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Name of establishment or place: Schloss Albstein and the Alberici Clinic
Run by: Gregorio D'Ambrosio
Open to the public: The castle is open only to guests of Gregorio. The Alberici Clinic is a working research facility and also hosts a museum dedicated to historical medical and tuberculosis care and is open to the public.
Picture: Album is here
Description: Located in the Black Forest, near the town of Nordrach, in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg in southwest Germany, the ruins of Schloss Albstein have almost been completely reclaimed by the forest. The castle was rumored during the late Middle Ages to be the home of an elf lord, though owing to the reticence of its inhabitants and the rugged landscape of the Black Forest in that area, very few locals knew the actual location of Albstein.
Though the upper part of the castle is in ruins, the dungeon and cellar areas are still very much intact and structurally sound.
The dungeon is the first thing one comes to when descending from the castle above. It has a tall, vaulted ceiling, with a back “entrance” that is actually a cave on the side of the mountain that backs Schloss Albstein. From the ground, the cave is not visible, and from the mouth of the cave, the cliff face is sheer and not easy to climb without equipment. Inside the dungeon are several smaller, barred and thick-walled rooms for keeping prisoners, an area with rusted and neglected torture equipment, and an entrance to the castle oubliette (the prisoner holding area of the oubliette descends almost 20ft deep, too far for the average prisoner to climb, too narrow to allow a prisoner to lay down, and is often damp with dirty water filtered from above.) Also in the dungeon is a space for storing gunpowder and cannonballs. Rusty cannons can be found above in the ruins, overgrown and mostly hidden with vines.
The cellar is two stories. The upper story comprises the other half of the dungeon, the part that isn’t dedicated to holding prisoners. In this area, a combination of clever engineering and magic keeps things as dry as possible and prevents the normal decay which might otherwise take place inside the cellar. The ceiling is vaulted in the upper story, same as the dungeon it is connected to, and thick walls separate it from the dungeon. Over the stone walls, someone added plaster, wooden beams, and wood paneling to make the space seem less forbidding. A library covers the entire upper story, with bookshelves that extend 12ft tall, all of them filled with books, scrolls, and other readable material. Along both ends of the room are large fireplaces, meant to heat the room. Amazingly, due to their construction within the mountain, their chimneys are still intact and relatively clear.
The lower story has a 16ft ceiling, also vaulted. Again, a combination of clever engineering and magic keeps everything dry and free of the normal decay of time. Here, everything has been richly appointed. There is a large bedroom suite, including a bathroom with water diverted from a local stream and heated by magic. While belongings in the bedroom are dusty, they show relatively recent use. There’s a great hall that takes up the entire far side of the living space of the lower floor, strategically placed partially under the dungeon. A hidden staircase allows access to the prisoner areas of the dungeon. Chains for holding prisoners hang from the walls of the great hall, making it easy for the vampire lord of the castle to hold prisoners for easy feeding of his guests. Also in the lower story of the cellar are various guest rooms, all of them richly appointed. There is another smaller library with space for several people to quietly work, as well as a parlor with space for several people to relax.
The space beyond the great hall on the lower floor of the cellar is devoted to laboratory space and ritual space. Here, it is most apparent that the castle’s owner returns frequently to work here. The laboratory space is state of the art, with storage space for batteries hidden in a closet along one wall. High up on the remaining towers of the ruins, hidden as much as possible except from by air, solar panels charge the batteries so that the castle’s master can have enough electricity for his work. The ritual space, meanwhile, is heavily insulated from outside noises. It’s ringed with torches to light the space. In the middle of the room is an altar and an open space that has obviously been used and cleaned many times. Dark stains linger on the stone. Along one wall is a door, from floor to ceiling and made up of heavy iron bars, that opens to the oubliette.
Though the upper part of the castle is in ruins, the dungeon and cellar areas are still very much intact and structurally sound.
The dungeon is the first thing one comes to when descending from the castle above. It has a tall, vaulted ceiling, with a back “entrance” that is actually a cave on the side of the mountain that backs Schloss Albstein. From the ground, the cave is not visible, and from the mouth of the cave, the cliff face is sheer and not easy to climb without equipment. Inside the dungeon are several smaller, barred and thick-walled rooms for keeping prisoners, an area with rusted and neglected torture equipment, and an entrance to the castle oubliette (the prisoner holding area of the oubliette descends almost 20ft deep, too far for the average prisoner to climb, too narrow to allow a prisoner to lay down, and is often damp with dirty water filtered from above.) Also in the dungeon is a space for storing gunpowder and cannonballs. Rusty cannons can be found above in the ruins, overgrown and mostly hidden with vines.
