Am I The Only One That Sees A Mel Brooks Movie Here?
Dracula declares independence from Germany By ERIK KIRSCHBAUMReuters 5/8/02
SCHENKENDORF, Germany, - If an affable antiques dealer who goes by the name of Count Dracula gets his way, Germany may soon have a small kingdom with low taxes and no bureaucracy within its borders.
Fed up with intransigent state officials and high taxation, the curly-haired Berlin native and adopted descendant of the Romanian royal family has declared independence for his 38-acre estate lying in a forest region south of Berlin.
The count, whose full name is Ottomar Rodolphe Vlad Dracula Prince Kretzulesco, is now trying to turn the entire village of Schenkendorf with its 1,200 inhabitants into the "Kingdom of Dracula" -- with important backing from local elected leaders.
"We are going to take our battle for independence as far as we can," said Dracula, who was formally adopted by Dracula descendant Katarina Olympia Princess Kretzulesco Caradja in 1990, four years before she died.
"We're very serious about it," said the heir of the 15th century Transylvanian prince whose rule inspired Irish novelist Bram Stoker's 19th century "Dracula."
"We're tired of the state working against us rather than for us. They have the mentality 'No, it won't work. No we can't do that. No that's not allowed'."
Dracula, who used his famous name to set up a thriving restaurant and beer garden on the estate 40 miles south of Berlin, said there would be no bureaucrats in his kingdom and there would be a maximum tax rate of 20 percent.
"We want to create a place where people can enjoy life, where they can laugh and wander through town with smiles rather than frowns on their faces," he said. "No more hassles, no more bureaucracy, no more frustration."
GARLIC DEFENSE
The state of Brandenburg is still treating the declaration of independence as a humorous matter even though Dracula has put up an official-looking sign reading "Kingdom of Dracula" on the road leading to his castle.
Dracula, 61, has also begun printing maroon passports with the blue, black and yellow Kretzulesco family crest. He is mulling a proposal to offer non-residents the chance to purchase "honorary citizenship."
He also has advanced plans for the kingdom's own stamps, car license plates and even hired a management company to help him market his kingdom (www.prince-dracula.com), although he has so far steered away from any suggestion of creating a currency to rival the euro.
"Legal reasons," he said.
The 46-room "Dracula Castle," a 19th century three-story gray stone mansion that bears little resemblance to the forbidding medieval castle of his dreaded Romanian namesake, would be at the center of the independent state.
Dracula has set up a shadow government cabinet with the Schenkendorf mayor picked to become the first president while he himself would become the "kingdom's representative."
Brandenburg Interior Minister Joerg Schoenbohm sparked the rebellion by issuing an order that would force Schenkendorf to merge with seven other small nearby villages -- an administrative act designed largely to cut state costs.
"Perhaps Count Dracula can be persuaded by the argument that declaring a kingdom is unconstitutional," said Schoenbohm. "And if that doesn't work, we always have garlic."
Dracula said he wasn't amused by the "garlic defense."
"Political leaders shouldn't make dumb comments like that," he retorted.
The order from the state capital in Potsdam to create a single large town with 8,700 residents spread out over a six square mile radius has stirred widespread opposition in the region, especially in Schenkendorf.
Lutz Krause, Schenkendorf's deputy mayor and the Kingdom's designated "interior minister," said Dracula's initiative may have been launched as a gag but it has since taken on a life of its own. He said town leaders fully backed the kingdom plans.
"We want to remain an independent town," Krause said. "We are completely against the state's decision to forcibly incorporate the villages here. We've always been an independent town, for more than 600 years now."
Krause, a part-time politician who owns a local company of electricians, acknowledges the idea to create an independent "Kingdom of Dracula" in the middle of depressed eastern Germany was more of a tourist attraction than a genuine threat to the state.
"Certainly it was at first a gimmick to get some attention for our complaints about the forced incorporation of the villages," Krause said. "But in the meantime it has developed far beyond that. There are indeed legal hurdles, but we are evaluating how far we can go."
FAMOUS NAME
Count Dracula, a philanthropist at heart, has in the past often tried to attract attention to useful causes with his unusual name.
He has, for example, hosted a popular blood-donor festival on his estate for the German Red Cross, rising from a coffin to open parties that have been attended by thousands of donors who have left behind nearly 800 gallons of blood.
He has also raised money for an orphanage in Romania. His estate has also been used for medieval jousting festivals. The menu at the restaurant includes "Dracula sausages" filled with garlic and blood-red schnapps.
A charismatic figure with a full mustache who often glides into his restaurant and its popular beer garden wearing an elegant tail coat, Dracula has an extraordinary aura. Born in west Berlin as Ottomar Berbig and trained as a baker, Dracula delights in telling the story about how he got the famous name.
He had given up baking and was an antiques dealer in West Berlin when an elderly woman entered his store one day in 1978 wanting to sell heirlooms. The dealer and Princess Kretzulesco Caradja became friends and she invited him to go to Paris to meet the rest of her family.
