The vampire princess
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The vampire princess |
| Original title | The vampire princess |
| Country of production | Austria |
| original language | German , English |
| Publishing year | 2007 |
| length | Original 55 minutes ZDF 45 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Klaus T. Steindl , Andreas Sulzer |
| script | Klaus T. Steindl , Andreas Sulzer |
| production | Pro Omnia , Klaus T. Steindl |
| music | Peter Wolf |
| camera | Hubert Doppler |
| cut | Michaela Muellner |
Die Vampirprinzessin is an Austrian documentary film from 2007. It was shot as a co-production by ORF , ARTE , ZDF , Smithsonian Network, BMUKK and Pro Omnia and was funded by Cine Styria and the City of Linz. He addresses the belief in vampires in the 18th century and presents a new theory about the inspiration Bram Stoker for his novel Dracula . The film was produced in German for ORF (Universum series), ZDF ( ZDF Expedition ) and ARTE and in English for the US Smithsonian Network.
background
The film presents the theory of the Viennese media scientist Rainer Maria Köppl that Stoker was indirectly inspired for his novel by the figure of Princess Eleonore zu Schwarzenberg (* June 20, 1682; † May 5, 1741), who was known during her lifetime of Suspected vampirism. She could have been the namesake of Gottfried August Bürger's ballad Lenore from 1773, which is related to the vampire theme in the film.
In the first chapter of the novel Dracula , the verse “ The dead ride fast ” from Bürger's ballad is whispered to the protagonist Jonathan Harker by a fellow traveler in the carriage as a quote from “Burger's' Lenore” ” when Count Dracula appears to pick up Harker. In a statement issued after Stoker's death first version of the beginning of Dracula entitled Dracula's Guest ( Dracula's Guest ), which plays around Munich, Jonathan Harker takes the saying " The dead travel almost " as the inscription on the tomb of a Styrian nobles .
The film presents the evidence that Eleonore zu Schwarzenberg was mistaken for a vampire, in the style of a crime film with re-enacted game scenes and CSI- like special effects.
action
The film begins with the discovery of three human skeletons in the Český Krumlov cemetery . The skeletons, which are dated to the first half of the 18th century, show traces of the use of a banishing ritual against vampires: a head was severed and placed between the legs of the dead, another victim was staked through the heart been. This find is cited as evidence that belief in vampires was widespread in this area at the time.
At that time, Prince Adam Franz Karl Eusebius zu Schwarzenberg (1680–1732) and his wife Princess Eleonore zu Schwarzenberg ruled in Krumau . Using records from the archive in Český Krumlov Castle, it is described that she drank wolves' milk in order to finally give birth to a son and heir. At that time, milkweed was considered to promote conception. This resulted in several animals being kept in the castle, which in turn frightened the superstitious population. In fact, when she was 42, she gave birth to a son, Josef Adam von Schwarzenberg . After her husband Prince Adam Franz in a hunting accident of Emperor Charles VI. had been shot, her son came into the care of the emperor in Vienna and she lived alone and withdrawn in the castle until her death.
A painting of the princess in the castle, on which she is depicted as an armed huntress, serves as further clue in the film. The head of the princess was apparently already cut out in the 18th century and later reinserted into the painting. This could have served as some kind of ritual against her as a vampire.
The princess, who showed a penchant for the occult, had an eerie effect on her surroundings. She suffered from insomnia and, as a result, very tired during the day. In the film, these symptoms are associated with a “vampire disease”, which was also discussed in specialist circles at the time. Eleanor ordered tons of medicine, including whale rat , crab eyes, and ground unicorn, believed to have come from the narwhal .
After her death in 1741 the princess was autopsied. In the film, an Austrian forensic scientist suggests that this rather unusual procedure could also have been a kind of vampire execution, since removing the heart is tantamount to impaling. In contrast to the other members of the Schwarzenberg family, who were buried in the Augustinian Church in Vienna at that time , Eleanor was brought to Krumau on the day of her death and buried there in the St. Vitus Church in a specially built, locked grave chamber. without high dignitaries and family members attending the funeral ceremonies. Her grave stone shows neither her family name nor the family coat of arms.
Finally, based on the similarity of names, it is assumed that Eleonore von Schwarzenberg could have been the namesake for Bürger's ballad Lenore , which in turn served as the inspiration for Stoker's novel Dracula .
Awards
Cine Golden Eagle Award
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Die Vampirprinzessin Module for history and media education Possible extension: interdisciplinary history - German lessons ( memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Christoph Schneider: The Pale Princess ( memento from September 23, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) , tagesanzeiger.ch, November 2, 2007, accessed on November 16, 2012
