the sleeping Beauty or Briar Rose. In the dining room roses Are frequently presented to female guests by a the wedding Tower an interesting part of hotel Castle Burg trend Elburg. Young Princess in medieval costume. The restaurant which has a Large Terrace features game and Trout dishes. While dining you can look out Over the preserve and see wild horses and cattle grazing in Distant Green Meadows. Because of its sleeping Beauty Fame. Saba Burg is generally booked during the summer High season. It is popular with  says Koseck. They Fly Over from new York. Los Angeles and  there Are 15 rooms in the Castle plus additional or.2s at the nearby Sab Burger Muhle Mill. The Castle rooms Are furnished in period style and carry individual names such As Das Einhorn the Unicorn. They run from 80 Marks about $29 for a double without Bath to 100 to 160 Marks about $36 to $58 for one with a Bath. A la carte prices in the dining room Range from 16 to 25 Marks about $6 to $9. On summer saturdays a theater group called the Rollwagen gives performances of grimms fairytales. The Kosecky will arrange special fairytale evenings in English on request. There is free entry to the nearby Forest and Hunting museum. Entrance to the tie Park and children s zoo is 3 Marks about $1.10 for adults and 2.50 Marks about 90 cents for children from 6 to 17 years of. Age. Children under five Are admitted free. For More information Contact Burgh Lel Saba Burg d-3520 Hof Geismar Saba Burg. Germany. Tel. 05678 1052 or 1055. Burg trend Elburg continuing North toward Hamelin on Highway 83. You will reach the not too Distant Burg Trende Iburg. This Feudal three towered Castle has been standing Page 14 the stars and stripes guard Over the town of the same name since the 13lh Century. At one Lime there were five Lowers and two draw Badger. Now. Where the main drawbridge once stood is a narrow footbridge. Leave your car outside and Cross the Bridge Over the deep dry Moat. When you reach the entry archway in the Castle s massive 15-loot-thick Wall you la automatically Duck your head. The narrow Arch is just a Little Over five feet tall. It s nol just that people were smaller in the Feudal Days. Baron Hans Ludwig von Stockhausen. The Castle owner says. All entries to the outside were kept Small so they would be easier to protect. Having lugged your suitcase across the Moat you la find a Cobblestone courtyard. To the left is a narrow Entrance to the Tower keep or Donjon. If you climb the Many stairs you will be rewarded with a panoramic View of the Countryside beyond the keep from where stones and hot liquid were once dropped Down onto intruders is the Castle s main building housing the reception room with an impressive staircase leading to bedrooms above. A Large wooden plaque carved by von Stockhausen s father hangs on the staircase. It pictures his father and Mother and their five sons. Von Stockhausen and his twin brother an Art professor who makes Church windows were the youngest. Born in the Castle they spent their childhood in its rooms and von Stockhausen is full of anecdotes about its eccentricities. He says that his family first moved into the Castle in 1462. Then there was the thirty years War and the seven years War. And More than a Lew skirmishes in Between. Trend Elburg at various limes plundered battered and set afire continually changed hands. Finally All was quiet. Fora Bouta 100 years the old fortress was virtually unoccupied and fell into Complete disrepair. Then in 1900 Tho Stockhausen were awarded Preemption rights. A White haired gentleman and charming Host von Stockhausen turned the Castle into a hotel restaurant six Beds in 1949. It was not  to says. It was costly. There were Only two water faucets in the whole place no toilets no  what prompted him to enter the hotel business he explains that he was among the German troops who surrendered at Stalingrad and was marched off to russian prisoner of War Camps. Six years later when he was released he was at a loss As to How to rebuild his life. His father gave him the old Castle Home to direct As a hotel. I quickly saw that As a Novice. I was not going to make a Success of the Enterprise he says. He spent tha next few years learning All aspects of the business. Today the Castle has 20 guest rooms. There also is a live room wedding suite in the top of one of the turrets. All the rooms Are furnished in period style All Are different. Most of the furnishings including armoires chests Armor swords Halberd and other artefacts came from the von Stockhausen family. Of course. A did t have enough Beds we had to 9� elsewhere for  the Baron says. Von Stockhausen has turned the Castle hotel directorship Over to his son and daughter in Law and now devotes All his time to running the Gast in Schloss program. He says tourists from More than 25 countries visit the German castles. Americans take first place with the japanese running a close second. Breakfast in the teutonic dining room definitely can have far East overtones. Don t be surprised to find th8 room full of japanese tourists greeting one another with courteous bows tuesday sepi