"She said I looked 'Romanian'," Dracula said. She later told him the family had no male heirs to carry the family name so she decided to adopt him. "It's a name you can't forget."
SCHENKENDORF, Germany, - If an affable antiques dealer who goes by the name of Count Dracula gets his way, Germany may soon have a small kingdom with low taxes and no bureaucracy within its borders.
Fed up with intransigent state officials and high taxation, the curly-haired Berlin native and adopted descendant of the Romanian royal family has declared independence for his 38-acre estate lying in a forest region south of Berlin.
The count, whose full name is Ottomar Rodolphe Vlad Dracula Prince Kretzulesco, is now trying to turn the entire village of Schenkendorf with its 1,200 inhabitants into the "Kingdom of Dracula" -- with important backing from local elected leaders.
"We are going to take our battle for independence as far as we can," said Dracula, who was formally adopted by Dracula descendant Katarina Olympia Princess Kretzulesco Caradja in 1990, four years before she died.
"We're very serious about it," said the heir of the 15th century Transylvanian prince whose rule inspired Irish novelist Bram Stoker's 19th century "Dracula."
"We're tired of the state working against us rather than for us. They have the mentality 'No, it won't work. No we can't do that. No that's not allowed'."
Dracula, who used his famous name to set up a thriving restaurant and beer garden on the estate 40 miles south of Berlin, said there would be no bureaucrats in his kingdom and there would be a maximum tax rate of 20 percent.
"We want to create a place where people can enjoy life, where they can laugh and wander through town with smiles rather than frowns on their faces," he said. "No more hassles, no more bureaucracy, no more frustration."
GARLIC DEFENSE
The state of Brandenburg is still treating the declaration of independence as a humorous matter even though Dracula has put up an official-looking sign reading "Kingdom of Dracula" on the road leading to his castle.
Dracula, 61, has also begun printing maroon passports with the blue, black and yellow Kretzulesco family crest. He is mulling a proposal to offer non-residents the chance to purchase "honorary citizenship."
He also has advanced plans for the kingdom's own stamps, car license plates and even hired a management company to help him market his kingdom (www.prince-dracula.com), although he has so far steered away from any suggestion of creating a currency to rival the euro.
"Legal reasons," he said.
The 46-room "Dracula Castle," a 19th century three-story gray stone mansion that bears little resemblance to the forbidding medieval castle of his dreaded Romanian namesake, would be at the center of the independent state.
Dracula has set up a shadow government cabinet with the Schenkendorf mayor picked to become the first president while he himself would become the "kingdom's representative."
Brandenburg Interior Minister Joerg Schoenbohm sparked the rebellion by issuing an order that would force Schenkendorf to merge with seven other small nearby villages -- an administrative act designed largely to cut state costs.
"Perhaps Count Dracula can be persuaded by the argument that declaring a kingdom is unconstitutional," said Schoenbohm. "And if that doesn't work, we always have garlic."
Dracula said he wasn't amused by the "garlic defense."
"Political leaders shouldn't make dumb comments like that," he retorted.
The order from the state capital in Potsdam to create a single large town with 8,700 residents spread out over a six square mile radius has stirred widespread opposition in the region, especially in Schenkendorf.
Lutz Krause, Schenkendorf's deputy mayor and the Kingdom's designated "interior minister," said Dracula's initiative may have been launched as a gag but it has since taken on a life of its own. He said town leaders fully backed the kingdom plans.
"We want to remain an independent town," Krause said. "We are completely against the state's decision to forcibly incorporate the villages here. We've always been an independent town, for more than 600 years now."
Krause, a part-time politician who owns a local company of electricians, acknowledges the idea to create an independent "Kingdom of Dracula" in the middle of depressed eastern Germany was more of a tourist attraction than a genuine threat to the state.
"Certainly it was at first a gimmick to get some attention for our complaints about the forced incorporation of the villages," Krause said. "But in the meantime it has developed far beyond that. There are indeed legal hurdles, but we are evaluating how far we can go."
FAMOUS NAME
Count Dracula, a philanthropist at heart, has in the past often tried to attract attention to useful causes with his unusual name.
He has, for example, hosted a popular blood-donor festival on his estate for the German Red Cross, rising from a coffin to open parties that have been attended by thousands of donors who have left behind nearly 800 gallons of blood.
He has also raised money for an orphanage in Romania. His estate has also been used for medieval jousting festivals. The menu at the restaurant includes "Dracula sausages" filled with garlic and blood-red schnapps.
A charismatic figure with a full mustache who often glides into his restaurant and its popular beer garden wearing an elegant tail coat, Dracula has an extraordinary aura. Born in west Berlin as Ottomar Berbig and trained as a baker, Dracula delights in telling the story about how he got the famous name.
He had given up baking and was an antiques dealer in West Berlin when an elderly woman entered his store one day in 1978 wanting to sell heirlooms. The dealer and Princess Kretzulesco Caradja became friends and she invited him to go to Paris to meet the rest of her family.
"She said I looked 'Romanian'," Dracula said. She later told him the family had no male heirs to carry the family name so she decided to adopt him. "It's a name you can't forget."
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