The cellar is two stories. The upper story comprises the other half of the dungeon, the part that isn’t dedicated to holding prisoners. In this area, a combination of clever engineering and magic keeps things as dry as possible and prevents the normal decay which might otherwise take place inside the cellar. The ceiling is vaulted in the upper story, same as the dungeon it is connected to, and thick walls separate it from the dungeon. Over the stone walls, someone added plaster, wooden beams, and wood paneling to make the space seem less forbidding. A library covers the entire upper story, with bookshelves that extend 12ft tall, all of them filled with books, scrolls, and other readable material. Along both ends of the room are large fireplaces, meant to heat the room. Amazingly, due to their construction within the mountain, their chimneys are still intact and relatively clear.
The lower story has a 16ft ceiling, also vaulted. Again, a combination of clever engineering and magic keeps everything dry and free of the normal decay of time. Here, everything has been richly appointed. There is a large bedroom suite, including a bathroom with water diverted from a local stream and heated by magic. While belongings in the bedroom are dusty, they show relatively recent use. There’s a great hall that takes up the entire far side of the living space of the lower floor, strategically placed partially under the dungeon. A hidden staircase allows access to the prisoner areas of the dungeon. Chains for holding prisoners hang from the walls of the great hall, making it easy for the vampire lord of the castle to hold prisoners for easy feeding of his guests. Also in the lower story of the cellar are various guest rooms, all of them richly appointed. There is another smaller library with space for several people to quietly work, as well as a parlor with space for several people to relax.
The space beyond the great hall on the lower floor of the cellar is devoted to laboratory space and ritual space. Here, it is most apparent that the castle’s owner returns frequently to work here. The laboratory space is state of the art, with storage space for batteries hidden in a closet along one wall. High up on the remaining towers of the ruins, hidden as much as possible except from by air, solar panels charge the batteries so that the castle’s master can have enough electricity for his work. The ritual space, meanwhile, is heavily insulated from outside noises. It’s ringed with torches to light the space. In the middle of the room is an altar and an open space that has obviously been used and cleaned many times. Dark stains linger on the stone. Along one wall is a door, from floor to ceiling and made up of heavy iron bars, that opens to the oubliette.
Notes: Gargoyles with bat-like wings, long claws, and wide-open mouths showing long fangs and forked tongues are placed in regular intervals around the surviving exterior walls. The gargoyles, even the ones that have fallen from crumbling walls, are in much better shape than the rest of the castle and look as if they’ve barely been weathered. Magical symbols have been carved into their mouths, over their eyes, over their noses, over their claws, and into their wings. The gargoyles form part of an elaborate magical defense for the castle, and aside from symbols that allow the castle’s master, Gregorio D’Ambrosio, to sense intruders, the gargoyles can also be animated with a sufficient blood sacrifice in times of need, and they also allow the castle’s master to know what’s going on in every corner of his castle.
On a far corner of the castle grounds, closest to the road and out of sight of the castle, the Alberici Clinic operates as a cancer and dementia research center. Established in the late 1800s by Dr Gregor Ambros as a tuberculosis clinic, it’s now a front for Gregorio’s research into the vampiric condition. Alberici Group’s Nordrach facility does the bulk of Alberici Group’s supernatural research, allowing Gregorio to keep a close eye on everything going on while also staying close to research he’s performed over eight centuries. The clinic also hosts a museum dedicated to historical medical and tuberculosis care, and many of the artifacts and stories presented in the museum are from the Ambros Klinik's days treating tuberculosis. While some of the labs are off limits, the museum is open to the public and the cancer and dementia research teams receive new patients regularly.
Near the clinic, the old caretaker’s cottage and stables have been renovated into a nice, modern home. Gregorio’s home in name, it is seldom used, except for entertaining or providing a colleague with a place to stay close to the clinic, its owner preferring to stay at the castle.
The castle was in good shape until the 1930s or so. With renovations overdue and a tense relationship with Nazi leadership, Gregorio chose to move most of his belongings elsewhere and let the castle fall to ruins.
The castle was in good shape until the 1930s or so. With renovations overdue and a tense relationship with Nazi leadership, Gregorio chose to move most of his belongings elsewhere and let the castle fall to ruins.