North Tower - Schloss Drachenburg

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Music Room The Music Room is the only social room on the second fl oor of Schloss Drachenburg. It has a neo-Gothic reticulate vault and lavish wall panellings (and designed by Franz Langenberg and made by J. Vershoven, a fi rm based in Bonn). As originally furnished and subsequently augmented, the room has always been in the service of music. Now as then, the Music Room boasts a grand piano made especially for Schloss Drachenburg, thus recalling the era under Stephan von Sarter’s nephew when the castle was fi rst opened for viewing purposes and the rooms were used as social rooms by the summer holiday guests staying in the Nordic Houses and Hotel Burghof. In June 1909, the piano- and organ-making fi rm of Ibach from Schwelm near Wuppertal sold this grand piano – purpose built for the Music Room – to the second owner of the castle, Jakob Hubert Biesenbach. A unique piece, it had a special frame whose grapevine wood carving harmonised with the wall panelling of the room. Biesenbach bought this concert-standard instrument after returning another black lacquered Ibach Glockenfl ügel (Instrument Nr 42223) which he had previously rented. Historical pictures of the time after 1909 show that his unique Glockenfl ügel grand piano made of walnut wood remained in the Music Room from the early 20th century well into the 1930s and continued to be played. When the St Michael’s Catholic Boys’ Boarding School was closed in 1938, the instrument was auctioned off. However, thanks to a set of fortunate circumstances, it was found possible to re-acquire the grand piano for the castle in 2001. The Glockenfl ügel grand piano is an extravagant and seldom-built “concert instrument with charm” (Ibach), a true historical rarity. In fact, Ibach only made six examples of this special model. It was called a Glockenfl ügel or “bell grand” due to the contours: seen from above, the shape of the instrument resembles that of a bell. It is also virtually “axisymmetrical” meaning that it can be designated a “symmetrical grand piano”. Its lid can be opened from the back while inside the long strings for the lower notes can be diagonally stretched across the shorter strings. The Music Room also contains a neo-Gothic organ placed on the neo-baroque balustrade along the east wall. Again, this is reminiscent of the last owner of the castle: the quirky Paul Spinat, the proprietor from 1971 to 1989. It is reported that Mr Spinat would organise organ concerts for his guests – with the music, however, coming from a tape record. The organ itself is a dummy. The stencil paintings of the 19th century along the walls of the Music Room have been uncovered and/or reconstructed. As in almost all other parts of the castle, the room’s original stained glass windows have disappeared. A central feature was the folkloric “Birds’ Wedding”. The large window rosette once showed the Sarter coat-of-arms, encircled by the coats-of-arms of the eight cities which were home to the most important fi rms to have participated in the overall building and furnishing of Schloss Drachenburg – Bonn, Munich, Cologne, Stuttgart, Paris, Dresden, Düsseldorf and Berlin.
Music Room, postcard 1905 – showing the fi rst, rented, grand piano (Ibach Nr 42223), a cousin of the grand piano which now stands in the Art Gallery. In the background, the stained-glass window depicting the “Birds’ Wedding” (Archiv Schloss Drachenburg gGmbH) Looking into the Music Room with the walnut Glockenfl ügel made by Ibach, after 1909 (Archiv Schloss Drachenburg gGmbH) High-angle view of a bell grand piano (Ibach-Firmenarchiv) A view of the organ loft – installed during the Paul Spinat era, postcard 1980s (Archiv Schloss Drachenburg gGmbH) 32
Page 1 and 2: Schloss Drachenburg Visitors’ Gui
Page 3 and 4: Intro Dear Visitor, It is a great p
Page 5 and 6: Architectural Decoration The design
Page 7 and 8: Venus Terrace The Venus Terrace pla
Page 9 and 10: „Save the Petersberg!“ The Pete
Page 11 and 12: The Icon of Rhine Romanticism: the
Page 13 and 14: Nordic Summer Houses The second own
Page 15 and 16: Wotan Summer House After Jacob Hube
Page 17 and 18: Sea of Rocks Geologically speaking,
Page 19 and 20: Roland‘s Arch, Rhine Romanticism
Page 21 and 22: Nature Conversationists and the Dra
Page 23 and 24: A view from the east into the Main
Page 25 and 26: Joseph Flüggen: Sleeping Beauty Po
Page 27 and 28: Looking into the Hunting Trophy and
Page 29 and 30: Lacunae in the Main Staircase paint
Page 31 and 32: Reception Room, postcard 1905 (Arch
Page 33 and 34: For further information about the C
Page 35 and 36: Dining Room, postcard 1905 (Archiv
Page 37 and 38: Nibelung Room with a view through t
Page 39 and 40: West side of the Art Gallery with b
Page 41 and 42: Uhland window with lacunae Found 20
Page 43 and 44: Looking into the Tavern Room with t
Page 45 and 46: Hunt & Billiard Room, postcard 1905
Page 47: Library and Study Postcard 1903 (Ar
Page 51 and 52: Layout of the Private Floor Porcela
Page 53 and 54: Preserved glass painting entitled Y
Page 55 and 56: Guest Bedroom, postcard 1905 (Archi
Page 57: Reconstructed stencils in the south

North Tower - Schloss Drachenburg

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